Mudd Manuscript Library Blog

Name: Helene van Rossum

Title and Duties: Special Collections Assistant. Processing collections, organizing exhibitions, and “all other duties as assigned!”

Recent projects: I processed recent additions to the John Van Antwerp MacMurray Papers , which included about 1500 photographs taken by MacMurray while Secretary to the U.S. Legation in Peking (1913-1917) as well as 16 mm films that were shot in 1928 and 1929, when MacMurray served as a minister to China (1925-1929). Dan Linke and I curated an exhibition about MacMurray’s years in China, which included selections of the photographs and films, as well as documents and letters from the John Van Antwerp MacMurray Papers (October 20, 2007 through January 18 2008).

Worked at Mudd since: 1997

Why I like my job/archives: Handling the papers that people left behind is as if you are looking over their shoulder. It is like traveling in time! I love finding the stories behind the papers and passing them on to others.

Interesting work anecdote: Through my ten year old son—a dinosaur expert since he was four—I knew of Roy Chapman Andrews, the famous explorer who found dinosaur fossils in Mongolia and on whom the character of Indiana Jones was loosely-based. When I started preparing for the exhibition on John Van Antwerp MacMurray in China, to my astonishment, I found that MacMurray had not only accompanied Andrews’ 1928 expedition out of Kalgan (China’s gateway to Mongolia), but actually filmed the event. The movie revealed a quite spectacular entourage: a crew of 37 people, eight cars, and 150 camels—and because MacMurray had made arrangements for Andrews’ safe passage with the local warlord—they were escorted by 50 Chinese cavalrymen. Still, my son found it all a bit underwhelming. He offered me a small model dinosaur skeleton to liven up the photographs on display.

Favorite item/collection: Louis Fischer Papers

Other information: Outside my Mudd hours I am a children’s book writer and a shadow puppeteer

Name: Dan Brennan

Title and Duties: Special Collections Assistant IV, responsible for cataloging and processing of University Archives collections

Recent projects: Processing the Department of Oriental Studies Records, Department of Music Records, Department of Politics Records, Office of Government Affairs Records, and Dean of Undergraduate Students Records, as well as tying together the last stages in the processing of the University Library Records. I am also currently working on a project, with much help from my students Sarah and Josh, to make some sense of the many additions to the Historical Photograph Collection that we have received in the last few years.

Interesting work anecdote: Though not exactly a work anecdote, almost a year prior to my coming to Mudd I did a bit of research on the history of the Princeton Art Museum for a graduate school project that put me briefly in touch with the archives. If I search far back enough in my e-mail inbox, I can find a message from Dan Linke answering my reference question. Little did I know…

Worked at Mudd since: May 1, 2006

Why I like my job/archives: My educational background is in history and political science (plus a grad degree in museum studies) so working at Mudd is a natural fit for me. I feel lucky that I get to work on a daily basis with collections in which I have a legitimate interest, and which cover topics from colonial America to plasma physics. Finding new ways to provide access to them and increase their research value to our patrons is the most rewarding part of my job, especially since I get to see the results of this firsthand through my reference work.

Favorite item/collection: Though I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite, one small collection that I have a particular fondness for is the Princeton Print Club Records. The short-lived 1940s campus organization arranged for students to borrow from the club’s collection of art prints for the purposes of decorating their dorm rooms. Obtaining the prints was accomplished largely by simply writing letters to the artists and asking them if they might have a copy. When cataloging this collection my interest in museums/art history compelled me to look through the entire folder of correspondence, unearthing interesting letters from Ansel Adams, Thomas Hart Benton, and many others.

Adriane working on the Lee Walp Family Juvenile Book Collection as a processing intern at the Special Collections Library at the University of Michigan, 2004.

Name: Adriane Hanson

Title and Duties: Project Archivist, Public Policy Papers. I am responsible for planning the processing of collections, supervising their arrangement and rehousing, and writing finding aids (guides) to aid researchers in the use of these collections.

Recent projects: I recently completed a two-year NHPRC grant funded project to process 28 collections related to economics, totaling over 1,100 feet.

Worked at Mudd since: October 2005.

