Jour­nal­ists and pun­dits are not­ing that Elena Kagan’s

con­fir­ma­tion to the Supreme Court last week marks the first time three women have served con­cur­rently on

the high court. How­ever, Kagan’s con­fir­ma­tion marks another historic

occa­sion — the first time in 168 years that three Prince­to­ni­ans have shared

the bench.

While 2010’s trio con­sists of Samuel Alito ’ 72, Sonia

Sotomayor ’76, and Elena Kagan ’81, the 1842 trio con­sisted of Smith Thompson

‘1788, Peter V. Daniel ‘1805, and James Moore Wayne ‘1808.

Jus­tices Thompson

‘1788 (Under­grad­u­ate Alumni Records), Daniel ‘1805 (Dick­in­son University’s House Divided Project), and Wayne ‘1808 (Library of Con­gress).

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