By Zachary Bampton ’20 with April C. Armstrong *14
On September 29, 1882, one writer for the Princetonian (then published every other week rather than daily) remarked that the Bulletin Elm was “fast filling out its days” and would soon be “a thing of the past”. Almost 140 years later, few remember the role the Bulletin Elm played in Princeton tradition. It was a physical bulletin for generations of students, and then for nearly forty years, a section of our campus newspaper bore its name. Looking back more than a century now, we hope to shine some light on this fabled tree and probe its place in our historical memory.

Princeton’s Bulletin Elm, ca. 1880. Historical Photograph Collection, Grounds and Buildings Series (AC111), Box MP007, Image No. 160.