Why I like my job/archives: Working in the archives is a beautiful combination of my love for history, my natural obsession with organizing things, and my interest in the preservation of paper documents and books. An unexpected benefit has been being able to work with researchers, learning from them and seeing how my efforts aid them in their work.

Favorite item/collection: A biography of Sir William Arthur Lewis, a pioneer in the study of economic development, written in comic book form. Located in the W. Arthur Lewis Papers, Box 1, Folder 8.

Other information: In retrospect, I can see that I was destined to become an archivist, because in grade school my dream job was sorting mail at the post office.

The staff of the Mudd Manuscript Library answers over 2,000 e-mail inquiries a year, and those which should be of interest to a wider audience will be shared via this blog. This blog category is named Dear Mr. Mudd because in a few instances some of the e-mails sent to our general library account are addressed that way.

Question: Can you definitively document the first use of “Houseparties” as a term for the Spring club bacchanal?

Answer:Writing in the Princeton Alumni Weekly in 1960, Brown Rolston 1910 makes the claim that “It was my section of the Cottage Club and that of Cap and Gown which started Houseparties. It took considerable argument and persuasion to get the college authorities to consent, but under the conditions of strict chaperonage they finally did. The girls stayed at the clubs and each club had a dance to which the girls and members of the other club were invited and a most enjoyable and respectable time was had by all. My mother and several other ladies were on guard but, as I said, the girls were ‘nice’ girls and were quite used to being chaperoned.”

If we take Rolston at his word, it would mean that houseparties originated with the Class of 1910. It’s worth noting however that since he is writing in 1960, Rolston is almost certainly using the term retroactively. While the events Rolston describes may match the definition of houseparties (at least by early 20th century standards) it seems unlikely that they were called that. The first time that the term actually appears in reference to a collective celebration at the clubs seems to be a brief mention in the Daily Princetonian in 1916. After this point it quickly enters the Princeton vernacular and by 1920 there is a “houseparties” issue of The Tiger.

There are two Prince articles which briefly discuss the origin of houseparties that one can review online, as they explain their evolution from smaller “tea parties.”

http://prince-web1.princeton.edu/archives/2003/05/02/news/8153.shtml

http://prince-web1.princeton.edu/archives/2006/05/04/arts/15524.shtml

I hope that this information helps. I cannot find anything in any of our records which would indicate that 1908 was the first year of houseparties. Even if Brown Rolston was only a junior when the events he describes happened (it’s unclear if he was discussing his junior or senior year), then the date still would have been spring 1909. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do; I understand that bragging rights to a century of partying is on the line here.

Yours sincerely,
Daniel Brennan

A wonderful end of the year gift came to the Princeton University Archives through the generosity of eight alumni who serve on the Princetoniana Committee. The item, a copybook from Class of 1836 graduate Samuel Humes Porter, was for sale on eBay. Dave Cleaves ‘78, the organizer of “pBay”—a group of alumni who collect Princetoniana—noted the item’s availability on Sunday, December 16, and by week’s end, led by Sev Onyshkevych ‘83 and joined by Steven Brown ‘77, Cleaves, Scott Clemons ‘90, Donald Farren ‘58, Cynthia Penney ‘83, Jonathan Sapan ‘04, and Frank Sloat ‘55, the copybook was on its way to the Archives.

Though small in size (3” x 5.25”), the book’s importance is due to its scarcity. The University Archives has very little documentation prior to 1855 due to the Nassau Hall fire that year, and next to nothing that documents individual students’ work. University Archivist Dan Linke reports that this is the first copybook from that era. The book includes lines of poems from Coleridge, Sidney, Spenser and Pope, as well as translations from Latin and Greek, all written in an exceptionally crisp hand. Porter’s penmanship was so fine that he worked several government clerkships before becoming a lawyer.

Due to extended deterioration of its binding, the book is currently being treated by the Preservation Lab and is unavailable for review, but it should be available in the Spring.

The Central Intelligence Agency has released to Princeton University some 7,800 documents covering the career of Allen W. Dulles, the agency’s longest-serving director, which now can be viewed online at http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/st74cq497.

Dulles (1893-1969), a Princeton alumnus who headed the CIA from 1953 to 1961, was renowned for his role in shaping U.S. intelligence operations during the Cold War. Last March, the CIA released to Princeton a collection of letters, memoranda, reports and other papers — some still redacted — that the agency had removed from Dulles’ papers after his death and before their transfer to the University in 1974.

