Novia Liu (@the_supernovia ), a Ph.D. student and tour guide for “Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution,” guides viewers through a story of one life upended by the Revolution: Annis Boudinot Stockton.
“Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution” runs through July 12, 2026, in the Milberg Gallery at Firestone Library.
#america250
We’re so excited that “Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution” is officially open in the Milberg Gallery at Firestone Library. Commemorating the 250th anniversaries of U.S. independence and the Battle of Princeton, “Nursery of Rebellion” features 94 items that tell the story of Revolutionary America.
The Milberg Gallery is open from 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. Check our story highlight for details about visiting with groups, as well as other #America250 attractions happening on and around campus.
Hallie Graham (@halliemiliag ), a politics student and tour guide for "Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution," discusses her favorite item in the show, an invitation on the back of a playing card.
"Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution" runs through July 12, 2026, in the Milberg Gallery at Firestone Library.
This week in Princeton History, 1891—The solid marble columns designed for Whig Hall are the largest ever turned to date in the United States, at 19 feet 7 inches long and 2 feet 10 inches wide.
As the country celebrates its 250th anniversary, a Princeton undergraduate history course has welcomed students into Special Collections at @PULibrary during the past year for an extraordinary opportunity to study documents from the Revolutionary era and explore Princeton’s role in America’s founding.
“I was holding Thomas Jefferson’s letters, holding George Washington’s letters, every week,” said Princeton senior Luke Johnston, a history major who took the course, “Revolution in the Archives,” last year.
Yena Choe '27, a junior majoring in @PrincetonSPIA who is enrolled in the class this spring, called the opportunity to study American history during the 250th anniversary year a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Students in the course conducted original research that contributed to a landmark exhibition at Princeton’s Firestone Library, “‘Nursery of Rebellion’: Princeton and the American Revolution,” open now through July 13 in the Ellen and Leonard Milberg Gallery.
“Nursery of Rebellion” showcases the library’s rare original Dunlap printings of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, as well as a cannonball found near the Princeton battlefield, among other extraordinary American documents and manuscripts from the library’s Special Collections.
It also features archival items on loan from federal, state and community institutions that help flesh out the local and social history of Princeton in the Revolutionary era, including letters by and about three Lenape students at Princeton in the 1780s from the U.S. National Archives.
The “Revolution in the Archives” course is taught by the exhibit’s curators, Michael Blaakman, associate professor of history, and Gabriel Swift, librarian for Early American Collections.
Both the class and the exhibition focus on gleaning new knowledge from archival materials to add new depth and breadth to what we know about America’s history. “What unites them is that spirit of discovery in the archives,” Blaakman said, where “the direct encounter with the stuff of the past sparks new questions and insights.”
Tap the link in bio to learn more about the course and the landmark exhibition.
#America250
Connecting Modern Leadership with Revolutionary Records
Historical preservation meets modern civic leadership. On April 10, W3R-US board members and elected officials from across New Jersey visited Princeton University's Firestone Library for a private viewing of the renowned Berthier Maps.
As one of the most important primary source records of the 1781 march to Yorktown, these maps offer unparalleled insight into the logistics and geography of the Revolutionary Route. Special thanks to Gabriel Swift, Librarian for Early American Collections, for leading an insightful tour for our representatives from Manville, Rocky Hill, Franklin, and Montgomery.
Understanding these primary sources is essential as we continue to develop the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail.
#NationalHistoricTrail #PrimarySources #Princeton #W3RUS
April 10–11 marked a meaningful gathering of leadership, partners, and communities along the route as the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association convened for its board meeting and special events in New Jersey.
On April 10, we held a Victory Town Soirée hosted by Passaic County at Dey Mansion, the historic site where George Washington first met and dined with Marquis de Chastellux, the third-ranking officer in the French army. The evening brought together Victory Town representatives from Trenton, Scotch Plains, Hanover, Lawrence, Clifton, Franklin, and Montgomery in celebration of shared history and continued collaboration.
