Description
Description
The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs records document
the founding and development of Princeton University's professional public
policy school. The records contain the correspondence of the various
administrators of the school and its affiliated research sections and centers;
subject files originating from the administrative offices; the school's annual
reports to the President; and records of many of the Public Affairs Conference
courses. Also included among the records are files documenting some of the
school's activities outside of the scope of undergraduate and graduate education
such as the Rockefeller Public Service Awards, Local Government Surveys, and
conferences.
In addition to paper records the collection also contains photographs, audio, and
video.
Please see series descriptions in contents list for additional information about
individual series.
Collection Creator
History
The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University
is a professional school dedicated to the preparation of undergraduate and graduate
students for careers in public policy and government. Offering undergraduate
bachelor of arts degrees, master's degrees in public policy and public affairs, and
doctoral degrees, the school maintains a faculty of approximately 50 professors and
admits less than 100 undergraduates on a selective basis every year.
Though it would be nearly 30 years before the institution would open its doors, the
idea for such a school was born during the tenure of Woodrow Wilson, the
University's 13th president. It was Wilson who in a 1903 letter to Andrew Carnegie
wrote of his vision for "a School of Jurisprudence and Government…a school of law,
but not in any narrow or technical sense: a school, rather, in which law and
institutions would be interpreted as instruments of peace, of freedom, and of the
advancement of civilization."
Almost immediately following Woodrow Wilson's departure from the University in 1910
the United States entered into a period of global conflict previously unseen, out of
which emerged new perceptions about America's own place in the international sphere.
Likewise, unparalleled economic growth in the post-War era raised awareness of the
need for more soundly formulated fiscal policy on the state and national level.
During this time the idea for a School of International Affairs and Public Policy
germinated in the minds of University trustees, alumni and administration, with some
becoming convinced that such a program of study was an absolute necessity if
Princeton was to maintain its commitment to Wilson's oft-repeated phrase "Princeton
in the Nation's Service."
One such individual was trustee William Church Osborn, Class of 1884. In the 1920s
Osborn was a leading member of the Trustees Special Committee on a Law School, which
despite strongly recommending such a school, watched as the costly initiative was
lost amid a flurry of campus building activity. In 1928 shortly before the
disbanding of the Committee, Osborn informally assembled the group to discuss a
separate but related proposal, that of a school of public affairs. Osborn, himself a
lawyer and president of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad, found an ally in
fellow trustee and lawyer Albert G. Milbank, Class of 1860. The two men, chairman
and vice-chairman respectively of the Princeton Fund Committee, enjoyed a generous
advantage in that they were intimately connected to the University's highest
governing body as well as one of its major sources of revenue.
The timing for such a deliberative meeting was apt, as several months later, Albridge
C. Smith, Jr., president of the Class of 1903, approached the Princeton Fund
Committee (in January 1929) with an offer of $25,000 from his class for the
establishment of a memorial to Woodrow Wilson. Compelled by persuasive arguments
from Osborn and Milbank, the Princeton Fund Committee agreed to direct the gift
towards a school of public and international affairs, and throughout the remainder
of 1929 called upon University faculty and alumni in the public service for advice
on a curriculum, as well as to cultivate potential donors and trustees. In October
of that year the Board of Trustees and president John Grier Hibben formally
established the Special Committee on the School of Public and International Affairs.
One month later the first draft of a plan for such a school was presented to the
Trustees, and after a series of revisions it was adopted unanimously on January 9,
1930.
Of the numerous challenges facing the Committee after its inception none were as
daunting as the selection of an able administrator to lead the school and formulate
an entirely new curriculum. In preparing for this task, the Committee made a
conscious decision to seek an individual from outside the ranks of Princeton's
faculty, sending a clear message that the School of Public and International Affairs
was going to be an educational institution radically different from any other at the
University. A likely candidate emerged in the form of DeWitt Clinton Poole, a United
States consul general stationed in Berlin. Along with Princeton alumnus and fellow
diplomat, Norman Armour '09, Poole drafted a blueprint for a school of public and
international affairs which formed much of the basis for the Committee's eventual
submitted plan. With his finger on the pulse of international affairs and diplomacy
in post-war Europe as well as an able diplomat and administrator, Poole possessed
the qualities that would ostensibly be required of the school's initial chairman.
