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This Week in Princeton History for December 20-26
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, the son of the Mississippi governor’s presence becomes controversial, prominent professors oppose fallout shelters, and more. December 22, 1821—The New Hampshire Sentinel reports that the will of Elias Boudinot has left a portion of his estate to Princeton. The institution will use the gifts as follows: $10,000…
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This Week in Princeton History for November 8-14
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, an alum resigns the U.S. Senate in anticipation of war, two undergraduates chase down a criminal suspect, and more. November 9, 1903—Controversy has erupted locally over the town’s first Black postman, A. B. Davis, who secured his appointment in competition with several white applicants. Kansas’s Wichita Searchlight…
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This Week in Princeton History for August 23-29
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, dog-powered butter churns are available locally, Princeton University celebrates an alum’s achievement in a new way, and more. August 23, 2011—Princeton University’s website announces a ban on freshman rush for Greek organizations. August 27, 1835—James Petrie and Donald McCay invite interested residents of Princeton to order dog-powered…
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This Week in Princeton History for August 9-15
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, an earthquake hits campus without negative consequences, the region anticipates a new transportation option shortening trips to and from New York, and more. August 9, 1932—While on a scientific expedition in Wyoming, William Zachary…
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This Week in Princeton History for January 18-24
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a professor explains the language he used in the Army, an anonymous Princetonian writes that “Satan has fallen like lightning from Heaven upon this college,” and more. January 18, 1882—In a lecture in Princeton’s…
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This Week in Princeton History for September 14-20
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, John Maclean defends the expulsion of students, Quadrangle Club opens, and more. September 15, 1870—James McCosh interrupts a brawl between sophomores and freshmen on Nassau Street over canes with a shout of, “Disperse, young…
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This Week in Princeton History for April 20-26
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Jesse Owens poses, John F. Kennedy speaks, and more. April 20, 1942—Jesse Owens talks with Princeton’s Creative Sculpture class while he poses for a piece in Joe Brown’s series of sculptures of American athletes.…
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Dear Mr. Mudd: War, Epidemics, and Suspended Classes at Princeton
Q. Dear Mr. Mudd, Has Princeton University ever had to close the campus before? Or have a lot of students been displaced and had to leave and/or study at home for some other reason in the past? A. In 2020, Princeton University suspended residential instruction after Spring Break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was…
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“Subsequently Came to Grief”: Evidence and Stories of Corruption in the Autograph Book of Charles P. Stratton, Class of 1848, Part II
By Alec Israeli ’21 This is the second of a two-part series on the autograph book of Charles P. Stratton, Class of 1848, and its relationship to the scandal surrounding the career of William W. Belknap, Class of 1848, Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant. Part one closed with the damning testimony of…
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This Week in Princeton History for May 20-26
In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, married undergraduates face a housing shortage, two Charter Club officers are sentenced to prison, and more. May 20, 1782—Princeton president Samuel Stanhope Smith signs a receipt for Peter Elmendorf, Class of 1782, for payment…
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