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This Week in Princeton History for May 13-19


In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, two professors accuse a third of stealing from them, Princeton’s first Japanese Ph.D. writes about his experiences on campus, and more.

May 13, 1869—Despite worries that bad weather would prevent women from attending Class Day, the Nassau Literary Review reports that they filled the Chapel.

College of New Jersey (Princeton) Class of 1869 Class Day program. Note that school colors had not yet been chosen, so the program sported a red, white, and blue theme. Princeton University Class Records (AC130), Box 7.

May 16, 1902—Professor William B. Scott is arrested on charges of theft after removing bookshelves from a house on Nassau Street that was previously the site of Evelyn College. Professors Ulric Dahlgren and Herbert Sill, who own the house and brought the charges, say there is also a chicken house missing.

This photo of the parlor and library of Evelyn College, dated ca. 1895, may show the bookshelves in question. Historical Subject Files (AC109), Box 330, Folder 4.

May 17, 1920—For the first time, a video recording is made of Princeton University’s Senior Singing.

May 19, 1906—Princeton’s first Japanese Ph.D. (Economics), Bunshiro Hattori of Tokyo, writes in the Princeton Alumni Weekly about his impressions of the campus, the reasons he chose to study abroad, and the challenges he faced becoming fluent in English. “I worked hard to write the thesis; for the difference of language is one great obstacle for the communication of thought—much more than the difference of the monetary system is for international trade.”

Academic record of Hattori Bunshiro, Princeton University Graduate Class of 1906. Graduate School Academic Records (AC105), Box 6.

For the previous installment in this series, click here.

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