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This Week in Princeton History for July 5-11


In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, staffing levels force the U-Store to close for one hour each day, the CIA notes payments have been sent to researchers involved in secret experiments, and more.

July 5, 1945—Due to “depleted staff,” the Princeton University Store will close for lunch from 1:00-2:00PM daily beginning on this date through September 10th.

Clipping from the Princeton Bulletin.

July 6, 1936—The Princeton Township Committee discusses the challenges they face as those employed at Princeton University’s eating clubs and other academic-year-only positions will require public aid to meet expenses “due to summer lay offs.”

July 7, 1922—Eva and Edward McEwen, who work at Dial Lodge and Cap and Gown Club, respectively, welcome the birth of their daughter, Eva Felica McEwen, who will later serve Princetonians at Rockefeller College and will tell students stories about the desegregation of all of the town’s educational institutions. “I can remember working for professors (at their homes) when I was only in high school who said they didn’t want ‘different ones’ there. … They knew they didn’t want Afro-Americans, they did not want Jewish people. I knew this because they told me. And I couldn’t understand that.”

July 9, 1958–As part of project MKULTRA, which is conducting secret experiments with LSD at 86 American colleges, the CIA notes it has made payments of more than $3,000 to two Princetonians through “an unwitting consultant” at Princeton University.

For the previous installment in this series, click here.

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