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The beginnings of American Football
Superbowl Sunday is once again upon us. As we head toward the “Big Game” you can’t help but think back to when intercollegiate football gained its beginnings right here in Princeton. In the book A Princeton Companion author Alexander Leitch notes that the first American intercollegiate football game was played between Princeton and Rutgers in…
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“Princeton Football, the Winning Way,” 1975
Today’s blog is written by Mark F. Bernstein ’83, author of Football: the Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession (2001). A previous entry from him about Princeton football can be found here. The title of this video notwithstanding, Princeton football fell on hard times after the decision to abandon the single wing offense in…
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Princeton’s Bicentennial: Charter Day, October 19, 1946
In the 1946-1947 academic year, Princeton celebrated its 200th anniversary with a series of convocations and events, ending with a concluding ceremony, captured in a newsreel, which included a convocation address by US President Harry Truman. Today’s blog features another newsreel about the University’s bicentennial year that focuses on “Charter Day,” October 19, 1946. In…
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Post-war Princeton football newsreels (1947-1956)
Today’s blog is written by Mark F. Bernstein ’83, author of Football: the Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession (2001). The decade after World War II was a Golden Age of Princeton football. Under the leadership of coach Charlie Caldwell ’25, the Tigers were often nationally ranked and it was not unusual for newsreel cameras…
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Early films of Princeton football, 1903-1951
The oldest known silent movie of a Princeton football match is a four minute recording of a Yale-Princeton game, shot at Yale’s stadium in 1903. The film, which was produced by the company of Thomas A. Edison, inventor of the motion picture camera, is held at the Library of Congress and can be viewed online.…
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