Tag Archives: Woodrow Wilson

This Week in Princeton History for June 27-July 3

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In this week’s installment of our recurring series, New Jersey’s governor worries that the colonists won’t support a college, a court rules in favor of an alum, and more.

June 27, 1748—Governor Jonathan Belcher writes to the Committee of the West Jersey Society,

But as I find upon the Best inquiry hardly Sixty thousand Souls in the whole Province of New Jersey and most of them People that live by their day Labour, I am At Present much discouraged about a College Not Seeing where Money will be found to Build the House and to Support the Necessary Officers for the Assembly (Many of them Quakers) will do Nothing towards it…

June 28, 1920—In a letter to the editor of the Washington Bee, Marianna G. Brubaker writes, “If Wilson ‘battled for democracy’ at Princeton, it must have been white democracy, the only part of which he has the remotest conception.”

July 1, 1883—The Atlanta Constitution reports that U.S. President Chester Arthur’s son, Chester Alan Arthur II, Class of 1885, is known around Princeton’s campus as the “lion dude” and “the precious thing.”

July 3, 1973—The New York Supreme Court sides with William J. Thom ’63 in approving his application for the incorporation of Lambda Legal, overturning a lower court ruling that the gay rights organization was “neither benevolent nor charitable in ostensible purpose.”

Leaflet describing the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, ca. 1973. (Click to enlarge.) American Civil Liberties Union Records (MC001), Box 2997.

For the previous installment in this series, click here.

Fact check: We always strive for accuracy, but if you believe you see an error, please contact us.

This Week in Princeton History for March 2-8

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In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a ban on pizza delivery is enforced, a release party is held for a new book, and more.

March 2, 1960—Princeton University is enforcing a ban on pizza delivery on campus.

March 4, 1913—2,000 undergraduates attend the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson, Class of 1879, as president of the United States, bringing a sea of orange and black to the usual red, white, and blue on display.

Student petition for Princeton University holiday for March 4, 1913. Office of the President Records (AC117), Box 57, Folder 4.

March 6, 1947—Martin Niemoeller, said to be “still gaunt from his years of imprisonment,” opens the first in a series of community Lenten services in Princeton University Chapel.

March 7, 1999—The Princeton Arts Council hosts a release party for Latin American Princeton/Princeton Latinoamericano, a compilation of student research projects for SOC/LAS 338: The Sociology of Latinos in the United States and oral histories conducted by the students of Apoyo/Princeton Immigrant Rights League. The book focuses on the town’s immigrant Latinx community.

Cover of Latin American Princeton/Princeton Latinoamericano, 1999.

For the previous installment in this series, click here.

Fact check: We always strive for accuracy, but if you believe you see an error, please contact us.

This Week in Princeton History for June 10-16

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In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a delayed cookie shipment arrives, Commencement moves to a new home, and more.

June 12, 1996—Cookies mailed to Princeton-in-Asia intern Laura Burt on November 1, 1995 finally arrive unopened in Wuhan, China.

June 13, 1894—Commencement Exercises are moved from the First Presbyterian Church (which will later be renamed Nassau Presbyterian Church) to the new Alexander Hall (also known as Commencement Hall) for the first time, where they will be held until 1922.

The 1894 program for the College of New Jersey’s 147th annual Commencement (later named Princeton University but we often find “Princeton College” on official documents rather than its official name; see caption below for June 15th’s entry for more details. (Princeton University Commencement Records (AC115), Box 3.)

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This Week in Princeton History for October 22-28

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In this week’s installment of our recurring series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, police arrest 31 protesters, Woodrow Wilson is inaugurated Princeton’s president, and more.

October 22, 1945—At a brief ceremony in the Faculty Room of Nassau Hall, Princeton’s president, Harold W. Dodds, confers 20 undergraduate degrees, but only 11 graduates are present to receive their diplomas in person. Nicholas Katzenbach ’44, who completed his coursework in a Nazi prison camp, is among those who receive their degrees in absentia. With the exception of a World War II ceremony in which only four degrees were conferred, this is believed to be the smallest Commencement at Princeton since the 1750s.

As can be seen on this grade card for Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach, originally a member of the Class of 1943, he had an unusual junior and senior year, with asterisks noting courses for which he received credit for work “pursued while a prisoner of war in a German prison camp…” (Click to enlarge image.) Undergraduate Academic Records 1921-2015 (AC198).

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This Week in Princeton History for June 4-10

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In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, ABC features the campus in a documentary about gay activism, a train passes through advertising the benefits of living in Florida, and more.

June 7, 1977—A discussion between gay activists and Princeton students is featured in a documentary on ABC.

June 8, 1990—DeNunzio Pool is set to be dedicated, but does not open on schedule. It will open in September 1990.

June 9, 1890—“Florida on Wheels,” a special train car, demonstrates what life in Florida might have to offer to Princeton residents.

Advertisement from Daily Princetonian.

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This Week in Princeton History for February 27-March 5

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In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Colonial Club’s financial pressures force its closure, women march on Washington, and more.

February 28, 1946—Princeton University announces that women will live in student housing on campus for the first time, opening Brown Hall to married veterans after providing only single-gender accommodations at the institution for 200 years.

Couples arriving at Brown Hall, 1946. Historical Photograph Collection, Campus Life Series (AC112), Box MP166, Image No. 6055.

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This Week in Princeton History for November 7-13

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In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a member of the Class of 1903 casts his vote, students burn the American flag in protest, and more.

November 7, 1955—Today’s issue of Life features Princeton mascot Michael A. Briggs ’57.

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The Princeton University cheerleading squad with Michael A. Briggs ’57 as the tiger, ca. 1955. Photo from 1956 Bric-a-Brac.

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This Week in Princeton History for August 1-7

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In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a movie featuring the campus premieres, the library implements a new security policy, and more.

August 1, 1944—Wilson, a biopic film about Woodrow Wilson of the Class of 1879 partially set and filmed on campus, premieres at Roxy Theatre in New York.

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Ticket to the premiere of Wilson, August 1, 1944. Woodrow Wilson Collection (MC168), Box 45, Folder 6.

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“A Princeton Student’s Letter to His Father” and the Election of 1912

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With Father’s Day coming up this weekend and the United States in the midst of a particularly contentious election season, this seemed like perfect timing to highlight a 1912 pamphlet found in the Princeton University Publications Collection (AC364), “A Princeton Student’s Letter to His Father and His Father’s Reply” (Box 2).

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This Week in Princeton History for June 6-12

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In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a decision is reached about the location of the Graduate College, swords are banned from campus, and more.

June 7, 1910—A long battle ends when the Board of Trustees accepts the bequest of Isaac Wyman, Class of 1848, and with it Dean Andrew Fleming West’s plan to build the Graduate College across from the Springdale Golf Club. Woodrow Wilson, whose hopes of locating the College in the center of campus have been dashed, will resign his University presidency and leave Princeton for politics as a result.

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Woodrow Wilson’s plan for the Graduate College imagined dormitories built adjacent to the existing 1879 Hall (at Washington & Prospect) to create inner and outer courtyards. Today, this space is occupied by the Woolworth Center, home of the Department of Music. Graduate School Records (AC127), Box 27, Folder 5. Click to enlarge.

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