George Washington's Birthday
Although the federal government didn’t declare it a holiday until 1879, Princeton students began celebrating Washington’s Birthday each February 22 as a major event beginning in 1872.
This quickly became one of the most significant traditions for Princeton students, one often filled with more humor than seriousness. Washington was depicted (sometimes in the company of a tiger) on event programs as a sort of cartoon mascot.
Washington’s Birthday Exercises Programs, 1890s
Celebration of Life
Princetonians have long felt a deep connection to George Washington. Many students walked to Trenton to hear the College president’s oration memorializing him after his death in 1800.
“To walk ten miles going and ten miles returning, and to stand on our feet nearly three hours, was not a small day’s labor. It will be believed, that when we reached the college we were excessively fatigued and hungry, for we had no opportunity to get anything to eat during the day.”
Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith '1769 (1751-1819), Office of the President Records
Click on the image to read the entire oration.
Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee (1756–1818)
Undergraduate Alumni Records
Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee III entered Princeton at just fourteen during the height of the revolutionary movement sweeping the campus. An exemplary student, and a member of both the American Whig and Cliosophic Societies, Lee graduated in 1773.
During the war, Lee commanded “Lee’s Legion,” earning national recognition for his leadership, especially at the Battle of Paulus Hook in 1779. Praised by George Washington, Lee later served in Congress and as governor of Virginia.
He delivered Washington’s funeral oration in 1799, describing him as “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Financial difficulties later sent him to debtors' prison.
“...first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
Alumni Day
Independence Day was celebrated on campus until the 1840s, but a shift in the academic calendar meant that there were no patriotic holidays when school was in session for a few decades. In 1872, students persuaded the faculty to allow them to have George Washington’s birthday as an alternative, giving rise to one of Princeton’s most beloved traditions, eventually morphing into Alumni Day.
Waitstaff at Alumni Day, 1942
Historical Photograph Collection
In 1915, the first Alumni Day was held on February 12 (Lincoln’s Birthday). It was such a success that Princeton decided to hold Alumni Day every year, moving the date to February 22 (Washington's Birthday), changing the character of the holiday celebrations on campus.
In 1955, the event moved to the Saturday closest to February 22. As with other such events, these celebrations relied on the support of staff of color, who were generally not participants themselves, and are often invisible in our records.