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J. Wayman Williams Photographs of Princeton University
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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
J. Wayman Willams, Class of 1947, entered Princeton University in summer, 1943. He served in the Army between 1944 and 1947, majored in Civil Engineering and received his BSE in June, 1950. Nicknamed "Flash," Williams was photo editor and later chairman of the Bric-a-Brac, photo editor of the Princeton Engineer, and a member of the Princeton Camera Club. He also worked for the Princeton Picture Service and took freelance photographs for the Princeton Alumni Weekly. Williams was born in 1926 in Webster Groves, Missouri, and died in 2020 in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
The collection contains both negatives and prints of Princeton University campus life, taken by J. Wayman Williams for the Bric-a-Brac yearbook and the Princeton Alumni Weekly during the years 1943-1944 and 1947-1950.
The photographs are arranged in folders that correspond to the labels of envelopes of grouped negatives and boxes of prints received by the archives from the creator, J. Wayman Williams.
The negatives and prints were donated by J. Wayman Williams, class of 1947, in August, 2019 (AR.2019.087).
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.
Negatives are stored offsite. The negatives in this collection are scheduled to be digitized in 2023 and may not be requested.
This collection was processed in June, 2021 and May, 2022 by Phoebe Nobles. Finding aid written by Phoebe Nobles in June, 2021 and May, 2022. During processing, the preservation department checked each negative. 20 nitrate negatives (9 from Princeton Ice Carnival and 11 from 2 x 3 negatives) were destroyed after digitization. The remaining negatives were printed on "safety film." As of summer, 2023, Boxes 1-8 (negatives) are offsite for digitization. These boxes are not requestable during the digitization process.
Some negatives were found to contain nitrate (Princeton Ice Carnival and 2 x 3 negatives) and were separated from the collection after digitization.
Subject
- Publisher
- University Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Phoebe Nobles
- Finding Aid Date
- 2021
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. For quotations that are fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. The Trustees of Princeton University hold copyright to all materials generated by Princeton University employees in the course of their work. If copyright is held by Princeton University, researchers will not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with non-commercial use of materials from the Mudd Library. For materials where the copyright is not held by the University, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold the copyright and obtaining approval from them. If you have a question about who owns the copyright for an item, you may request clarification by contacting us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
This activities folder images of sports, ceremonies, a biplane, a bonfire, the Red Cross Headquarters in Palmer Square, the Princeton Playhouse, and various groups of people.
Physical Description27 items
40 items
40 items
41 items
20 items
1 folder
1 folder
This negative was enclosed in a letter, dated 1956, to Williams from Philip Kissam. The letter thanks Williams for the image used as the frontispiece of "Surveying for Civil Engineers" by Kissam. The letter is stored with the negative in Box 3.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Contains images of the Port of St. Louis, bridges, docks, gas tanks, and people.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
These negatives were stored in an envelope labeled "Miscellaneous".
Miscellaneous negatives were found loose, outside of the envelopes labeled by J. Wayman Williams. Some of these negatives may have belonged with the "Activities" or "Public Relations" groups. They imclude images of laboratory equipment, maps of Princeton's main campus, cartoon tigers with a "P", Williams' Christmas greetings for 1948, a dance in front of a bandstand reading "Prince Tiger"; various groups of people, airplanes flying in formation, people at a stadium, football players posing, ice skaters in skirts, graduation ceremonies, tennis courts, and more.
Physical Description2 folders
8 boxes
Includes photos of social groups, dorm rooms, campus scenes, portraits of people, J. Wayman Williams' holiday greeting, and a basketball game.
Physical Description1 box
Includes mostly photographs of campus buildings, as well as some photographs of people, including Daily Princetonian staff. Williams was the editor of the 1949 Bric-a-Brac yearbook, and many of these photographs appear in that volume.
Physical Description1 box
Includes photographs of a bonfire, sports broadcasting, athletics, library and chapel interiors, campus scenes and buildings, campus groups and activities, and a bell, among other subjects.
Physical Description1 box
Includes photographs of groups of people on campus, buildings, babies, and an aerial shot of a rowing event, among other subjects.
Physical Description1 box
Includes photographs of campus buildings, including eating clubs, athletics, and sportscasting, among other subjects. Some of the photographs have Bric-a-Brac yearbook labels on the back.
Physical Description1 box
Includes photographs of a concert at Richardson Hall, campus groups, snowpeople with breasts, a bonfire, a bell, football at the stadium, campus buildings, the chapel interior and exterior, among other subjects.
Physical Description1 box
Includes photographs of social groups, a person selling rabbits' feet, radio broadcasting, the construction of Firestone library, and athletics such as hockey, wrestling, squash, and swimming, among other subjects. The prints in this box are 5 x 7 inches or smaller.
Physical Description1 box