News from
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Communications and Publications, Stanhope Hall
Princeton, New Jersey 08544
Tel 609/258-3601; Fax 609/258-1301
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Sept. 6, 1996
Contact: Jacquelyn Savani (609) 258-5729
"Recall Those Days of Gladness: Autograph Books and Scrapbooks From the 19th Century"
New Exhibit Opens at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
Princeton, N.J.--When Uncle Charley pulls out his 8mm Sony camcorder at the family picnic and starts pointing it at his relatives, he's not doing anything that people have not done for hundreds of years--only the technology has changed. A new exhibit at Princeton's Mudd Manuscript Library, "Recall those days of gladness: Autograph books and Scrapbooks from the 19th Century" features items that Princeton students used to capture memories of their time at the College of New Jersey.
The autograph books are filled with good wishes from fellow students, some of whom like Woodrow Wilson, would go on to great reknown. Others contain observations that reflect the fact that in some ways, college students are still the same. "No more of this old set of fogeys," wrote one student to another in 1856 commenting on the faculty. Those from the Civil War era display students' deep allegiences not only to their states and the cause of Union or secession, but also to one another.
The scrapbooks on display contain mementoes and keepsakes from the era, including Confederate currency, the first black and orange ribbons used by student athletes, dance cards and invitations, as well as course exams and schedules. One intriguing item kept by Henry Cook, Class of 1871, was the removable cuffs he wore to a logic exam--with all of the semester's syllogisms written on them! Other items document the rivalry between classes. The Class of 1900 produced a flyer belittling the older yet unlucky Class of 1899 whom they defeated in various campus events: "The baseball game, the rush, the spree/They lost each one, they lost all three/And if there'd been but one thing more/They surely would have lost all four."
The exhibit is supplemented with early photographs and is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Wednesday evenings the library is open until 7:30 pm. The Mudd Library is located at 65 Olden St., Princeton, N.J. For more information, call (609) 258-6345.