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Andrew C. Imbrie Papers

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Held at: Princeton University Library: University Archives [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: University Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Imbrie

Biographical details may be obtained from Imbrie's alumni file. He was elected an alumni trustee in 1907, and in 1909 the Trustees created the office of Financial Secretary of the Board to oversee business interests in cooperation with the President, to attend meetings of the Committees on Finance, Grounds and Buildings, and Library and Apparatus in order to coordinate the business departments of the University. Following Imbrie's departure from the Board in 1912, the Financial Secretary's office was abolished and a new Office of Secretary of Business Administration was created to function as the executive for the Committee on Grounds and Buildings. Imbrie remained active on the Graduate Council following his departure from the Board of Trustees.

Consists of papers of Imbrie (Princeton Class of 1895), including undergraduate letters sent home (1891-1895), Princeton University records (1906-1942), and an Imbrie family genealogy. Among subjects touched frequently in his student letters to his parents are housing, campus customs, campus organizations, buildings and grounds, the course of study, campus figures, honors, football, and skating on the local canal. Also among the papers are correspondence, clipppings, and reports related to Imbrie's service as financial secretary; clippings, correspondence, and publications regarding the Graduate School controversy that occurred while Imbrie held his university office; records, correspondence, reports, publications, and clippings on Princeton architecture and the "Quad Plan"; and memoranda and reports on the progress of the reorganization of student social life at Princeton. In addition, the papers contain a four-volume compilation entitled Family Record of Andrew Welsh Imbrie and Frances Frazer Imbrie, written by Imbrie, which contains records of the Imbrie, Clerk, Welsh, and Frazer families.

The Papers were given to Princeton by Imbrie in 1945, 1946 and 1957.

Accession Numbers: AM 13141, 13490, 15919

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No appraisal information is available.

Publisher
University Archives
Finding Aid Date
1998
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

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Collection Inventory

Scope and Contents

Imbrie's letters home touch on a variety of subjects, most notably housing (boarding houses and dorms, including sketches of floor plans), interclass competition (including hazing and snowball fights), campus customs (the Rush, cane spree, painting the Cannon, step singing, top spinning in front of Reunion Hall by seniors), campus organizations (Philadelphian Society, New York Club, class elections, debates, Whig Society, eating clubs [O.D.V.], Nassau Lit, Monday Night Club), buildings and grounds (Alexander Hall, East Hall, Brokaw Pool, student telegraph system [including a map of system], installation of telephones on campus), the course of study (excuses, cuts at chapel, Patton's advice on specialization, creation of the honor system in 1893, essays, junior orations, disciplinary system), campus figures (faculty nicknames, Jimmy Stink, hiring of a proctor), honors (Baird Prize, sophomore essay prize, election as class secretary for life and its duties), football and skating on the canal. Of interest are Imbrie's attitudes toward blacks (especially the pot scrubbers who cleaned his room), Italians and Jews and his description of Coxey's Army's visit to Princeton in 1895.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Physical Description

1 box

Correspondence home from Princeton, 1891-1895. 20 folders.
Physical Description

20 folders

Scope and Contents

This series includes files maintained by Imbrie regarding the University. They include correspondence, clippings and reports related to Imbrie's service as Financial Secretary; clippings, correspondence and publications regarding the Graduate School controversy which occurred while Imbrie held his University office; records, correspondence, reports, publications clippings on Princeton architecture and the "Quad Plan;" correspondence and records relating to the Graduate Council Freshman Honor Prize; and memoranda and reports on the progress of reorganization of student social life at Princeton.

The portion of these papers related to the Office of Financial Secretary constitute the only official record of the functioning of that office.

Arrangement

Arranged by subject.

Physical Description

1 box

Information re: appointment as Financial Secretary of the Board of Trustees, 1909-1912. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Reports to the Trustees as Financial Secretary, 1912. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Graduate School Controversy - Clippings, 1908-1910. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Graduate School Controversy - Correspondence, 1908-1910. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Graduate School Controversy - Publications, 1908-1910. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Architectural Development at Princeton, 1906-1910. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Quad Plan - Correspondence, 1907-1909. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Quad Plan - Reports, Publications, Clippings, Drawings, 1906-1913. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Memoranda and Reports on the Progress of a Reorganization of the Student Social Life at Princeton, 1907-1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Graduate Council Freshman Honor Prize, 1923-1947. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Arrangement

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Scope and Contents

This is a four-volume compilation entitled "Family Record of Andrew Welsh Imbrie and Frances Frazer Imbrie" written by Andrew C. Imbrie and presented to the Princeton University Library in 1946. Included are records of the Imbrie, Clerk, Welsh and Frazer families.

Physical Description

1 box

Compiled 1931-1945 Family Record of Andrew Welsh Imbrie, and Frances Frazer Imbrie (4 vols.), 1931-1945. 8 folders.
Physical Description

8 folders

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