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This Week in Princeton History for January 2-8
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, Princeton’s colors are on display at a party in New Orleans, a student is unimpressed with a future movie classic, and more. January 4, 1891—The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that at a recent New Year’s Eve party thrown by Pearl Wright for her son, Ira, and his…
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This Week in Princeton History for December 26-January 1
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, immigrants are required to be fingerprinted, faculty are investigating mysterious explosions, and more. December 26, 1940—Under the recently passed federal law known as the Alien Registration Act, all local non-citizens must complete registration with the Princeton post office by this date. All will fill out five forms…
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This Week in Princeton History for December 19-25
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, alumni have the chance to see proposed dormitory plans, a student plot to make eggnog is foiled, and more. December 22, 1890—The Charlotte News notes that “A large number of Princeton students passed the city yesterday en route south.” December 23, 1908—Today’s issue of the Princeton Alumni…
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This Week in Princeton History for December 12-18
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, controversies over abortion coverage on the student health plan are ongoing, Princeton’s president urges vaccination, and more. December 12, 1979—According to Students for Conscientious Choice, about 800 students have signed a petition asking for a refund of the portion of their student health fees that fund abortion…
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This Week in Princeton History for December 5-11
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, the junior class selects a speaker for a campus event, a concerned writer condemns political activity among students, and more. December 5, 1860—The Chapel has a new organ “instead of the old one which has grated upon the feelings of all for the last long while.” Made…
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This Week in Princeton History for November 28-December 4
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, tensions over the American flag are escalating on campus, Princeton’s president indicates the need to plan to educate women, and more. November 29, 1824—Micah Hawkins’s The Saw Mill or a Yankee Trick, the first American opera on American themes, is performed for the first time in New…
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This Week in Princeton History for November 21-27
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, an unusual Thanksgiving storm brings heavy snow to the area, a Scottish newspaper remarks on the racial composition of the town, and more. November 22, 1967—Joshua Rifkin *70 is at work on two projects: a thesis on an early 16th-century Flemish manuscript, and arranging and conducting the…
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This Week in Princeton History for November 14-20
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, students are setting fashion trends in nearby New York, alumni are memorialized, and more. November 16, 1928—Lynn Carrick, Class of 1920, observes that current students are now setting fashion trends in New York. Suffice it to point to such obvious departures from tradition as that black socks…
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This Week in Princeton History for November 7-13
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, a senior visits the U.S. President, a junior achieves football fame, and more. November 7, 1878—Students “respectfully protest against having recitations and lectures on election day.” November 9, 1937—Fumitaka Konoye ’38 visits U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to deliver a goodwill message from his father, Prince Fumimaro…
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This Week in Princeton History for October 31-November 6
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, a professor urges locals to vote for Abraham Lincoln, a woman attending a football game feels unsettled, and more. October 31, 1864—Mathematics professor John Thomas Duffield, Class of 1841, speaks at a Union meeting in the town’s Mercer Hall. He says he voted against Abraham Lincoln in…
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