Welcome fellow Princetonian! (Sounds good, huh?)
Moving to a new home --even the Best Old Place of All--is a pain. It's enough of a challenge finding the bathroom much less figuring out what the words to the Alma Mater are (Princeton is not one of them). The folks at Princeton (now your University!) have had a 258-year head start on developing plenty of quirky traditions that will soon become very familar to you. How to catch up???
Many curious people try to keep track of this Princetoniana, and we're here to help! First, by putting some fun links on this site so you can begin to browse Princeton history. And second, by encouraging you take an Orange Key tour and to learn more about Princeton's past as you become more familiar with the campus.
Until then, have a good time checking out myths (don't miss the squirrels!), people and tales from Princeton's past, and by September you'll be enthusiastically Orange and Black.
Gregg Lange '70
Chair, Alumni Council Committee on Princetoniana
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Required Reading
- Old Nassau, the Lyrics . For more on its his/herstory, visit Old Nassau, History of the Song. And after you've mastered that one, you might as well learn a few other Princeton Songs, courtesy the University Archives.
- School Colors, Orange and Black
- Locomotive. You don't need to be an engineer!
- The Tiger . If the Class of 1879 had their way, we'd be lions!
- Not always known as Princeton. The founding of the college and what we happily avoided. We might have been Trenton State, or worse!
- Nassau Hall . It has been a dormitory, dining hall (or refectory), a library, museum, lecture hall and classrooms, seat of the Continetal Congress, British barracks, as well as an administrative building. It has been burnt several times, attacked by cannon shot, serenaded with song, draped in ivy, beseiged by generations of climbers, and much, much more. It has even been featured on a postage stamp.
- Recommended Reading
- Cane Spree
- Fitzrandolph Gates Don't believe those rumors you may hear about the perils of using them for entrances or departures. There are lots of other erroneous information and myths circulating. Don't believe everything your hear. Take an Orange Key Tour early in your Princeton career, for a fairly accurate presentation that may help separate fact from fiction. May. Plus, they usually give you a peek into the Faculty Room of Nassau Hall.
- Cannons, or why those black things are buried in the ground.
- Princeton Traditions and Lore. A wonderful source of much, much more.
- Princeton Search As you might imagine, there is a wealth on online information available through the official Princeton University website. Happily, there is also a great Google search of the entire Princeton website that can help you find all manner of information you never knew existed.
Happy surfing. And here's hoping this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship!