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This Week in Princeton History for August 5-11
by April C. Armstrong *14 In this week’s installment in our recurring series, veterans can return to Princeton for free, a father warns his son to pay more attention to his education, and more. August 5, 1964—Following students’ claims that a local barber refused to cut Black hair because he did not know how to…
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This Week in Princeton History for May 22-28
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, a decision made by the Bric-a-Brac is controversial, an anonymous donor gives $5 million, and more. May 23, 1901— The Trenton Evening Times asserts, “It is a fair question who are the greater social pests—the lunch-devouring Trenton girls on the Princeton campus, or the drunken Princeton students…
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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 October 10-16
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, Princeton has begun actively seeking Black applicants, a soldier reflects on the American Revolution, and more. October 10, 1964—The Chicago Defender expresses curiosity about what made Princeton University suddenly change course and begin actively recruiting Black students, noting its most recent report to secondary schools includes a…
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Caught Between Tradition and Transformation: Princeton University’s Black Athletes in 1985
Princeton University is an institution self-consciously steeped in tradition, sometimes to an extent that even relatively recent innovations can feel like they’ve been going on for centuries. Yet it has also tried to break free of traditions that have not served it well, like discriminatory admissions policies. Holding these things in tension with one another…
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This Week in Princeton History for June 21-27
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, sophomores host the first big dance, newly unionized staff receive double-digit-percentage pay increases, and more. June 21, 1877—Princetonians experience their first official big dance on campus. The Sophomore Reception, hosted by the Class of…
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This Week in Princeton History for May 10-16
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, the debate team loses to Harvard on immigration restrictions, the grading system is radically changed, and more. May 10, 1947—In the Chicago Defender, W. E. B. Du Bois reports that Princeton University had written…
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The “Down South Kitchen” and Family Life in Princeton University’s Isabella McCosh Infirmary
When I wrote about the myth of slave quarters in Princeton University dormitories, there wasn’t room to tell you about the service workers who did sleep under the same roof as Princeton students for half a century. Today’s post considers the home one Black family made at Isabella McCosh Infirmary while they cooked and cleaned…
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This Week in Princeton History for February 8-14
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, the Bric-a-Brac has a new cover, an employee at an eating club protests unfair treatment, and more. February 9, 1931—The new Bric-a-Brac subscribers receive today has a new cover design. February 11, 1874—The Hampton Singers,…
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Songs of the Freed: The Hampton and Jubilee Singers at Princeton
In the 1870s, Princeton students were exposed to a form of entertainment new to them: African American choirs. Many of the singers in these choirs, who were raising money for Black colleges, had formerly been enslaved. Their performances met with a mixed reception among Princetonians and on balance appear to have been a negative experience…
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