Summary
Overview
Princeton University. Bicentennial Celebration
Committee.
Bicentennial Celebration Records
17.16 linear feet, 21 boxes and one oversize folder
Abstract
The Princeton University Bicentennial Celebration was a year-long series of
events that began on September 22, 1946 with a sermon delivered by Geoffrey Francis
Fisher, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, in the University Chapel and ended with an
address by President Truman in front of Nassau Hall at the June 17, 1947 Concluding
Bicentennial Convocation. The Bicentennial Celebration Records contain
correspondence, writings, speeches, press-releases, pamphlets, reports, newspaper
clippings, tickets, transcripts, watercolor and pencil sketches and various other
materials documenting the 1946-1947 Princeton University Bicentennial
Celebration.
Description
Description
The Bicentennial Celebration Records contain material documenting the planning
and organization of the yearlong festivities by the Bicentennial Committees, as
well as material relating to the conferences, convocations, and other events
that were held in honor of Princeton’s 200th anniversary. The records contain
correspondence, writings, speeches, reports, pamphlets, newspaper clippings,
press releases, transcripts, tickets, and decorative water color and pencil
sketches and various other materials documenting the Bicentennial Celebration.
Please see series descriptions in contents list for additional information about
individual series.
Collection Creator
History
The 1946-1947 Princeton University Bicentennial Celebration was an en masse
celebration of Princeton’s past, present and future. The campus welcomed a spectrum
of guests, ranging from members of the University and its surrounding community, to
representatives of several national and international academic, private, and public
organizations and institutions.
The yearlong series of events began on September 22, 1946 with a sermon delivered by
Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, in the University Chapel and
ended with an address by President Harry S. Truman in front of Nassau Hall at the
June 17, 1947 Concluding Bicentennial Convocation. The events were divided into two
major parts comprising 16 conferences and 5 convocations. The events were
interlinked by personnel and dates. Many participants of the conferences received
honorary degrees at the Convocations.
The series of conferences were organized by Dean of the Faculty J. Douglas Brown ’28
and Whitney J. Oates ’25, with the assistance of the Princeton Faculty Committee,
and extended from September 1946 through May 1947. Overseen largely by Princeton
professors, the conferences covered a broad range of topics in the humanities,
social and applied sciences, and engineering.
The convocations were arranged in the traditional format of past academic
anniversaries, with a host of greetings, receptions, and entertainment, but on a
much more elaborate scale. The festivities began on September 22, 1946 in the
University Chapel with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s sermon. At the conclusion of
the service, the Archbishop was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree and
the first Bicentennial Medal. The medal was designed by John R. Sinnock, medalist to
the United States Treasury, and was presented to all official guests and delegates
who attended the ceremonies during the year.
The Charter Day Convocation commemorated the signing of the College’s First Charter.
After Dean of the Chapel Robert R. Wicks’ invocation, President Harold Dodds
delivered a speech in which he recounted John Witherspoon’s influence on him and
cited a passage from Witherspoon’s Civil Society. Afterwards, Dodds conferred
honorary degrees to twenty-two men and one woman, most of whom participated in the
first series of the Bicentennial Conferences. The Convocation came to a close with
the singing of Isaac Watt’s Ninetieth Psalm, which has
become a tradition at Princeton.
The Alumni Day and Spring Convocation followed the same pattern as the first two
events. The Alumni Day included the second address made by President Dodds on the
benefits of a liberal education. Chairman Douglas Horton gave the sermon at the
luncheon and Secretary of State George C. Marshall made his first public address to
a throng of alumni and special guests. During these two events a total of 54
honorary degrees were awarded.
The Bicentennial Year reached its pinnacle with the Concluding Bicentennial
Convocation (June 14-17, 1947). The festivities extended into four eventful days
beginning with the dedication of the Herbert Lowell Dillon Gymnasium. In the
afternoon, the Princeton baseball team defeated Yale 1-0, and that evening, the Glee
Club performed at McCarter Theater in the musical Going
Back. Sunday’s festivities began in the University Chapel with a Service
of Remembrance. In the evening, those in attendance gathered at Dillon Gymnasium to
hear the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Monday began with a Service of Dedication at the
University Chapel followed by the dedication of the Harvey S. Firestone Library.
