History of Princeton University

The history of Princeton University spans over 250 years since it was founded in 1746. Princeton University has produced many notable individuals including several Nobel laureates, most recently economist Paul Krugman.

College of New Jersey

Princeton University was founded at Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1746 as the College of New Jersey.

The Province of New Jersey granted a charter—in the name of King George II—to the College of New Jersey on October 22, 1746 for “the Education of Youth in the Learned Languages and in the Liberal Arts and Sciences”. The charter was unique in the colonies, for it specified that “any Person of any religious Denomination whatsoever” might attend. The College’s enrollment totaled 10 young men, who met for classes in the Reverend Jonathan Dickinson’s parlor in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The first President of the college was Reverend Jonathan Dickinson, who was also pastor of the town's Presbyterian Church. When Dickinson died within a few months after the opening of the College in May 1747, the trustees were fortunate in persuading Reverend Aaron Burr, Sr., pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Newark, New Jersey, to accept the presidency. The College moved to Newark in the fall of 1747, and there in the next year a class of six young men became the first to graduate.

New Location

In 1756, the College moved to its new quarters Nassau Hall, in Princeton, New Jersey. Nassau Hall, named to honor King William III, Prince of Orange (of the House of Nassau), was one of the largest buildings in the colonies. For nearly half a century it housed the entire College—classrooms, dormitories, library, chapel, dining room, and kitchen. During the American Revolution it survived occupation by soldiers from both sides and today bears a cannonball scar from the Battle of Princeton (January 3, 1777). The president at the time, John Witherspoon, was a signer of the Declaration of independence and the Articles of Confederation. The federal government recognized the historical significance of “Old Nassau” by awarding it national landmark status and by issuing an orange and black commemorative three-cent stamp in celebration of its 1956 bicentennial.

In 1780 an amended charter declared that the trustees should no longer swear allegiance to the king of England, and in 1783 the Continental Congress met in Nassau Hall, thus making it the capitol of the United States for a short time. Nine Princeton alumni attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787, more than from any other American or British institution. Not surprisingly, the College’s revised charter of 1799 called on the trustees to support the new Constitution of the United States of America.

Three future Presidents of the United States studied at the College of New Jersey. Two were alumni.James Madison,. the fourth President of the United States and an influential Founding Fathers of the United States, graduated from the college in 1771 and Woodrow Wilson, who became the twenty-eighth President of the United States, graduated from the college in 1879. Before becoming the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson also served as president of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910. Future President John F. Kennedy began his studies at Princeton in the fall of 1935 until a period of illness facilitated his withdrawal from the university and eventual transfer to Harvard during his freshman year.

A Panoramic View Princeton's Campus c1895

Princeton University

Princeton University Class Day c1904

As part of the sesquicentennial celebrations in 1896, the College of New Jersey changed its name to Princeton University, the present name of the university. Princeton University adopted as an informal motto “Princeton in the nation’s service,” the title of the keynote speech by Woodrow Wilson, then a faculty member. Six years later Woodrow Wilson became Princeton’s 13th president. During his term of office (1902–10) plans for building the Graduate College were finalized, and what had been the College of New Jersey began to grow into a full-scale university.

As Princeton looked toward expansion, Wilson focused on the quality of the individual teaching and learning experience. He is credited with developing small discussion classes called preceptorials, which to this day supplement lecture courses in the humanities and social sciences.

Wilson doubled the size of the faculty, created an administrative structure, and revised the curriculum to include general studies for freshmen and sophomores and concentrated study for juniors and seniors. He proposed that the undergraduate dormitories be divided into quadrangles or “colleges” in which students would live with resident faculty masters and have their own recreational facilities. A variation on this plan became a reality in 1982 when five residential colleges were organized for freshmen and sophomores.

Princeton University in the modern era

Blair Hall c1907

Princeton University has produced 29 Nobel laureates. Some of the greatest minds of 20th century were associated with Princeton University. Princeton has also produced several Fields Medallists.

Princeton students and faculty staffs shares the tradition of educational excellence begun more than 250 years ago. The few books in the Dickinson parlor were the seeds for 55 miles (89 km) of shelving and more than five million volumes in Firestone Library. The original quadrangle—Nassau Hall, the president’s house, and two flanking halls—has grown into a 600-acre (2.4 km²) main campus with more than 160 buildings. The “learned languages”—Latin and Greek—have been joined by many ancient and modern languages and an array of computer dialects.

Today, more than 1,200 full and part-time faculty members teach at Princeton; collectively they publish more than 2,000 scholarly documents a year. Princeton’s professors form a single faculty that teaches both undergraduate and graduate students. Originally an institution devoted to the education of young men, Princeton became coeducational in 1969. Today, approximately 5,000 undergraduates and 2,500 graduate students are enrolled here. Virtually all undergraduates and about two-thirds of graduate students live on campus.

Princeton is one of the smallest of the nation’s leading research universities. Its size permits close interaction among students and faculty members in settings ranging from introductory courses to senior theses.

1960s and 1970s

Princeton was hardly untouched by the Vietnam War. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) had an active Princeton chapter, which organized protests against the Institute for Defense Analysis and staged a protest that came to be known as the "Hickel Heckle," in which several SDS members demanded that Interior Secretary Walter J. Hickel "Talk About the War!" Three students were suspended over the incident.

In 1971, the Third World Center, now the Carl A. Fields Center, was founded to address the concerns of minority students to have a facility of their own making for academic, political and social functions.

See also

• Princeton University
• President of Princeton University

Further reading

• Axtell, James. The Making of Princeton University: From Woodrow Wilson to the Present (2006), 710pp; highly detailed scholarly history
• Bragdon, Henry. Woodrow Wilson: The Academic Years (1967)
• Kemeny, P. C. Princeton in the Nation's Service: Religious Ideals and Educational Practice, 1868-1928 (1998). 353 pp.
• Noll, Mark A. Princeton and the Republic, 1768-1822: The Search for a Christian Enlightenment in the Era of Samuel Stanhope Smith (1989). 340 pp.
• Oberdorfer, Don. Princeton University (1995) 248pp; heavily illustrated
• Rhinehart Raymond. Princeton University: The Campus Guide (2000), 188pp, guide to architecture
• Smith, Richard D. Princeton University (2005) 128pp
• Synnott, Marcia Graham. The Half-Opened Door: Discrimination and Admissions at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, 1900-1970 (1979). 310 pp.
• Wilson, Woodrow. The Papers of Woodrow Wilson Volume 14-21, ed, by Arthur S. Link et al. (1972-76)
• McLachlan, James. Princetonians, 1748-1768: A Biographical Dictionary (1976). 706 pp.
  • Harrison, Richard A. Princetonians, 1769-1775: A Biographical Dictionary. Vol. 2. (1981). 585 pp.
  • Harrison, Richard A. Princetonians, 1776-1783: A Biographical Dictionary Vol. 3. (1981). 498 pp.
  • Woodward, Ruth L. and Craven, Wesley Frank. Princetonians, 1784-1790: A Biographical Dictionary (1991). 618 pp.
  • Looney, J. Jefferson and Woodward, Ruth L. Princetonians, 1791-1794: A Biographical Dictionary (1991). 677 pp.

External links

• History of Princeton University
• Nobel laureates associated with Princeton University
• Princeton University in the American Revolution
• Historical FAQ's