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This Week in Princeton History for November 27-December 3
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, undergraduates protest the presence of African Americans in chapel, a computer virus is spreading all over campus, and more. November 28, 1868—Students at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) begin circulating a petition to…
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This Week in Princeton History for August 7-13
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Chelsea Clinton visits the campus, a graduate wins an Olympic medal for soccer, and more. August 7, 1996—As Chelsea Clinton considers potential colleges, she and First Lady Hillary Clinton visit Princeton.
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Lobby Exhibit Highlights Some of Princeton’s Connections to Slavery
A small exhibit currently on display in the lobby of Mudd Library contains archival material highlighting Princeton’s connections to slavery. The exhibit includes an offer of financial support on the condition that students be admitted “irrespective of Color” rejected by the Board of Trustees in 1835 and an 1861 note in a student’s autograph book…
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Tracing Princeton’s Connections to Slavery through Intentional Serendipity
The Princeton and Slavery Symposium, a presentation of several years of “scholarly investigation of Princeton University’s historical engagement with the institution of slavery,” is scheduled for November 17-18, 2017. As we lead up to that date, we will be blogging about Mudd’s involvement in this larger project. Last November, the University of Houston-Downtown Archives wrote…
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This Week in Princeton History for July 11-17
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, the logistics of emancipation are debated, plans for a School of Science are approved, and more. July 11, 1944—Robert S. Ward ’42, a forward artillery observer, is killed in action in France. July 12,…
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This Week in Princeton History for August 17-23
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a prisoner of war says he deserves credit for independent study while held captive, the U-Store breaks ground on a new home, and more. August 18, 1944—Lt. Nicholas Katzenbach ’43 writes to the War…
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“Princeton College Bought Me”: The Life of a Fugitive Slave in Princeton
Many nearly-forgotten legends surround James “Jimmy Stink” Collins Johnson, who lived in Princeton for most of his life after escaping from slavery in Maryland. Today it is impossible to completely separate fact from fiction, but this is our best reconstruction: The sources tell us that two slaves in Easton, Maryland, welcomed a baby on October 2,…
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Mudd in Print
Have you ever wondered what our researchers are up to in the reading room? Many of them are working fervently towards producing highly esteemed, ground-breaking, and sometimes award-winning books. This entry features a sample of recent publications, each developed through extensive research at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library. Drawing from material found in the…
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Nineteenth-century letters move into 21st century
A collection of John Maclean’s papers are now available online. Maclean, the 10th president of Princeton University, served from 1854-1868 when the institution was known as the College of New Jersey. The letters, acquired last year, were scanned and loaded as PDFs and linked to the collection’s finding aid via its folder list. These letters…
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