-
Power to the People: Princeton’s Black Activism Movement
ABC was a place where we could go and it was us. We did have a kindred spirit. I mean because it was 98 black students, all of us knew each other. And even guys that you didn’t hang out with, at some point in time you might be in their dorm room. —Ralph Austin…
-
Toni Morrison’s Born-Digital Material
By Elena Colon-Marrero and Allison Hughes On October 14, 2014, Princeton University announced it had acquired the papers of author, emeritus faculty member, and Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison. The papers, which are currently being processed, consist of approximately 200 linear feet of material, including manuscripts, drafts, correspondence, working files, teaching material, and just over 150…
-
We Are the Champions: The History of Princeton University’s Women’s Lacrosse Team
After the admission of women in 1969, many aspects of student life at Princeton were transformed, including sports activities. The first changes happened in the area of physical education. After response to a questionnaire given to female students revealed high demand for women’s physical education, the Department of Athletics designated a women’s locker room in Dillon…
-
Archiving Email at the Princeton University Archives
Changes in leadership, especially at universities, give archivists an opportunity to transfer records into the archives. Such was the case when the current Dean of the College, Valerie Smith, accepted a position as the new president of Swarthmore College, a post she will assume in just over a month. Dan Linke, the University Archivist, and…
-
“Princeton University Does Not Discriminate…”: African American Exclusion at Princeton
Bruce Wright applied for admission to Princeton University in the 1930s, having spent some of his childhood living in its shadow in Princeton, New Jersey. He was excited to be awarded a scholarship, and showed up in the fall ready to start as a freshman. So far as the Dean of Admissions was concerned, however,…
-
Acquiring Digital Archives in the Field at Princeton
As a digital archivist on Mudd’s Technical Services team, I spend a fair amount of my time looking at screens like the one pictured here. I briefly panicked when I came across this screen while processing a restricted University Archives collection last year. The information was the output of the software ClamTK, the default virus…
-
Signed, Sealed, Delivered letters donated to University Archives
by: Dan Linke With the rise of email more than 20 years ago, many have lamented the decline of the handwritten letter, but with her new book, Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Celebrating the Joys of Letter Writing (Simon & Schuster, 2014), Nina Sankovitch has done much more than that. Drawing on letters from across the ages, she…
-
Keen New Addition: Photo Album Purchase Contains Rare Images of Woodrow Wilson
by Dan Linke With more than 600 books on Woodrow Wilson, including Scott Berg’s recent autobiography, is there anything new about Woodrow Wilson? With the acquisition of the photo album of Paul Edward Keen *15, the answer is yes. His photo album contains a dozen images of Wilson’s 1913 inauguration and his 1915 return to…
-
New Accession: Atomic-bombed Roof Tiles from Hiroshima University
The University Archives was recently given the honor and responsibility of providing a home for seven roof tiles that sustained damage in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. The roof tiles were collected in a river bed near ground zero of the atomic bomb explosion. Along with the roof tiles, the…
-
Fidel Castro visits Princeton University
In 1959, not even three months after he came to power, Fidel Castro was invited to speak to a small group of undergraduate students and faculty members of the Woodrow Wilson School. In a recent donation to the University Archives, we received some key items related to Castro’s visit, including this letter of invitation. This…
This blog includes text and images drawn from historical sources that may contain material that is offensive or harmful. We strive to accurately represent the past while being sensitive to the needs and concerns of our audience. If you have any feedback to share on this topic, please either comment on a relevant post, or use our Ask Us form to contact us.