Call Number:

C1254

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Alexander Marshall Thompson Letters to His Family, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1889-1893 (inclusive)

Creator:

Thompson, Alexander Marshall

Form:

Letters -- 19th century. . and Report cards -- 19th century.

Abstract:

Consists of letters written by Alexander Marshall Thompson while he was attending the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) from 1889 to 1893, giving a view of a student's social, athletic and academic life, while providing valuable information regarding the history of the College.

Alexander Marshall Thompson graduated with the Class of 1893 from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University.) Class Day Exercises for the Class of 1893 were held at the First Presbyterian Church in Princeton, N.J., on June 12, 1893. The salutary was delivered by Philip King, and the class oration was given by Thompson. From 1820 to 1940 Thompson was Dean of the School of Law at the University of Pittsburgh, and later a judge in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The collection consists of twenty-seven letters and one report card (1891) sent by Alexander Marshall Thompson to his family in St. Paul, Minnesota, while he was a student at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) from 1889 to 1893. The letters are addressed to his mother, father, his brothers, Harold and Huston, his sister, Fanny, and to William M. Thompson; almost all are signed "Marshall.". Thompson gives a detailed picture of the life of a student at the College of New Jersey at the end of the nineteenth century. He writes about classes he is attending, visiting speakers, his friends, the cost of buying shoes, clothes, train tickets, and textbooks, and doing his laundry. In all of his letters, Thompson gives a detailed athletic bulletin about games he has attended on and off campus between the different teams of the College of New Jersey and other colleges such as Harvard and Yale. In a long, detailed, letter to his brother Huston, dated October 11, 1891, Thompson writes about his classes and his professors, and informs Huston that he is taking a class on jurisprudence taught by Woodrow Wilson, who "is about the best man in the faculty." In other letters, he describes the parties and "Balls" he attended, and his trips to New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. He writes about initiations at the Clio and Whig societies, the construction of the two white marble buildings to house both societies, the Glee Club, the construction of a "Chemical building" and a new dormitory. In a letter dated March 27, 1890, he mentions applying for an editorial position at the Daily Princetonian. In another letter, dated November 16, 1890, he gives news about the college receiving "one of the largest gifts in its history" from a lady [Harriet Crocker Alexander] to build a commencement hall, which was to become Alexander Hall. He also talks about the "junior prom attended by Mrs. Wanamaker and all the swell people of New York and Philadelphia." In several of his letters Thompson talks about the "Junior Oration" contest he entered, qualifying for the "Lynde Debate," and of commencement. Most of his letters mention his family's difficult financial situation due to the cost of his education..

Folders are organized in chronological order.