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This Week in Princeton History for June 27-July 3
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, New Jersey’s governor worries that the colonists won’t support a college, a court rules in favor of an alum, and more. June 27, 1748—Governor Jonathan Belcher writes to the Committee of the West Jersey Society, But as I find upon the Best inquiry hardly Sixty thousand Souls…
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This Week in Princeton History for February 28-March 6
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, an honorary degree is controversial, students fear smallpox, and more. March 1, 1836—The Baltimore Literary and Religious Magazine expresses outrage that Princeton has awarded William Gaston (Class of 1796) an honorary L.L.D., because they disapprove of thus honoring a Catholic. “We pronounce it a most gross outrage…
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Early LGBTQIA+ Publishing and Civil Liberties During America’s “Lavender Scare”
Documentation of LGBTQIA+ communities prior to the Stonewall riots of 1969 can be sparse. During the immediate post-World War II period, all manifestations of non-heterosexuality were under deliberate government attack within the era’s overall attempt to find and root out all “un-American activities.” Through a series of measures—the U.S. State Department purging employees with “homosexual…
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“Wear ’Em”: Princeton University’s First Gay Jeans Day
The events of October 11, 1989, Princeton’s first “Gay Jeans Day,” reverberated far beyond the confines of a 24-hour period. Both then and much later, the day highlighted attitudes among students and alumni toward the LGBTQIA+ community as they existed in the late 1980s. The Princeton LGBTQIA+ Oral History Project (AC465) further gives us insight…
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This Week in Princeton History for October 12-18
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a rally mourns the death of Matthew Shepard, controversy surrounds an advertisement in the Daily Princetonian, and more. October 13, 1998—About 100 Princeton University students rally to mourn the loss of Matthew Shepard, a student…
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This Week in Princeton History for June 4-10
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, ABC features the campus in a documentary about gay activism, a train passes through advertising the benefits of living in Florida, and more. June 7, 1977—A discussion between gay activists and Princeton students is…
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This Week in Princeton History for April 2-8
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, the Judicial Committee makes its first disciplinary decisions, the campus debates housing policies for same sex couples, and more. April 2, 1917—Senator Henry Cabot Lodge attacks Alexander Bannwart, Class of 1906, in the only…
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This Week in Princeton History for March 12-18
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Women Oriented Women are leaving stickers around campus to increase awareness of lesbianism, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter asks professors for advice, and more. March 12, 1969—About 500 disgruntled alumni calling themselves Alumni Committee…
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“We Envision a World Where the Night Belongs to No One”: Intersectionality and Take Back the Night
By Mario Garcia ’18 “I’m white, I’m male, I’m middle class,” he said. “This isn’t supposed to happen to me.” On the evening of April 26, 1989, hundreds of students listened to their peer’s testimony as a part of Princeton University’s third annual Take Back the Night march. As one of many speakers throughout the…
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