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Bicentennial Celebration Records
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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.
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The 1946-1947 Princeton University Bicentennial Celebration was an en masse celebration of Princeton's past, present and future. The campus welcomed a spectrum of guests, ranging from members of the University and its surrounding community, to representatives of several national and international academic, private, and public organizations and institutions.
The yearlong series of events began on September 22, 1946 with a sermon delivered by Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, in the University Chapel and ended with an address by President Harry S. Truman in front of Nassau Hall at the June 17, 1947 Concluding Bicentennial Convocation. The events were divided into two major parts comprising 16 conferences and 5 convocations. The events were interlinked by personnel and dates. Many participants of the conferences received honorary degrees at the Convocations.
The series of conferences were organized by Dean of the Faculty J. Douglas Brown '28 and Whitney J. Oates '25, with the assistance of the Princeton Faculty Committee, and extended from September 1946 through May 1947. Overseen largely by Princeton professors, the conferences covered a broad range of topics in the humanities, social and applied sciences, and engineering.
The convocations were arranged in the traditional format of past academic anniversaries, with a host of greetings, receptions, and entertainment, but on a much more elaborate scale. The festivities began on September 22, 1946 in the University Chapel with the Archbishop of Canterbury's sermon. At the conclusion of the service, the Archbishop was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree and the first Bicentennial Medal. The medal was designed by John R. Sinnock, medalist to the United States Treasury, and was presented to all official guests and delegates who attended the ceremonies during the year.
The Charter Day Convocation commemorated the signing of the College's First Charter. After Dean of the Chapel Robert R. Wicks' invocation, President Harold Dodds delivered a speech in which he recounted John Witherspoon's influence on him and cited a passage from Witherspoon's Civil Society. Afterwards, Dodds conferred honorary degrees to twenty-two men and one woman, most of whom participated in the first series of the Bicentennial Conferences. The Convocation came to a close with the singing of Isaac Watt's Ninetieth Psalm, which has become a tradition at Princeton.
The Alumni Day and Spring Convocation followed the same pattern as the first two events. The Alumni Day included the second address made by President Dodds on the benefits of a liberal education. Chairman Douglas Horton gave the sermon at the luncheon and Secretary of State George C. Marshall made his first public address to a throng of alumni and special guests. During these two events a total of 54 honorary degrees were awarded.
The Bicentennial Year reached its pinnacle with the Concluding Bicentennial Convocation (June 14-17, 1947). The festivities extended into four eventful days beginning with the dedication of the Herbert Lowell Dillon Gymnasium. In the afternoon, the Princeton baseball team defeated Yale 1-0, and that evening, the Glee Club performed at McCarter Theater in the musical Going Back. Sunday's festivities began in the University Chapel with a Service of Remembrance. In the evening, those in attendance gathered at Dillon Gymnasium to hear the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Monday began with a Service of Dedication at the University Chapel followed by the dedication of the Harvey S. Firestone Library. That afternoon, a formal reception for visiting delegates was held in addition to other celebratory parties and dinners. Celebrations culminated on Tuesday with an invocation ceremony, which included speeches by President Dodds and President Truman. The ceremony also included a procession of academics from various American and foreign institutions and the awarding of 32 honorary degrees.
In addition to these main events, many other activities made the year memorable. From the opening of the Bicentennial, music played a significant role in celebrating the spirit of the events. Princeton's Glee Club and Chapel Choir performed at various times for the convocations and other events, and the Pro Arte Quartet and Boston Symphony Orchestra played on campus.
Theatre Intime provided comical relief in their rendition of the 1869 Princeton-Rutgers football game. The Triangle Club also lent their talent with the annual musical, Clear the Track. Various exhibitions were on display in different locations around the Princeton University campus, neighboring Trenton, and New York City. The Louis Clark Vanuxem Lectures, Spencer Trask Lectures, and Cyrus Fogg Brackett Engineering Lectures were delivered by various honorary degree recipients, as were the six forums organized by the Student Christian Association led by six of the Bicentennial preachers.
The Bicentennial organizers included such distinguished figures as Walter E. Hope '01, Whitney Darrow '03, and Col. Arthur E. Fox '13. As the Bicentennial Celebration planning grew so did the committees, to include over 200 members and more than 350 coordinators for the conferences alone. Those planners also included undergraduate and graduate students and members of the faculty, administration, and alumni. They coordinated their efforts with various national and international academic, private, and public organizations.
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, press releases, transcripts, tickets, and decorative water color and pencil sketches and various other materials documenting the Bicentennial Celebration. Please see series descriptions in contents list for additional information about individual series.
