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This Week in Princeton University History for January 19-25
By April C. Armstrong *14 In this week’s installment of our recurring series, an alum suggests following a different path than he did, a boa constrictor is headed for campus, and more. January 20, 1971—Edward R. Weidlein ’68 warns those who join the U.S. Army Reserves to avoid the draft that it can still be…
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This Week in Princeton History for March 10-16
In this week’s installment in our recurring series, controversies over a student publication are intensifying, a stereopticon lecture includes colored images, and more.
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Racial Segregation Propagandist Carleton Putnam, Class of 1924, Part II: Alumni Perspectives and Upholding Freedom of Speech (1970s)
Integral to Carleton Putnam’s argument on race was the notion that the demographics of students at Princeton should remain genetically analogous to what was represented in the early days of Princeton; that is, Princeton should predominantly be composed of white men, preferably with familial connections to the school.
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Racial Segregation Propagandist Carleton Putnam, Class of 1924, Part I: His Adversaries and Allies at Princeton and Beyond (1960s)
Beginning in the 1950s and continuing through the ’60s, Princeton University underwent drastic social change which reshaped thought about legalized segregation and discrimination against African Americans. During this time, Princeton confronted tensions between maintaining Princeton’s traditional demographics and allowing racially diverse applicants equality of opportunity.
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This Week in Princeton History for May 6-12
In this week’s installment in our recurring series, a student expresses unhappiness, an alum talks about the challenges and rewards of working as a White House press secretary, and more.
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This Week in Princeton History for November 6-12
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, students mourn the loss of four in their class, a Philadelpha newspaper responds to Princeton’s president, and more. November 7, 1958—The Women’s Auxiliary of the Philadelphia Section of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers has made a donation of $500 to the Princeton University’s electrical engineering department.…
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This Week in Princeton History for October 3-9
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, posting bills in Trenton gets four students arrested, F. Scott Fitzgerald is not doing well, and more. October 3, 1970—A dozen state and local feminist groups, in their first general convention, join to discuss the basic issues of the women’s rights movement in the Princeton Inn. The…
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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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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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