That afternoon, a formal reception for visiting delegates was held in addition to
other celebratory parties and dinners. Celebrations culminated on Tuesday with an
invocation ceremony, which included speeches by President Dodds and President
Truman. The ceremony also included a procession of academics from various American
and foreign institutions and the awarding of 32 honorary degrees.
In addition to these main events, many other activities made the year memorable. From
the opening of the Bicentennial, music played a significant role in celebrating the
spirit of the events. Princeton’s Glee Club and Chapel Choir performed at various
times for the convocations and other events, and the Pro Arte Quartet and Boston
Symphony Orchestra played on campus.
Theatre Intime provided comical relief in their rendition of the 1869
Princeton-Rutgers football game. The Triangle Club also lent their talent with the
annual musical, Clear the Track. Various exhibitions
were on display in different locations around the Princeton University campus,
neighboring Trenton, and New York City. The Louis Clark Vanuxem Lectures, Spencer
Trask Lectures, and Cyrus Fogg Brackett Engineering Lectures were delivered by
various honorary degree recipients, as were the six forums organized by the Student
Christian Association led by six of the Bicentennial preachers.
The Bicentennial organizers included such distinguished figures as Walter E. Hope
’01, Whitney Darrow ’03, and Col. Arthur E. Fox ’13. As the Bicentennial Celebration
planning grew so did the committees, to include over 200 members and more than 350
coordinators for the conferences alone. Those planners also included undergraduate
and graduate students and members of the faculty, administration, and alumni. They
coordinated their efforts with various national and international academic, private,
and public organizations.
Collection History
Acquisition
Exact date of acquisition is unclear, see Custodial History section for more
information.
Custodial History
It appears that Colonel Arthur E. Fox ’13 maintained the files of the
Bicentennial Celebration and gave the records to Firestone Library at some point
before his departure in 1956. Once the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library was
constructed in 1976, all University Archives collections located at Firestone
Library were transferred to the Mudd Manuscript Library.
Archival Appraisal Information
Appraisal has been conducted in accordance with Mudd Manuscript Library
guidelines.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Rosalba D. Varallo
with the assistance of Page Dykstra ’06 and Pardon Makumbe ’07. Finding aid
written by Rosalba D. Varallo.
Box 21 added by Christie Peterson in May 2012.
Bibliography
The Princeton Bicentennial Year, 1946-1947 A
Summary; Charles G. Osgood, Lights In Nassau
Hall: A Book of the Bicentennial Princeton 1746-1946; and Alexander
Leitch’s A Princeton Companion were consulted
during the preparation of the biographical note.
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Subject Terms
Genre Terms
Related Material
Princeton University Bicentennial Conferences (P03.73.17) include speeches given
by various speakers during the first and second series of conferences.
The Historical Photograph Collection includes photographs of the Bicentennial
Celebration.
The Department of Art and Archaeology Records (AC140) detail the Bicentennial
Conference on "Scholarship and Research in the Arts" located in Box 3.
The Edward M. Earle Papers (MC020) contain information on the "Development of
International Socialism" Conference.
The Ferdinand Eberstadt Papers selected correspondence and related material on
the Bicentennial Celebration are located in Box 61.
The Department of Grounds and Buildings Technical Correspondence Files (AC035)
contain correspondence in regards to proposals for a new memorial or
Bicentennial library.
The Office of the President’s Records (AC117) contains correspondence to and from
Arthur E. Fox to President Dodds in regards to the Bicentennial Celebration
located in Box 208, Folder 4.
The Physics Department Records (AC133) include speeches given by various physics
scholars during the Conferences.
The Henry Norris Russell Papers (C0045) contain information on "The Future of
Nuclear Science" Conference.
The Student Christian Association Records (AC135) consist of information on their
six forums led by Bicentennial preachers located in Box 26, Folder 9.
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