Princeton Cooperative School Program Records 1958-1977 (mostly 1963-1966)

Summary

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Overview

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Abstract

The records of the Princeton Cooperative School Program document the history of this summer program for disadvantaged youth held at and administered by Princeton University.

Description

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Description

The collection consists of correspondence, classroom material, printed material, reports, minutes, and proposals. The material primarily concerns staff, students, administration, program planning and outcome, budget, and participating high schools. Like materials relating to the Secondary School Science Project and Princeton-Trenton Institute are also included.

PCSP curriculum and the instructors' ideas for and reflections on the curriculum are particularly well documented in reports. Also of interest are materials relating to specific classes and students, which in some cases reflect the progress of and changes observed in students during their time in PCSP and afterwards. The records are comparatively sparse for the years following Judson's departure as program director after the 1966 session, but the 1977 "Survey of College Retention and Attrition in the Princeton Cooperative School Program" provides somewhat detailed information on PCSP sessions from 1966 to 1975.

Collection Creator History

Established in January 1964 as the Princeton Summer Studies Program, the Princeton Cooperative School Program (PCSP) was an Upward Bound program with the purpose of increasing the pool of qualified college applicants from those "disadvantaged by race, economics, or both." Sheldon Judson, Knox Taylor Professor of Geology at Princeton, served as program director from 1963 to 1966. Judson was also chair of the Secondary School Science Project, "Time, Space, Matter," another Princeton program which supplied the science curriculum for the PCSP.

The PCSP was divided into two phases: a six-week summer residential program on the Princeton campus and an individualized follow-up program that lasted through each student's senior year of high school. African-American students selected from the Princeton, Burlington, Trenton, Hightstown, Newark, and Jersey City, New Jersey school systems were the program's primary participants. Students were selected for participation in the spring of their sophomore year and were nominated by their teachers on the basis of strong personalities and the potential to achieve in the areas of social or intellectual leadership. Classes in English, science and math formed the core of the curriculum, along with social studies, language arts, and creative arts. The PCSP was primarily staffed by university and high school faculty, but Princeton undergraduates and some graduate students served as teaching assistants. Teachers from a Princeton University administered program for high school teachers, the Princeton-Trenton Institute, also participated.

PCSP students spent most of the day in class, and devoted late afternoons to athletic activity. In the evenings, students were expected to complete homework and participate in student government meetings. On weekends, participants often went on field trips. Some students held campus jobs. The PCSP was supported by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and in part by Princeton University and the National Science Foundation. The program was phased out after the 1976 summer session.

Collection History

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Acquisition

Sheldon R. Judson donated these records to the University Archives after 1977.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Christine A. Lutz in 2002 with the assistance of Chris Cunningham. Finding aid written by Christine A. Lutz in 2002.

Access and Use

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Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the University Archivist. The Library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection, and researchers are responsible for determining any question of copyright.

Preferred Citation

Princeton Cooperative School Program Records; 1958-1977 (mostly 1963-1966), Princeton University Archives, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Find More

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Topics

• Princeton University

Subject Terms

• African American youth
• Economic conditions
• Education
• Education (Secondary)
• Education equalization
• Education, Cooperative
• Education, Urban
• High school students
• Judson, Sheldon
• Minorities
• Multicultural education
• Princeton
• Science
• Social aspects
• Social conditions
• Study and teaching

Genre Terms

• Correspondence
• Minutes
• Reports

Contents and Arrangement

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Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically by form or topic and chronologically therein.

Request Checked Items

	Title	Date	Container
	Annual Reports	1964 1971-1972	Box 1, Folder 1
	Art Exhibit	1964-1965	Box 1, Folder 2
	Budget	1963-1973	Box 1, Folder 3
	Clippings	1963-1964 1966 1972	Box 1, Folder 4
	Cooperating Schools	1964-1966 undated	Box 1, Folder 5
	Correspondence	1963-1965	Box 1, Folder 6
	Documentary and Photographic Essay	1965	Box 1, Folder 7
	Executive Committee	1963-1966 undated	Box 1, Folder 8
	Faculty and Staff	1964-1966	Box 1, Folder 9
	Freeman, Susan/ PCSP Manuscript	1966-1967	Box 1, Folder 10
	National Defense Education Act Disadvantaged Youth Proposal	1964-1967	Box 1, Folder 11
	New Jersey Education Association	1964-1965	Box 1, Folder 12
	Newsletter	1965-1967	Box 1, Folder 13
	Other Programs	1964-1965	Box 1, Folder 14
	Outline of PCSP Goals and Objectives	1973-1976	Box 2, Folder 1-2
	Princeton-Trenton Institute	1967-1969	Box 2, Folder 3
	Proposals	1963-1966 1972-1973	Box 2, Folder 4
	Reports	1964-1967	Box 2, Folder 5-8
	Secondary School Science Project	1961-1967	Box 2, Folder 9-10
	Selection Procedures	1965 undated	Box 3, Folder 1
	Statistics	1964	Box 3, Folder 2
	Student Placement and Follow-up	1965-1967 undated	Box 3, Folder 3
	Students	1964-1966 undated	Box 3, Folder 4
	Survey of College Retention and Attrition	1977	Box 3, Folder 5
	Upward Bound Proposals	1968 1973-1976	Box 3, Folder 6-7
	General	1958 1965-1967 1973	Box 3, Folder 8