His appointment in late 1929 as chair of the school's advisory board and as its
first director three years later came with glowing recommendations from such
prominent statesmen as Charles Evans Hughes.
The initial curriculum of the school as outlined by the committee's proposal was
conspicuously broad. Rather than focusing upon specific issues and areas of
political science and affairs as was the trend at many institutions, undergraduates
of the Woodrow Wilson School would embark upon an interdisciplinary course of study
that included history, political theory, language, and economics. This manner of
instruction was informed by Poole's own experiences as a diplomat, as evidenced in
his statement to Hibben that "The need is for a broad culture which will enlarge the
individual's mental scope to world dimensions."
Rather than a wholesale abandonment of the four-course departmental major plan then
in place for undergraduates, it was decided that the course of study at the School
of Public and International Affairs would be integrated into the regular
undergraduate curriculum. Students were to enroll in introductory courses in one or
more of the three existing social studies departments; history, political science,
or economics. Upon completion of the sophomore year, students would then apply to
the school, which would select between 80 and 100 of the most qualified students
from the pool of applicants. If not admitted as juniors students could reapply in
their senior year. The system allowed students to select a major of their choosing
and take a wide variety of courses in their freshman and sophomore years, reaching
the School of Public and International Affairs in their junior year with a broad
interdisciplinary academic foundation already in place.
The second notable feature of the curriculum of the School of Public and
International Affairs and one that would become an institutional hallmark was the
Conference on Public Affairs. The brainchild of Poole, the Conference on Public
Affairs was a uniquely designed undergraduate course that served as the centerpiece
of the curriculum. Each Conference was focused on a singular issue or problem, often
drawn from current events, and the students enrolled in the conference were charged
with discussing, describing, and offering theoretical resolutions to the topic.
Often punctuated by guest visits and participation from diplomats and policymakers,
the conferences were widely considered to be the school's most valuable training
tool, especially as many of the conference topics foreshadowed the issues that could
come to dominate the professional lives of the school's graduates.
A final concern to those charged with the establishment of the school, albeit a major
one, was the selection and appointment of a capable faculty to instruct the students
and carry out the vision of public affairs education prescribed by Poole, Armour,
Osborn, and Hibben. The resulting group included individuals from academia as well
as diplomats and others involved in the realm of public and international affairs,
many of whom received dual appointments to both the school and to one of the social
studies departments.
Though the school's primary focus at the time of its founding was undergraduate
education, it was also envisioned as an institution that would eventually play a
role in public policy research and graduate studies. In the case of the latter,
several early research programs contributed greatly to the School's survival.
Notable among these were a series of government surveys undertaken by a committee of
faculty at the behest of New Jersey governor A. Harry Moore, who in 1932 was seeking
ways to relieve the state's financial woes at the height of the Great Depression.
Two additional research units, the Office of Population Research and the Radio
Research Project, were both established in 1936. Each of these units made valuable
contributions to domestic and international affairs, and in 1951 the Center of
International Studies was added, an expansion of research interests which was
accompanied by a notable growth in the size of the faculty.
Begun in 1931 at the time of the school's founding, the initial graduate program of
the School of Public and International Affairs was loosely defined and small in
size. In the first three years of the school's existence only 12 Master of Arts
degrees were awarded, primarily to undergraduates of Princeton who remained to study
at their own expense. In 1933 the graduate program was discontinued and two years
later a faculty committee recommended a new program, consisting of a one-year
certificate and a two year Master in Public Affairs degree. Despite this
recommendation, the graduate program was reinstated by the Board of Trustees in a
form very similar to that in which it had previously existed, namely as a two-year
Master of Arts degree subject to completion of the general examinations in one of
the three social science fields. It was only much later in 1948 when the graduate
program was restructured once again according to the recommendations of the faculty
that a Master in Public Affairs program was instituted.
