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Tag: Bruce Wright

  • This Week in Princeton History for May 30-June 5

    In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a conference defends the study of classics for all students regardless of major, a nineteenth-century alum envisions 2015 New York in a dystopian science fiction novel, and more. June 1, 1761—The Board of Trustees vote to…

  • African Americans and Princeton University

    Dear Mr. Mudd: Q. What information do you have about African Americans and Princeton University? A. Until the twentieth century, Princeton’s history has mostly been dominated by white men, typically from prosperous backgrounds. Though decidedly pro-Union during the Civil War, the campus had strong Southern influences, and its reputation as the “northernmost university town of the…

  • “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,…