Mudd Manuscript Library Blog

Name: Christie Lutz

Title/Duties: Assistant University Archivist for Public Services I am responsible for overseeing and coordinating public services at Mudd Library. This includes managing our general reference account; handling a variety of in-depth remote and in-person reference inquiries, from researchers within the University community to those around the world; introducing Princeton undergraduate classes to and assisting them with the use of our materials; and scheduling and working with staff and student assistants in order to maintain day-to-day services. And of course,”other duties as assigned.”

Recent projects: Helping curate our current exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the University Archives.

Worked at Mudd since: 2005, but was a project archivist here also from 2000-2002, and was a graduate student intern in 1999. I was promoted to my current position in September 2008.

Why I like my job/archives: Each day is different, bringing new challenges, opportunities to engage in varied subject areas, and interaction with unique, interesting and surprising documents, photos, and objects. At Mudd I’ve had the opportunity to process material ranging from Adlai Stevenson campaign materials to Brooks Bowman’s (composer of the standard “East of the Sun and West of the Moon”) personal papers. As someone with an American Studies background, I find Mudd, and archives generally, a wonderful place to work. Also, at Mudd we’re embarking on digital and other technological initiatives that are allowing researchers to access and use our holdings in new ways, and we’re opening up new avenues for collaboration with users and colleagues on and off campus.

Favorite item/collection: I always have fun working with the Princeton University Archives Memorabilia Collection, especially when it comes to curating exhibitions. The experience of looking for appropriate objects for exhibits can be like sifting through a Princeton-themed (and curated) thrift shop.

Below is the text of an email exchange between University Archivist Dan Linke and David Nathan ‘90 concerning a portion of the Archives’ stereograph collection.

Hi Dan,

Here’s a listing with all the information I obtained yesterday, faithfully transcribed from the backs of the Historical Photograph Collection: Stereographs Series, circa 1869-1880. The only thing I omitted is a font issue — some titles appeared in all caps — and the repeating information about “College of New Jersey”, “R.H. Rose”, etc. Any idea where I might look for the missing cards?

Regards, David L. Nathan, M.D.

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The Princeton University continued its 50th anniversary celebration by exhibiting the University’s 1748 Charter during Reunions Weekend on May 29th and 30th. More than 128 alumni, staff, and family members came out to view Mudd’s 2009 exhibition entitled The Best Old Place of All, featuring a variety of treasures from the archives on display. But undoubtedly the penultimate public display of the University Charter was the main draw. While always available online at the Princeton University Digital Library, the parchment original will only be showcased once more on Saturday, October 10, with no other public viewing planned before the University’s 300th Anniversary celebration in 2046.

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The Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, in conjunction with Princeton University’s Office of Communications, has just added its first videos to the University’s YouTube Channel. In the coming months, the Mudd Library plans to post a variety of audiovisual materials to the University’s two YouTube Channels, with items chosen from both the University Archives and Public Policy Papers.

Our first video chronicles the May 20, 1963 move of Corwin Hall to its current location across from Wallace Hall and Robertson Hall. After nearly two months of planning, Corwin Hall (then known as Wilson Hall), was pushed along steel tracks for 12 hours from its location on Washington Road in order to make room for the new Robertson Hall. Shot on 8 mm film, this video shows a time lapse of the move. For more details about this move, please see this entry in the Princeton Companion.

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The Mudd Manuscript Library blog has garnered another honor as it was listed on the Associate Degree website as one of the 100+ blogs to Inspire the Creative Genius Inside of You. Click here. How these sites find us and monitor us, we don’t know, but we sure appreciate the publicity.

The following materials were accessioned in February and March this year. As always, anyone interested in additional information about the new materials should contact the library through our general email account mudd@princeton.edu

Among the new accessions to the University Archives is an issue of Old Nassau (pictured below), which was likely the personal copy of Jimmy Stewart ‘32 (accession number AR.2009016). Following his death in 1997, Stewart’s estate donated a large number of the actor’s books to the Friends of the Beverly Hills Library to be sold in their used book store. The wife of Kenneth Goldman ‘64, a volunteer at the book store, spotted the volume and purchased it for her husband. Kenneth Goldman donated the book to the University Archives this spring.

