Lewis B. Stilwell Papers

Stillwell, Lewis Buckley (1863-1941)

Lewis Buckley Stillwell (1863-1941) was an American electrical engineer and Princeton trustee.

Princeton University

The College of New Jersey was initially chartered in 1746. The first classes were held in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the parsonage of the president, the Reverend Jonathan Dickinson. Upon his death, the College moved to Newark, New Jersey, and was headed by the Reverend Aaron Burr, Sr. Since 1756, the College has been located in Princeton, New Jersey. For the first fifty years, nearly all College operations took place within Nassau Hall. Fires, fundraising difficulties, low student enrollment, and the Civil War challenged the vitality of the College in the early and middle nineteenth century, but the College grew vigorously under the leadership of President James McCosh, and it was renamed Princeton University in 1896. The Graduate School was established in 1900, although a limited graduate program had existed since the 1870s. Princeton enthusiastically supported the country (living up to its informal motto, "Princeton in the Nation's Service") during the First and Second World Wars, offering the expertise of faculty and campus space for training, as well as facilitating the early graduation of students so they could enlist. The post-World War II years brought dramatic changes to Princeton. The size and strength of the University's facilities and academic programs—especially for the applied sciences and public policy—were increased dramatically. Under President Robert Goheen, Princeton began to admit minority students in greater numbers in the 1960s and admitted women undergraduates in 1969. Today, Princeton is widely regarded as one of the top universities in the world.

Consists of Stillwell's engineering reports, correspondence, photographs, blueprints, maps, and printed matter. The engineering reports include as subjects the design and building of power plants and the electrification of railroads, some with accompanying photographs and blueprints. Stillwell's professional correspondence relates to his work as an electrical engineer with the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Corporation (1886-1897), the Niagara Falls Power Company (1897-1900), and the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Company of New York (1900-1905), and, later, as consulting engineer with the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, the Paupack Water Power Project, the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, the Lehigh Navigation Electric Company, the United Railroads and Electric Company of Baltimore, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Also included are personal papers, such as correspondence, account books, estate matters, and material on Princeton where Stillwell served as trustee (1920-1941).

This is an unprocessed collection and remains in its original arrangement.

Gift of Richard Stillwell.

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This is an unprocessed collection. The contents list provided is a preliminary inventory.

The collection inventory was created by Michael Heist in August 2007.

No appraisal information is available.

Use

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Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lewis B. Stilwell Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Publisher

Manuscripts Division

Date

2007

Creator

Stillwell, Lewis Buckley (1863-1941)

Subject

Electric power-plants -- United States -- Design and construction

Railroads -- United States -- Electrification

Organization

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company

Westinghouse electric corporation

United Railroads and Electric Company of Baltimore

Rapid Transit Subway Construction Company of New York.

Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company

Lehigh Navigation Electric Company

Lehigh Valley Coal Company

Niagara Falls Power Company

Paupack Water Power Project

Princeton University

Occupation

Consulting engineers -- United States

Engineers -- United States

Language

English

Form

Account books

Blueprints

Correspondence

Maps

Photographs, Original

Reports