Summary
Overview
Princeton University. Alumni Council.
Alumni Organization records
30.51 linear feet, 34 boxes, one oversize folder and various loose items
Abstract
The Alumni Association of Nassau Hall, Princeton's first official organization of alumni, was founded on commencement day 1826. The collection consists primarily of administrative materials such as correspondence, meeting minutes, notebooks and reports belonging to both national and regional associations and their committees, most from the first half of the 20th century. Also contains newsletters, alumni directories, scrapbooks, reunion-related ephemera, photographs, and materials documenting reunions and alumni organization activities from the late 19th century forward.
Description
Description
Consists primarily of administrative materials such as correspondence, meeting minutes, notebooks and reports belonging to both national and regional associations and their committees, most from the first half of the 20th century. Also contains newsletters, alumni directories, scrapbooks, photographs, and materials documenting reunions and alumni organization activities from the late 19th century forward. The earliest items in the collection are a cash book for the Alumni Association of Nassau Hall from 1835, which lists a donation by James Madison in the amount of $20, and a minute book for the same organization, kept by John Maclean from 1826 to 1878. Also notable in the collection are the memoirs of Donald Griffin '26, who served on the alumni council for 30 years.
Collection Creator
History
The Alumni Association of Nassau Hall, the school’s first official organization of alumni, was founded on commencement day 1826 under the guidance of then-Professor John Maclean. From the start, the new organization had the express purpose of “promot[ing] the interests of the college and the friendly intercourse of its graduates” and the understood purpose of coordinating efforts to raise funds for the school. As the 19th century progressed, President Maclean and his successor President McCosh came to rely heavily on alumni for financial support of the college’s growth and likewise, the alumni demanded active participation in the management of the school’s affairs. This growth in alumni influence has been cited as a major reason that the Presbyterian Church lost control over the college.
In 1878, in response to agitation from younger alumni for the appointment of a recent graduate to the Board of Trustees, President McCosh proposed the establishment of an Advisory Council of Alumni, “with power to watch over the requirements for degrees and the state of learning in the college and to offer recommendations to the Board of Trustees, but with no power to pass laws or to interfere with the college funds.” Although his proposal was rejected, McCosh continued to stoke alumni involvement through the establishment and support of alumni associations around the country, which by 1886 numbered at least 17.
Six years after McCosh’s rejected proposal for an Advisory Council of Alumni, the trustees responded to continued alumni demands for representation by electing 28-year-old Moses Taylor Pyne ‘1877 to the board. Like McCosh, Pyne helped establish alumni associations around the country, including the Princeton Club of New York, of which he was one of the first presidents. Among his many other activities as a devoted alumnus (including the co-publication of the first alumni directory and the founding of the Princeton Alumni Weekly), Pyne was one of the creators of the Committee of Fifty, an alumni fundraising organization established in 1904. In 1909, the committee expanded its mission to include the representation of alumni interests and renamed itself the Graduate Council.
In 1920, the Graduate Council reorganized all existing alumni groups, including the 94-year-old Alumni Association of Nassau Hall and the many regional associations, into a central Alumni Association, of which the Graduate Council remained the executive body. After nearly 50 years of existence, the Graduate Council changed its name to the Alumni Council, the name it still uses.
Today, the national Alumni Association, the Alumni Council and the many regional associations and affiliated groups jointly serve over 83,500 graduate and undergraduate alumni of Princeton University. Their activities have expanded – for example, they now offer alumni many educational and travel events around the world – but their missions remain true to that of the 1826 Alumni Association of Nassau Hall.
Collection History
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Christie Peterson with assistance from Eleanor Wright '14 in November-December 2010. Substantial portions of the finding aid were written by Christie Peterson in January 2011.
Bibliography
The following materials were consulted during the preparation of the history section:
Leitch, Alexander. A Princeton Companion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978.
Wertenbaker, Thomas Jefferson. Princeton 1746-1896. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1946.
The Alumni Association of Princeton University website.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research use.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the University Archivist. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Alumni Organization records; 1826-2011, Princeton University Archives, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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Topics
Subject Terms
Related Material
Records of the Alumni Studies Program, one of the Alumni Association's services to its members, can be found in collection AC258.
Princeton Alumni Publications, Inc. Editor's Records can be found in collection AC013.
The Latino Alumni Association of Princeton, while not under the control of the Alumni Association, is considered an affiliated group. Its records can be found in collection AC227.
The records of Concerned Alumni of Princeton, an unaffiliated group that existed from 1972 to 1986, can be found in collection AC305.
Significant additional material about reunions and copies of some of the films referenced in Series 1 can be found in the Princeton University Class Records, AC130.
The personal correspondence and clippings of Donald Worner Griffin '23, who served on the Alumni Council for 30 years, can be found in collection AC242.
Numerous publications and printed items from the Graduate Council and various Alumni Associations and Clubs have been individually cataloged in the Princeton University Library's main catalog under call numbers beginning with P90. (Princeton, Alumni and Matriculates, General), P902. (Princeton, Alumni, General, Addresses Before Alumni Association), P909. (Princeton, Alumni, Graduate Council), P91. (Princton, Alumni, Local Associations), and P92. (Princeton, Alumni, Clubs). A summary of these materials can be found in the description for the Princetoniana Collection, AC108.
Contents and Arrangement
Arrangement
The Alumni Organization Records have been loosely organized into two series according to whether they pertain to the national Alumni Association or to one of the regional associations under its auspices. Within each series, no arrangement has been imposed; the papers remain largely in their original order.
Series 1: National Organizations, 1826-2011
Series 2: Regional Organizations, 1868-2010
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