“These materials, long estranged from the Allen Dulles Papers, help round out the documentary legacy of Dulles and his pivotal role in American intelligence history. The material related to his espionage work during World War II is especially illuminating,” said Daniel Linke, curator of Public Policy Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, which houses the Dulles Papers. The CIA retains many documents related to Dulles’ time as head of that agency, but Linke noted that those released “provide insight into not only Dulles, but the classification process and, in my opinion, its shortcomings. Scholars reviewing some of this material will scratch their heads and wonder why the agency thought it necessary to restrict some of these documents for decades.”

The Allen W. Dulles Digital Files released to Princeton contain scanned images of professional correspondence, reports, lectures and administrative papers covering Dulles’ tenure with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) — a U.S. intelligence agency created during World War II and forerunner of the CIA — as well as his career with the CIA and his retirement. The CIA culled these documents from Dulles’ home office, and the agency maintains the originals.

Question: What book contains the first reference to Alexander Hamilton shooting the cannonball that crashes through Nassau Hall and destroys the portrait of King George?

According to a popular story told and retold over the years, during the Battle of Princeton young artillery commander Alexander Hamilton directed his cannons at the remaining redcoats who had holed up in Nassau Hall, and fired a shot straight through the window, neatly decapitating the portrait of King George II which hung in the room. The earliest available reference to Hamilton’s being behind the cannonball I have found is in Sir George Otto Trevelyan’s “The American Revolution” published in 1905. On page 137 of volume three he writes “Even in that quarter there was very little bloodshed, but some profanation; for young Alexander Hamilton, with the irreverence of a student fresh from a rival place of education, planted his guns on the sacred grass of the academical campus, and fired a six-pound shot which is said to have passed through the head of King George the Second’s portrait in the Chapel.” Trevelyan typically employs footnotes when drawing upon primary sources but there is none associated with this passage. When the story is referenced by later historians it almost always traces back to Trevelyan.

Question: Is there any evidence about Alexander Hamilton’s potential admission to Princeton?

When discussing the cannonball legend, it has sometimes been suggested that Hamilton took a certain delight in firing on Old Nassau since he had been admitted to the college and then later denied entrance. The oldest reference to Hamilton’s alleged admission to Princeton is in the narrative of his life as told by Hercules Mulligan, a companion from his time at King’s College, which was later put to paper and printed in John C. Hamilton’s 1834 biography “The Life of Alexander Hamilton.” According to the story recounted by Mulligan, Hamilton met with John Witherspoon in September of 1772 and was granted admission to the College. The decision was then revoked by the Trustees on account of Hamilton’s desire to pursue his studies at an accelerated pace and earn his degree in less than four years. Mulligan reports that Hamilton was notified of the decision through a letter from Witherspoon; however if it ever existed this letter has never been recovered.

In addition to the lack of any source beyond that of Mulligan (a source which has sometimes proven quite unreliable in regards to other details of Hamilton’s life) there are several prevailing issues which cast doubt on the story. The first is that there was already a precedent in place at the College of New Jersey that allowed students to pursue accelerated studies, as James Madison and Aaron Burr had both been permitted to do so in preceding years. Second, if the matter was formally brought before the Trustees, ostensibly there would be some record of it in the Trustees’ minutes- however there is none. Finally, Hamilton’s close association with Trustees Elias Boudinot and William Livingston makes it seem unlikely that his own patrons would refuse him entry to the college on a technicality, particularly since they had allegedly arranged the meeting with Witherspoon in the first place. A useful exploration of these issues is found in James Thomas Flexner’s “The Young Hamilton.” Conversely, in “Alexander Hamilton: a Life” Willard Sterne Randall (under the assumption that Mulligan’s story is true) proposes that Witherspoon, aware of Hamilton’s illegitimate origins, refused him admission on those grounds. Witherspoon is known to have been particularly critical of Colonial Governor William Franklin (Benjamin Franklin’s half-son) for the very same reason, so it fits in that sense. The story about the Trustees which Hamilton then allegedly received was little more than a cover-up from Witherspoon.

