Call Number:

C1122

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 2 boxes
• 0.4 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Citations should be as follows: William Francis Magie Papers, Box #, Folder #, Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1875-1920 (bulk) and 1875-1945 (inclusive)

Creator:

Princeton University. Library. Special Collections and Magie, William Francis, 1858-1943

Form:

Diplomas--Germany--19th century., Dissertations--Germany--19th century., Manuscripts--20th century., Report cards--19th century., and School records--19th century.

Abstract:

Consists of miscellaneous academic records and manuscripts of William Francis Magie, distinguished Princeton physics professor and dean.

William Francis Magie graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1879 as valedictorian of his class. (His father, William Jay Magie, was valedictorian of the Princeton Class 1852.) He was a founder of the American Physical Society and was its president from 1910 to 1912. He taught physics at Princeton University for almost half a century, and was one of the group of alumni who nurtured Princeton's development from a college to a university. At the end of his senior year, on Commencement Day, one of his professors, Cyrus Fog Brackett, offered him the job to become his assistant. In 1884 Magie took a leave of absence and went to Germany, where he studied at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin under Hermann von Helmholtz and subsequently earned his Ph.D. A decade later he collaborated with two physicians in publishing the first paper in the U.S. on the possible use of X-rays in surgery. He was also the author of a highly regarded textbook on the rise and content of physical theories, Principles of Physics (1911). His greatest work, however, was in teaching and administration. After Brackett retired in 1908, Magie succeeded him as chairman of the physics department and, later, as Joseph Henry Professor of Physics. From 1912 to 1925 he served as dean of the faculty, and he continued to serve as chairman of the physics department until his retirement in 1929, when, at Commencement Day, he was awarded an honorary Sc.D.

The collection consists of miscellaneous papers of Magie: records and report cards from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), school records from Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin, manuscripts of some of his addresses, a manuscript of the "Account of the process of making the Ph.D. at Berlin, 1885," and selected correspondence. The records from the College of New Jersey include an entrance exam schedule, Magie's letter of admission (1875), and his award certificate (1878) for the Dickinson Prize. There are six autograph (and one typewritten) addresses on various scientific topics given at conferences and club meetings. The records from Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin include a registration form, a student ID card, a receipt, a student manual (1882), three lists of classes, a record of courses taken, his Ph.D. degree (1884), and a printed copy of his dissertation (1885). The correspondence includes three letters (1882) to Magie's mother and father from Princeton, and a letter and two photographs from Frederick S. Osborne to Edward Steese, dated July 2, 1945, regarding the Magie grave tablet. In addition, there is short document about physics signed by Hermann von Helmholtz, Magie's German mentor.

Arranged by accession number.