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.

On Fri­day morn­ing, Uni­ver­sity Archivist Daniel Linke deliv­ered a talk to 19 fel­low librar­i­ans regard­ing the items on dis­play and the cre­ation of the exhibit. Dur­ing the rest of the week­end, alumni, fac­ulty, and mem­bers of the pub­lic came out in force to see many of the Archives’ one-of-a-kind attrac­tions includ­ing the ear­li­est diploma (from a mem­ber of the Class of 1749, the sec­ond class to grad­u­ate from Prince­ton), Adlai Stevenson’s Reunion jacket, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s grade card.

The Best Old Place of All at the See­ley G. Mudd Man­u­script Library will be on dis­play until Jan­u­ary 29, 2010. Sum­mer hours are Mon­day through Fri­day from 8:45 A.M. until 4:15 P.M. Mon­day through Fri­day, with extended hours in June and July on Wednes­days until 7:15.

If you have ques­tions about The Best Old Place of All, or would like to learn more about the exhi­bi­tion, please view the exhi­bi­tion announce­ment, e-mail us at mudd@princeton.edu, or leave a com­ment on this page.

Pic­tured: David Bon­ner ’59, Patrick Miller ’03, and Melanie Papasian ’03.