Princeton University - Bric A Brac Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

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Above: Following a serious fire in 1855, the eminent John Notman restored Nassau Hall. Right: The ceremonial mace which was presented to the University by the residents of Princeton. Declaration of Independence and receptions honoring George Washington and Lafayette. On Friday and Satur- day the building ' s 65-foot-high tower was illuminated by floodlights. On Sunday morning, the L niversity ' s opening exercises and the Bicentennial celebration were held in front of Nassau Hall. A large academic procession including the trustees, members of the faculty, and special guests pre- ceded the exercises. The principal address was delivered by Dr. John Baillie, Principal of New College, University of Edinburgh, on the subject Education for Service to God. Following Dr. Baillie ' s address. B. Frank Bunn ' 07, representing the residents of the Princeton community, presented a silver mace to the university as an ' appro- priate symbol of the community ' s continuing regard for the University. The mace will be used in the future at all convocations, and is to be kept at all other times in a glass case in the Faculty Room of Nassau Hall. The entire fund for the mace and display case was raised by popular subscription. After the presentation, President Dodds, giving the third important speech of the weekend, spoke on the sub- ject of the significance of Nassau Hall in Princeton ' s tra- ditions and educational policy. Dr. Dodds then awarded twenty honorary degrees to persons representative of education, the church, and the state. Among the recipients were: John Sloan Dickey, President of Dartmouth Col- lege; Barnaby C. Keeney, President of Brown University- George Frost Kennan ' 25, former United States Ambassa- dor to the Soviet Union; Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary General of the United Nations: Jan Herman Van Roijen, Ambassador from the Netherlands to the United States; and Robert B. Meyner, Governor of New Jersey. The awarding of degrees was followed by the benedic- tion given by Rev. Ernest Gordon, Dean of the University Chapel, after which a luncheon for the degree recipients and guests of honor was held in the University Commons. The Bicentennial climaxed the chain of events begun when Princeton University received a royal charter from George II on October 22, 1746, and opened the follow- ing May in Elizabeth, New Jersey. After the college had moved to Newark following the death of its first president, it became apparent that a permanent home was desirable, and for this reason the residents of Princeton offered a 15

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w». - m m . hi in , I u. U .1 , Ki » NASSAU HALL BICENTENNIAL 1 HE 2 tl )ri l nm i.ks ky of Nassau Hall. Prince-ton I ni- wrsitv ' s original luiilding and one of the few structures in the 1 1 1 1 1 1 thai alter two centuries is still being used for the purposes Eor which it Has original!) planned, mi- cclehrated on Septemhei 22 and 2. ' ). dates coinciding with the opening of Princeton ' s: 211th year. The two-day program was planned as a re-affirmation of the faith of the trustees, faculty, administration, alumni and under- graduates In the principles for which in 1 i 1 the College of New ,|erse was founded, free and equal liberty and advantage of education . . . an) different sentiments on religion not w ithstanding. The celebration was officially opened Saturday after- noon on the steps of the historic luiilding with a ceremony marking the issuance of a commemorative orange and l.l.nk three-rent stamp, the first I . S. postage stamp ever to be printed ii colored paper. The government ' s repre- -enlalive at this ceremony was the s-islant Postmaster General, who gave the response to President Dodds 1 wel- come to the guest- of the I niversity. The main address of the afternoon was delivered l Professor Julian P. Poy d id the History Department. I hat day a message of greeting from President Dodds to all Princeton alumni and undergraduates was mailed in special First Day Covers. Pater Saturday afternoon ;i reception v as given at the President ' s home in honor of the I Diversity trus- tee- and special guests. Saturday night the first of three major addresses, devel- oping the theme of the Bicentennial — Education for Church and State was delivered hv Justice John Mar- shall Harlan ' 20, of the I nitcd States Supreme Court. The speech, given at a Graduate College Dinner, yvas attended hv the I niversitj trustees, senior members of the faculty and administration, representatives of the Graduate and I ndergraduate Councils, officials of Prince- ton Borough and Township, heads of several neighboring institutions, and the recipients of honorary degree-. I i mil dusk until 1 1 :(H) on Saturday evening, the facade of Princeton ' s original luiilding was lighted hv electric candles. This was the twentieth century equivalent of the hand-dipped candles which Princeton students placed in their windows for ceremonies such as the signing of the 1 •

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f V ' ■ « r « »A»ip THE REVOLUTK 0»rWAR MO»U ALU il!l jom, „■„„.—.■ ■ ■ « : H » Mti V.T«UW ° Ltl Ct»TO« «l -. -, T7M - 7 .: 2 - W AS ■I » ■ : i ■ i IEA 5C In the Memorial Room are inscribed the names of the 61 ' ) I ' rincelon men who died in the country ' s tears. trad of land bought with the 1000 pounds they had raised. In 1733 it was decided that the college would be located in Princeton. Ground was broken a year later. In the fall of 1756 seventy undergraduates moved into Nassau Hall, which was named by Governor Belcher in honor f William II of Nassau. It was then the largest building in America. When the British approached Princeton, classes were suspended and during the Battle of Princeton old Nassau 1 1. ill. the site of the Bedcoats ' last stand, changed hands three times. Following the American victory, American troops were quartered in the building. After the war Nassau Hall was the nation ' s capital for four months in 1783. 1 1 was here on August 26th that Washington was thanked by Congress for his conduct of the war and later sat for a portrait which now hangs in the Faculty Boom of Nassau Hall. The frame, originally intended for a pic- ture of George II, was torn by a cannon ball at the Battle of Princeton. During this period the Congress received in Nassau Hall the first en o to the new nation, Peter J. Van Berckel from the Netherlands. Following the Revolutionary period. Nassau Hall, orig- inallv designed b William Shippen and Robert Smith, survived two fires which were believed to have been caused bv student vandalism. After the fire of 1802. John Notman completely changed the style of the building. adding towers at the east and west ends and greatly enlarging the central wing to house the library. In 1855 the building was again burned out. and the following restoration increased the height of the cupola, which, until 1955, was the scene of an annual attempt by the freshman class to stun proctors and sophomores by removing the clapper from the bell, fter the restoration of 1855 the onl major change in Old Nassau took place The ' resident irlf l four of the tirenty degree recipients. First Day (.overs uere popular among local philatelists. 16