Despite the relative success of the fledgling school during its first decade of
existence, the leadership of DeWitt Clinton Poole was often questioned by faculty
who felt that the former diplomat was ill-suited for such an academic environment
and that the School's curriculum was underdeveloped and a distraction. It was
primarily the endorsement of University president Harold W. Dodds, a politics
professor himself, which prevented outright dissension. Its popularity with
undergraduate students also provided a measure of credibility unforeseen.
Nonetheless, in late 1938 Dodds convened an administrative subcommittee to
investigate possible adjustments to the School's organization. The resulting report
called for the establishment of the School of Public and International Affairs as a
scholastic entity unto itself, away from the existing social science departments. In
practice, this meant that juniors and seniors enrolled in the school would select
courses and complete their theses under the auspices of the school and its faculty,
rather than precariously balancing the school's academic demands with that of
another department. Recognizing that the institution was on the verge of a shift in
direction, Poole resigned his post in February 1939. He was replaced by Dana Gardner
Munro, chairman of Princeton's Department of History.
With a fresh administration in place, Munro and the growing faculty turned to two
issues which had remained unresolved since the school's founding. The first of these
was the School's facilities. Since its inception the School of Public and
International Affairs had operated out of two locations, Dickinson Hall, and Whig
Hall. The former housed the main offices of the school; the latter housed additional
offices as well as the Policy Conference course. One of Munro's first actions as
director was to purchase the Arbor Inn, a recently closed eating club on Ivy Lane.
The organization of the school's administrators under a single roof provided a level
of cohesion and accessibility previously unknown.
After the move to a dedicated facility in 1940, the school essentially remained in a
state of stasis throughout the remainder of the Second World War, with many faculty
and students departing to serve in the armed forces. After 1945 however, the
administration turned its thoughts to another lingering concern: that of formally
acknowledging the school's existence as a memorial to Woodrow Wilson. Although the
school had come to fruition with funds originally designated for a memorial to
Wilson, Edith Bolling Wilson, the former president's second wife and widow,
expressed concerns about her husband's name being associated with an entity which
had not yet proven financially solvent. Efforts by trustees and administrators to
raise a substantial endowment had been stymied by depression and mobilization for
war, and the school operated under a deficit every year until 1941. In 1935 the
trustees adopted a confidential resolution stating that the school should be named
for Wilson once a sufficient endowment had been raised and a suitable building
constructed. The University's Bicentennial fundraising campaign yielded $2 million
for such a purpose and Wilson's widow was convinced that the institution was worthy
of her husband's name, largely through the intercession of Dodds. The school was
officially renamed the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs by
the trustees in 1948, coinciding with the adoption of the faculty's recommendations
for a graduate professional program. Two years later in 1951 ground was broken on
Woodrow Wilson Hall. Though the aesthetics of the red brick and limestone structure
on Washington Road's were frequently contested, when the building opened the next
year none could deny its utter functionality.
A final notable development at the school under Munro's leadership was the 1952
institution of the Rockefeller Public Service Awards, established with a gift from
John D. Rockefeller III to "give special recognition to outstanding public service
by civilians in the Federal Government and to establish incentives for the
continuance and advancement of those in the service." The awards, given annually,
provided recipients with funding for a six to twelve month period of study at the
institution of their choice.
