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Princeton’s “Saturnalia”: Commencement Prior to 1844
2020 brought changes to Princeton University’s academic calendar, some planned, and some in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. This shift to an earlier start and end of Princeton’s academic year is not its first. Its historically most drastic change in the calendar came about for a surprising reason: Moving Commencement from September to June…
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This Week in Princeton History for September 21-27
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, violence erupts at Commencement over politics, a student pitches the first known curve ball, and more. September 23, 1947—A controversial chain letter begins sweeping the campus. September 25, 1827—Princeton’s Commencement turns violent. Savannah’s Daily…
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2020 ARCH Participants Write
Learnings from the ARCH Program: Archives, Objectivity, and New Skills By Etana Laing, Lincoln University This summer I had the privilege of participating in the ARCH program. Coming into this experience I had a very surface-level understanding of archives; little did I know I was uncovering just the tip of the iceberg. On my journey,…
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This Week in Princeton History for September 14-20
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, John Maclean defends the expulsion of students, Quadrangle Club opens, and more. September 15, 1870—James McCosh interrupts a brawl between sophomores and freshmen on Nassau Street over canes with a shout of, “Disperse, young…
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Princeton’s Class of 1880 v. the Class of 1881
By Carter Mulroe ’20 The freshman vs. sophomore rivalry is one of Princeton’s oldest customs, dating at least as far back to 1760 when a code of unofficial laws stated that “every freshman sent on an errand shall go and do it quickly and faithfully and return.” This was what Princeton once called “horsing,” now…
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This Week in Princeton History for September 7-13
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Mudd Library opens, Virginia sends the college a map, and more. September 7, 1976—Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library opens for research.
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George Morgan White Eyes, Racial Theory at Princeton, and Student Financial Aid in the Eighteenth Century
By April C. Armstrong *14 In 1779, a group of Delaware set up camp on Prospect Farm, owned by George Morgan, along a dirt walkway that separated them from the campus of the College of New Jersey, as Princeton University was named until 1896. They brought a boy with them who was about eight or…
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This Week in Princeton History for August 31-September 6
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, alumnae celebrate the completion of a cross-country fundraising bike ride with a dip in the Fountain of Freedom, an invoice is paid for Nassau Hall’s weather vane, and more. August 31, 1989—A champagne reception…
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The Problem with “Firsts,” Part II: Archival Silence and Black Staff at Princeton University
This is the second in a two-part series about archival silence and the “first” African Americans at Princeton University. The first post in this series addressed the history of Black students. In last week’s post in this series, focused on Black students, I wrote about how questions of definition and gaps in the archival record…
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