Princeton University History

The Princeton University Archives consists of over 15,000 linear feet of records including administration records (presidents, provosts, deans, and department records, faculty files, undergraduate and graduate alumni files); photographs and other audiovisual materials; and publications that document the history of Princeton University. The University Archives is also the repository for Princeton senior theses and doctoral dissertations.

Additional historical information about Princeton University

Alexander Leitch's A Princeton Companion (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1978) contains biographies of University presidents, trustees, deans, noted alumni, and prominent professors. Other topics include academic department histories, athletics, campus buildings, research, and student activities. Unviersity members can access the book via JSTOR.

A host of historical facts about Princeton University are available online through the University's main web page.  In addition to A Princeton Companion, researchers will find links that provide further details on the Presidents of Princeton University, Princeton's History, the Princetoniana Committee, and information on the American Revolution and Princeton.

The Daily Princetonian Archives are available online as well.

Collections with Divisional Holdings

  • Theodore Ziolkowski Papers

    The papers pertain to Ziolkowski's teaching of courses on European Literature and
    include research notes for classes, lectures notes, course syllabi and
    examinations.

  • Office of the President Records: Harold T. Shapiro Subgroup

    The Office of the President Records: Harold T. Shapiro document the administration of Princeton's eighteenth president, Harold T. Shapiro through correspondence, memoranda, press releases, and other materials. Topics found in the records include University finances, alumni fundraising, and Princeton’s 250th anniversary celebration. Also present are records documenting Shapiro’s interactions with students, faculty, staff, and various academic departments.Please see series descriptions in contents list for additional information about individual series.

  • Program in Women's Studies Records

    The collection consists of articles related to women's issues from the Daily Princetonian and other local publications, as well as clippings on other subjects such as University investments in South Africa. Also in the collection are promotional brochures about the program itself, programs from women's studies conferences, and bibliographies on research topics.

  • Daily Princetonian General records

    Consists of subject files from the editorial offices of the Daily Princetonian covering topics such as award banquets, journalism seminars, managerial records and by-laws of the paper. Also included are some financial records and stock certificates, and several special issues and fund-raising books published by the paper. The bulk of the materials are from the 1950s through 1970s, representing only one portion of the newspaper's long history. A small amount of material from the late 1980s through the early 2000s is also present.

  • James Newman Collection on the Princeton University Eating Clubs

    The majority of the collection consists of correspondence relating to the evolution
    of the Princeton Prospect Foundation and its relations with the University. The
    collection also contains independent reports by Princeton University, the Graduate
    Inter-Club Council, the Princeton Prospect Foundation, and the Princeton Tower Club
    on the Eating Clubs in general and on the endeavors of the Foundation. Included also

  • Bicentennial Celebration Records

    The Bicentennial Celebration Records contain material documenting the planning
    and organization of the yearlong festivities by the Bicentennial Committees, as
    well as material relating to the conferences, convocations, and other events
    that were held in honor of Princeton’s 200th anniversary. The records contain
    correspondence, writings, speeches, reports, pamphlets, newspaper clippings,

  • Graduate School Records

    The Graduate School Records consist of minutes, correspondence, reports,
    writings, applications, surveys, and memoranda, as well as forms, course
    listings, and information on examinations and fees. The Deans' subject files
    make up a large part of the collection. Dean Andrew Fleming West's records,
    including his writings, correspondence, and in particular his scrapbooks, make
    up a substantial portion of this collection as well.

  • Princeton History of New Jersey Series collection

    The collection consists of Thomas J. Wertenbaker's correspondence pertaining to the Princeton History of New Jersey Series, a set of volumes by different historians exploring a different aspect or period in New Jersey's development. Though Wertenbaker himself did not write a volume, he coordinated the efforts of the historians involved and acted as an advisor throughout the project.

  • Tiger Hockey Email Newsletters

    The collection consists of email newsletters written by the Cranes for the families and fans of the Princeton men's hockey team. The newsletters contain synopses of hockey games, photographs of games, players and fans, and links to other sources of information on Princeton men's hockey.

  • Office of the President Records : Jonathan Dickinson to Harold W. Dodds Subgroup

    The content of this collection varies markedly over time. The eighteenth and
    early nineteenth-century presidents' records are typically secondary sources
    such as clippings or letters written by others, most of which long postdate the
    lifetimes of the men to whom they refer. In a few instances, primary material in
    the form of correspondence, financial records, and sermons exists. The early

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