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This Week in Princeton History for January 19-25
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Woodrow Wilson refuses to have a ball, Princeton students fight to get into a class about married life, and more. January 19, 1895—Marshall P. Wilder, the first comedian with a disability, performs at the…
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“I Pledge My Honor”
Final exams begin at Princeton University today. Professors, Lecturers, and Assistants in Instruction (Preceptors) will not be present while students are taking them, trusting them to police themselves. In return, the students will sign their exams under this handwritten statement: I pledge my honor that I have not violated the Honor Code during this examination.…
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This Week in Princeton History for January 12-18
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, final exams prove stressful, the Nude Olympics meet their end, and more. January 12, 1941—A pre-finals blackout distresses residents of five Princeton dormitories. The next morning, the Daily Princetonian will report: “After hesitatingly peering…
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“The Man Who Was Right Too Soon”: Nuclear Test Ban film
By Sarah Robey [We recently digitized a campaign film from the Adlai E. Stevenson Papers, located in our Public Policy Papers. The film, “Nuclear Test Ban,” was produced as a televised campaign program for Stevenson’s 1956 presidential bid against Dwight D. Eisenhower. The film speaks to an important transitional moment in the American encounter with nuclear…
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This Week in Princeton History for January 5-11
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Albert C. Kinsey’s groundbreaking report is sold out everywhere (even the library!), students urge the administration to admit women, and more. January 5, 1948—The Albert C. Kinsey report, “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male,”…
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Happy Holidays from John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles, Princeton Class of 1908, devoted most of his life to public service, beginning in the late 1910s through his death in 1959. The John Foster Dulles Papers (MC016) at the Mudd Manuscript Library document his career, particularly his influence on United States foreign policy. Portions of the Dulles Papers are currently being…
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The Rittenhouse Orrery
Dear Mr. Mudd: Q: What is an orrery, and how did Princeton University come to own one? How was it damaged in the Battle of Princeton? A: An orrery is a mechanical model of the solar system. Orreries were regarded as essential teaching equipment for 18th-century lectures on “natural philosophy” (the physical sciences). Although invented…
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This Week in Princeton History for December 22-28
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a dorm thief is caught, a movie about an alum premieres in town, and more. December 22, 1898—A granite monument in Arlington National Cemetery at the grave of Major General William W. Belknap, Class…
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This Week in Princeton History for December 15-21
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, the University gets a radio station, a movie filmed on campus premieres in town, and more. December 15, 1940—WPRB’s predecessor, WPRU, gets its start with daily broadcasts from 7:15 to 9:15 a.m. and from…