The Princeton Bicentennial Year, 1946-1947 A Summary; Charles G. Osgood, Lights In Nassau Hall: A Book of the Bicentennial Princeton 1746-1946; and Alexander Leitch's A Princeton Companion were consulted during the preparation of the biographical note.
It appears that Colonel Arthur E. Fox '13 maintained the files of the Bicentennial Celebration and gave the records to Firestone Library at some point before his departure in 1956. Once the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library was constructed in 1976, all University Archives collections located at Firestone Library were transferred to the Mudd Manuscript Library.
Exact date of acquisition is unclear, see Custodial History section for more information.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Rosalba D. Varallo with the assistance of Page Dykstra '06 and Pardon Makumbe '07. Finding aid written by Rosalba D. Varallo. Box 21 added by Christie Peterson in May 2012.
Appraisal has been conducted in accordance with Mudd Manuscript Library guidelines.
People
- Brown, J. Douglas (James Douglas) (1898-1986)
- Conant, James Bryant (1893-1978)
- Dodds, Harold W. (Harold Willis) (1889-1980)
- Fisher, Geoffry Francis, Baron, Fisher of Lanbeth (1887-1972)
- Nicolson, Marjorie Hope (1894-1981)
- Truman, Harry S. (1884-1972)
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- University Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Rosalba D. Varallo
- Finding Aid Date
- 2006
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Collection Inventory
The General series contains the Bicentennial Announcement, correspondence, memoranda, congratulatory letters and greetings from American and foreign universities and institutions, pamphlets, programs, ticket stubs, press releases, and printed material. In particular, material summarizing the Bicentennial events, the exhibitions, hospitality and housing issues, sample invitations, and other preliminary material relating to the conferences and convocation can be found in this section.
Also included in this series are congratulatory letters and greetings given to the University by American and foreign universities and institutions in honor of the Bicentennial Celebration. In addition, there are five decorative water color and pencil sketches of Whig-Clio Hall, Nassau Hall, Richardson Auditorium, and the entrance to North Campus.
Arranged alphabetically by topic and chronologically within each folder.
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The Committees series documents the organization and planning of the Bicentennial events by various committees. In particular the records of the Executive Committee Chairman Walter E. Hope '01 consist of correspondence, memoranda, meetings, minutes, and reports highlighting the issues related to the conferences and convocations. Also included in this series are the records of the Committee on Honorary Degrees which contain correspondence, memoranda, and lists of suggested and nominated recipients who received honorary degrees during the year, as well as reaction to the University awarding an honorary degree to President Harry S. Truman.
A list of Bicentennial Committees and members can be found within The Princeton Bicentennial Year, 1946-1947: A Summary located in Series 1: General, in Box 6, Folder 6.
Arranged alphabetically by topic and chronologically within each folder.
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The Conferences series contains correspondence with Conference members and speakers relating to registration forms, acceptances, refusals, and travel expenses, along with personal congratulations to the organizers of the Conferences, Dean J. Douglas Brown '28 and Professor Whitney J. Oates '25. Faculty Committee meeting, minutes, and reports, a list of leaders and speakers per each conference, program schedules, pamphlets, and press releases regarding the speeches delivered during the Conferences and Convocation services are also located in this series. Of note are the speeches delivered by Professor Marjorie H. Nicolson and James B. Conant during the "Humanistic Tradition in the Century Ahead" Conference.
The Conferences series is arranged alphabetically by conference title.
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The Convocations series includes correspondence, registration cards, and signatures of delegates, tickets, sample program packets, as well as transcripts of the speeches delivered during the Special Convocation, Charter Day Convocation, Alumni Day Convocation, Spring Convocation, and the Concluding Bicentennial Convocation. Of note in the latter convocation, the original script used by Jose Ferrer '33, the narrator for the "Going Back" performance, as well as transcripts for the Concluding Bicentennial events and the June 16, 1947 dinner that took place in Dillon Gymnasium in honor of the Bicentennial guests can be found in this series.
Arranged chronologically by event and then alphabetically by topic.
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The Scrapbook and Clippings series contains loose clippings as well as three volumes of bound clippings from various newspapers including the New York Times and the Princeton Herald.
The first volume contains clippings from the 1946 opening of the Bicentennial to the first Bicentennial Conference, "The Future of Nuclear Science." The second volume includes clippings from 1946-1947 Bicentennial Conferences and the third consists of clippings regarding the Bicentennial Convocations, as well as various public events.
Arranged chronologically by event and then alphabetically by topic.
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