Published in 1905, the limited edition book tells the story of Princeton’s anthem. It includes an autobiography of Karl Langlotz (composer of the music for Old Nassau); biographical information about Harlan Page Peck, Class of 1862 (author of the song’s lyrics); various musical arrangements for the song; as well as information about Princeton in the years 1858 through 1862. The pages below show Peck’s lyrics, which were first published in the Nassau Literary Magazine in 1859.

View larger image

Additional information can be found on the finding aid for the Old Nassau Collection at the Mudd Manuscript Library http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/rb68xb85k; and on the Princetoniana Committee Web page “Old Nassau, History of the Song” http://tigernet.princeton.edu/~ptoniana/oldnassau2.asp.

A complete list of materials accessioned in February and March follows.

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Question: How many buildings does Princeton University consist of?

Answer:

This question comes up frequently. In this case, the context and research purpose are as important as the question. What does the patron consider a building? Buildings on the main campus, on the Forrestal Campus, or buildings that the University owns in general?

Because of these qualifiers, there is significant discrepancy among published numbers.

Mudd’s own FAQ page (link to: http://www.princeton.edu/mudd/news/faq/topics/statistics.shtml) gives 324 as of 2000; the Princeton Weekly Bulletin states 160 (on campus) and 220 (off campus) for 2004; and the Princeton Profile (http://www.princeton.edu/profile/) lists 180 as of 2009.

These discrepancies can be explained by two main factors: 1) change over time and 2) counting methods.

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Summer Student Workers Sought

If you would like to work with historical documents while learning more about Princeton history and public policy, this job is for you.

The Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library is now hiring for full-time summer positions (36.25 hours per week) at $11.35/hour.

Applicants must be currently enrolled Princeton University Students, and should possess a strong attention to detail, work independently, quickly, and reliably, as well as demonstrate care for fragile items.

Contact us via the following methods to learn more.

Phone: 609.258.6345

Fax: 609.258.3385

E-mail: lutz@princeton.edu

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 to and from John Maclean document the history of the College of New Jersey as well as family matters. Maclean was the son of Princeton’s first chemistry professor, and the papers include the 1814 inventory of the estate of his father, John Maclean, Sr. One of the more interesting documents provides evidence of New Jersey’s connections to slavery. See the last two entries of p. 3 of this inventory, found in Box 4, Folder 11.

The richness and depth of the collections of the Princeton University Archives are the focus of “‘The Best Old Place of All’: Treasures From the Princeton University Archives,” a new exhibition at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library opening Friday, Feb. 20.

The exhibition coincides with the yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the University Archives and features some of the most historically significant documents and objects from the collection alongside seldom-seen treasures. It will run through Friday, Jan. 29.

“The goal of this exhibition is to illustrate the University’s long and impressive history and, in doing so, to celebrate and reflect upon the vital role of the University Archives in preserving and documenting that record,” said University Archivist Dan Linke.

Featured in the exhibition are documents, photographs and objects from the University Archives covering the time of the institution’s founding to the modern era. A page from the 1783 minutes of the Board of Trustees contains the trustees’ request that George Washington sit for a portrait so that they might replace the work of King George that was destroyed in the Battle of Princeton. Nearby, a draft of then-University President Woodrow Wilson’s vehement argument on the matter of the location of the Graduate College hints at another battle fought on campus more than a century later.

Many of the objects capture the ever-changing nature of student life and academics at Princeton. Early course examinations, class schedules and a set of handwritten student lecture notes from the time of John Witherspoon (who was University president from 1768 to 1794) exemplify how, though times may have changed, the purpose of the typical Princeton student has remained largely the same. One notable exception to that credo can be seen in the form of a so-called “cheating cuff,” which hearkens back to the days before the Honor Code. Early 20th-century football programs and photographs from Triangle Club shows point to extracurricular pursuits.

In addition to paper documents and photographs, “‘The Best Old Place of All’” draws upon the extensive memorabilia collection of the University Archives. Items such as canes, clay pipes and the Reunion jacket of Adlai Stevenson — the influential politician and diplomat who graduated from Princeton in 1922 — are all a part of the University’s heritage. Other objects such as the discus that 1897 alumnus Robert Garrett threw in the 1896 Athens Olympics and a blackball box used during eating club “bicker” selections represent some of many curiosities that have found their way into the archives in the last 50 years.

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