Summary
Overview
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript
Library.
Historical Audiovisual Collection
1912-2012 (mostly 1945-1996)
There over 2,000 items in the collection, which continues
to expand
Abstract
This collection contains more than 2,000 items, including film, videotapes,
compact discs, audio cassette tapes, reel-to-reel tape, and record albums and covers a
broad range of topics including classical music, alumni reunions, lectures, and
interviews.
Description
Description
This collection has been divided into 21 broad topics, however, two comprise over
half of the collection, having 500 items each: Music and
Lectures/Addresses/Forums/Debates. The musical material is composed of record albums
and magnetic tapes of performances by the Nassoons, the Princeton Tigertones,
Tigertown Five, The Triangle Club Jazz Band, undergraduate and graduate composers,
the Princeton University Orchestra, Glee Club, Chapel Choir, and the Smith-Princeton
Chamber Chorus, among others. The subject of Lectures/Addresses/Forums/Debates
category consists of health, politics, art, and archaeology, to name but some. The
Gauss Seminars and Colloquiums focus on literary critique.
Among the other categories are Athletics (mostly football), Social Life,
War/Military, Interviews, Government, Field Studies, Judicial Hearings, Theater,
Alumni Group Tours/Trips, Campus, Entertainment/Documentary, Awards, and
Conferences/Meetings. Some notable items are an audio recording of Jimmy Stewart
singing in a Triangle Club production Spanish Blades,
“Year of the Tiger” 1965 basketball highlights, PBS's MacNeil-Lehrer New Hour feature on the Hubble Telescope and Dr. Lyman
Spitzer, “Looking Back: A Reflection of Black Alumni at Princeton” on the 150th
Anniversary of the University, and Toni Morrison speaking about Paradise and appearing on various television and news shows. Other items
of potential interest are the Celebrating Jewish-American Writer series, James Baker
III '52, Secretary of State, at Princeton in various news clips, and the Class of
1945's World War II Oral History Project. There are also several dedication
ceremonies of campus buildings; most are in audio format.
Collection Creator
History
The oldest item is a silent film from 1912 of John Grier Hibben's inauguration as
president of Princeton University. The bulk of the items were produced from 1945 to
1996. Items from the 1920s through 1930s are generally alumni reunions, alumni trips,
the Triangle Club Jazz Band, and football, through these topics can be found throughout
the collection. Additional items from the 1940s include the Nassoons, the Ivy Quartet,
the Princeton University Band and Princeton University Orchestra, the Class of 1945 Oral
History project, and the Princeton Preceptorial of the Air. During the 1950s, the
collection becomes more varied, adding the Princeton 54 through 56 series produced by
NBC, the Tigertones, and Chapel Choir, the Glee Club, field trips with Professor Glenn
Jepson (Department of Geology), and material featuring Adlai Stevenson, Herbert Hoover,
and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Audiovisual material from the 1960s includes the Chamber
Chorus, Gauss Seminars, a 1960 Princeton newsreel, Governor Rockefeller, Bill Bradley,
and the Woodrow Wilson School dedication.
Items from the 1970s reflect the turbulent era with the 1970 Princeton strike, and
Anti-ROTC demonstration, and a contemporary music concert. The Gauss Seminars continue
during the decade. Other items are faculty meetings, public lectures, the Special
Committee on Sponsored Research, a Judicial Committee hearing, and the Symphonic Band.
There are many taped series in the 1980s, including such diverse topics as: Dennis
Sullivan interviews with Princeton University Alumni, “The Photograph & the American
Indian,” molecular biology, Near Eastern studies, a US-Japanese trade conference, a
Medicare conference, a Raphael symposium, Latin American studies, a global logistic
symposium, the Woodrow Wilson School's Leadership in the Modern Presidency and Women
Executives in State Government series, and regional and conservation symposium. Items
from the 1990s include Martin Luther King Day celebrations, Toni Morrison, Nobel
laureate in literature, “Defining Moments: Princeton at 250, Andrew Wiles, a student
interview of members of Two Dickinson Road Vegetarian co-op, Princeton 250th anniversary
Charter Weekend concert (“A Tribute to the Performing Arts”), and Princeton Conference
of Higher Education.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
Materials that do not pertain to student academic performance or discipline, trustee
issues, or faculty personnel matters are open, with the exception of the interviews
conducted by Dennis Sullivan (items 0273-0307). Permission required of interviewee or
closest surviving relative or Secretary and General Counsel of the Universit1y in
order to use the Sullivan interviews.
Restrictions are noted in the item-level database.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material
from the collection must be requested from the University Archivist. Copyright is
held by the Trustees of Princeton University.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Mudd library does not have the facilities to view or listen to this material, and
obsolete formats will need to be converted to a current format at the patron's
expense before a reproduction can be made. Patrons should allow approximately four to
six weeks for reproductions, especially if outdated formats are involved.
Preferred Citation
Historical Audiovisual Collection; 1912-2012 (mostly 1945-1996), Princeton University Archives, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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