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This Week in Princeton History for March 21-27
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, a local editorial argues against suffrage for the emancipated, a Prince initiative gets attention in London, and more. March 22, 1867—An editorial in the Princeton Standard argues that those formerly enslaved in the South should not be permitted to vote, and instead the South should be put under military…
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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 November 8-14
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, an alum resigns the U.S. Senate in anticipation of war, two undergraduates chase down a criminal suspect, and more. November 9, 1903—Controversy has erupted locally over the town’s first Black postman, A. B. Davis, who secured his appointment in competition with several white applicants. Kansas’s Wichita Searchlight…
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This Week in Princeton History for March 29-April 4
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a member of the Class of 1905 denounces racial exclusion, Elm Club opens, and more. March 29, 1940—Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas, Class of 1905, takes Princeton’s racial exclusion to task in the Princeton…
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This Week in Princeton History for October 19-25
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, two members of the Class of 1979 are running against each other for Congress, the first director of the Program in Women’s Studies is named, and more. October 19, 1900—Topeka’s Colored Citizen reports that…
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Princeton’s “Saturnalia”: Commencement Prior to 1844
2020 brought changes to Princeton University’s academic calendar, some planned, and some in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. This shift to an earlier start and end of Princeton’s academic year is not its first. Its historically most drastic change in the calendar came about for a surprising reason: Moving Commencement from September to June…
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This Week in Princeton History for July 27-August 2
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, the governor seals the college charter, trends in the overall diversity of the incoming class are mixed, and more. July 27, 1942—A Daily Princetonian editorial criticizes Secretary of State Cordell Hull for “abundant lip…
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This Week in Princeton History for October 21-27
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a guest speaker urges his audience to hold men and women to the same moral standards, the Princetonian urges smokers not to inhale, and more. October 21, 1976—Randall Kennedy ’77, one of six students…
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This Week in Princeton History for October 1-7
In this week’s installment of our returning series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a recent graduate engages in civil disobedience, Albert Einstein sets sail for Princeton, and more. October 1, 1984—Leo Schiff ’83 breaks into a military facility in Rhode Island to disarm nuclear warheads as part…
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This Week in Princeton History for September 3-9
In this week’s installment of our returning series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a junior’s work on racial justice nets results locally, another junior hitches a ride on the presidential plane, and more. September 3, 1992—Partly in response to efforts by Yolanda N. Pierce ’94, student representative…
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