In short however, there is no evidence in the records of Princeton University which confirms or even hints that Hamilton was ever granted admission to the University. But given what is known about the young Hamilton’s political attitudes, what is known about the administration of the College at the time, and the original source, the veracity of the story is questionable.

Yours sincerely,
Daniel Brennan

Question: While at Princeton, did James Madison suffer a nervous collapse due to the intensity of his studies?

The story of Madison’s supposed nervous collapse in the days before commencement and its place in Princeton lore are primarily the result of a brief note in MacLean’s “History of the College of New Jersey” which states that at commencement in 1771, “Mr. James Madison was excused from taking part in the exercises.” Many other sources which discuss the young Madison as a student attribute the very same statement to a commencement program, however if such a document exists it is not in the holdings of the University Archives. The closest such resource is a handwritten reproduction of an article from the “Pennsylvania Chronicle” documenting the event in Commencement Records, which lists Madison among the graduates but makes no mention as to whether he was present or not.

Nonetheless, in Madison’s “Autobiography” (actually an untitled manuscript written/dictated at the age of 80) he writes that “His very infirm health, had been occasioned not a little by a doubled labor, in which he was joined by fellow student Jos. Ross, in accomplishing the studies of two years within one…” At some point later historians must have made the connection between this passage and MacLean’s note that he missed commencement. Note that in his correspondence as a student (compiled in the Papers of James Madison) the young statesman makes no mention whatsoever of these health troubles or of missing commencement, although later in life he did suffer from periodic bouts of an unknown malady which some historians suspect may have been epilepsy (as discussed in the Madison biographies of Ralph Ketcham and Irving Brant).

Yours sincerely,
Daniel Brennan

Question: Did Aaron Burr, Jr. take part in a Whig or Clio debate in which he argued against dueling? What information on Aaron Burr, Jr. exists within university records?

There is nothing in the records of either organization, in early University records, or in Burr’s memoirs that would confirm that such a debate took place. The records of Clio debate topics begin in 1792, Whig in 1802; unfortunately any records of earlier debate topics would have been destroyed in the 1802 Nassau Hall fire. The records of the University actually contain very little original material pertaining to Aaron Burr Jr. ‘1772, at least partially as a result of the aforementioned Nassau Hall fire. Most significantly, he is listed several times in the minutes of the Trustees among the graduates of the Class of 1772. From other sources such as the Pennsylvania Chronicle, we know that he delivered several orations at commencements while he was a student. Other Aaron Burr primary sources held by the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections are gathered in two collections held by the Manuscripts Division:

Aaron Burr (1756-1836) Collection http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/kw52j8069

Fuller Collection of Aaron Burr (1756-1836) http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/sf268510w

The University Archives also holds a sizable alumni file for Burr which contains clippings and some early reference correspondence between researchers and various University secretaries about his life, focusing mainly on his affairs after leaving the College of New Jersey. The file also contains reproductions of several paintings, engravings, and sketches of Burr. James Madison’s alumni file contains a similar folder of portraits.

Yours sincerely,
Daniel Brennan

This question came from two different inquirers, one being the Library of Congress. On National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition (Saturday, January 26, 2008), Scott Simon read something he called “A Timeless Political Speech.” You can listen to it at the Weekend Edition Saturday page of NPR’s web site. Simon said it was written by Andrew Parker Nevin, Princeton Class of 1895, and that it was printed in the Oct. 28, 1905 issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly.

However, the citation given with the story was wrong. In A. Parker Nevin’s alumni file I was able to find a copy of “An Address for All Occasions” which was published in the PAW of 14 August 1936 on page 9. The editorial comment on the top of the page describes this printing as “resurrecting” the speech, so I assume it was printed in some earlier PAW or Princeton-based publication, but I was unable to find any other evidence of the first publication. Another note in Nevin’s alumni file said that it was published some time after his death in 1926. An online search suggests to me that it may have also been published in Harper’s in December 1951 as well. (Read the full text by clicking on the image here to open the image in a new window.) I listened to part of the NPR story while reading along with the speech in the 1936 PAW. It is not exactly word-for-word, but is definitely the same speech.

Sincerely,
Jennifer M. Cole