After nearly a decade of relative stability in Woodrow Wilson Hall, the Woodrow
Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1960 embarked upon its period
of greatest expansion yet. The spark which initiated such growth came in the form of
an anonymous donation of $35 million to the School in 1961, the largest single gift
ever given to any American university. The donor and his wife, simply referred to as
the "X Foundation," outlined a set of criteria for the gift, focusing upon the
expansion of the school's graduate program. The identity of the donors, known only
to President Dodds and Woodrow Wilson School director Gardner Patterson, were
Charles and Marie Robertson. Charles, Class of 1926, was a banker. Marie's father
had helped to found the A&P chain of grocery stores. Despite anonymity,
Robertson was not content to allow the massive gift to be distributed at the whim of
the school's administration. He took an active role in arguing the case for new
post-graduate educational opportunities including mid-career professional training
programs for those already in the public service. In general the curriculum
additions brought about by the Robertson Gift emphasized a shift from an academic
education to true professional development for those in the graduate program.
Unhappy with this shift, Patterson stepped down, much as Poole had done years prior,
and was replaced by professor Marver Bernstein, the first administrator to hold the
title of Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School.
The most obvious and tangible product of the Robertson donation was the construction
of a new building to house the school. Though Woodrow Wilson Hall was a mere ten
years old, by 1962 it was apparent that space was becoming scarce. In response to
this need, and as a celebration of the School's newfound vivacity, plans for a new
structure to be designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki were initiated. The striking
building flanked by white columns in a deliberate homage to the Parthenon was
completed in 1965, and dedicated in May of 1966 in a ceremony attended by U.S.
President Lyndon Johnson. The building's name was changed to Robertson Hall in 1972
when, after Marie Robertson's death, the identity of the donors was revealed.
Elements of the structure would later be revisited by Yamasaki in his design for the
World Trade Center.
Additional initiatives followed, driven directly or indirectly by funds from the
Robertson Foundation's growing endowment. These included joint programs with the
School of Architecture and Urban Planning, New York University and Columbia
University's respective law schools, the Research Program in Development Studies,
and the Sloan Fellows in Economic Journalism program. Much as it had always done in
the past, the Woodrow Wilson School in the 1970s found itself again reshaping its
course offerings and research interests to reflect current trends, shifting from
international relations and diplomacy to the economic and political problems of
America's urban centers as the Vietnam War limped to a close.
The arrival of a new dean, former dean of the University of Michigan Graduate School
Donald Stokes '54 in 1974 was accompanied by the opening of the new Center for New
Jersey Affairs, harkening back to the Local Government Surveys that had brought the
school acclaim early in its existence. Building upon its past in another sense,
Stokes' deanship, which lasted until 1992, was highlighted time and again by return
visits from some of Princeton's and the Woodrow Wilson School's most prominent and
successful graduates. More so than any other dean before him, Stokes was able to
unite the school's past and future, balance the academic and the professional
aspects of public policy education, and maintain open channels of communication
between faculty, students, and University administrators. When he announced his
retirement from the position of dean in 1992, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public
and International Affairs was a radically different place than it had ever been and
the momentum acquired during the nearly two decades of Stokes' leadership carried on
into the 21st century. The deanship passed to Center for International Studies
director Henry S. Bienen, who served two years in the position before resigning to
fill the role of president at Northwestern University.
The individual chosen as Bienen’s successor was a relative outsider to Princeton,
Micheal Rothschild, the dean of University of California, San Diego’s Social
Sciences Division. The defining moment of Rothschild’s tenure, which lasted from
1995-2002, was undoubtedly the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. As an
institution dedicated to the study of public and international affairs, the Woodrow
Wilson School stood singularly poised on campus as a body which might be able to
provide some context for what seemed to many a senseless act of violence. As early
as the afternoon of September 11th the school implemented a steady program of
roundtable discussions, conferences, speaking engagements, and eventually course
offerings designed to make sense of domestic and international policy in the
post-9/11 era.
When Rothschild returned to full-time teaching and research in 2002, he was succeeded
by Anne-Marie Slaughter '80, who became the first alumna of the Woodrow Wilson
School to serve as its dean.
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