Adding a special touch to the evening, living historians portraying Washington and Rochambeau were in attendance, and guests enjoyed wine from Unionville’s Washington Collection. Unionville is also supporting the mission by donating a portion of proceeds from its Victory White, featuring the victory at Yorktown on its label.
Earlier that afternoon, the W3R-US Board and local elected officials from Victory Towns experienced an extraordinary private tour of the Berthier Maps at Firestone Library. Created by Louis-Alexandre Berthier, these maps document the allied march to Yorktown and remain one of the most important primary source records of the campaign. Our thanks to Gabriel Swift, Librarian for Early American Collections, for an engaging and insightful tour. Representatives from Manville, Rocky Hill, Franklin, and Montgomery joined us for this unique experience.
On April 11, we held our first open W3R-US board meeting at Lambert Castle, welcoming Victory Town representatives both in person and virtually from Oakland, Clifton, Franklin, and Montgomery. This milestone meeting reflects our continued commitment to collaboration, transparency, and strengthening connections across the Trail.
Together, these moments highlight the enduring partnerships and shared stewardship that keep the story of the march to Yorktown alive.
#W3R #FollowTheFrenchmen #RevolutionaryRoute #VictoryTowns #Yorktown1781
This is #America250 at Princeton University. 🇺🇸
@atseng1 '26, an electrical and computer engineering major and historical tour guide, walks through the history of Cannon Green and, more specifically, its Revolution-era cannon that was buried muzzle-down in the middle of the heart of campus.
To learn more about historical artifacts in and around Princeton, visit the new @PULibrary exhibit, "Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton & The American Revolution." Tap the link in bio for exhibition hours and more details.
What's your favorite item in our latest exhibition? History senior @_lukejcarroll takes a look at "The Apotheosis of George Washington" (Circa 1785).
"Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution" runs through July 12, 2026, in the Milberg Gallery at Firestone Library.
Huge congratulations to Megan Coates (Department of Art & Archaeology) and Claire Apostoli (Department of Classics) for organizing such an innovative and fruitful 2026 Medieval Studies Graduate Conference. “Seeing Sound, Speaking Images: The Senses in the Middle Ages” brought together graduate presenters, workshop leaders, and performers in a series of panels, hands-on sessions, and performances designed to explore the multisensory dimensions of medieval experience.
The theme considered the vibrant ways in which sound, sight, touch, taste, and smell shaped devotion, knowledge, memory, and identity, and how sensory experiences were translated across media—into text, image, song, and material form.
Organized into four thematic sessions, the conference invited participants into an interactive, discussion-driven format that emphasized close engagement with works-in-progress. Rather than a series of conventional panels, presentations were given in a workshop format, fostering sustained dialogue, collaborative feedback, and cross-disciplinary exchange among presenters and attendees.
From experimental, workshop-style presentations that invited audience participation and sensory engagement, to manuscript study in Special Collections and a keynote concert in place of a more traditional lecture featuring ModernMedieval Voices and DEMESTVO, the conference asked how medieval texts, images, and practices were not only seen and heard, but felt, embodied, and remembered.
The two-day conference was cosponsored by the Department of Art & Archaeology, the Program in Medieval Studies, The Center for Collaborative History, Committee for the Study of Antiquity, Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies, Program in the Ancient
World, and the Department of Religion.
Read a reflection by graduate student Izzy Friesen (Department of Classics) at artandarchaeology.princeton.edu.
In the summer of 1787, 55 delegates gathered to fix the nation’s troubled structures of government. Charged with revising the Articles of Confederation, the 1787 Convention—which included nine Princeton graduates—instead designed a new national government from scratch, one strong enough to pay its debts and act on the world stage. Supporters argued that these reforms were necessary to preserve the republic, for wartime experience had made Congress’s failures painfully clear. But many others thought the Convention had betrayed the principles of the Declaration, replicating the kind of tyrannical state that patriots had fought eight long years to escape.
As contemporaries knew, the proposed Constitution was fragile and imperfect. Crucially, though, it included a process for future improvement. After vigorous debate, the Constitution was ratified in part because federalists promised to address skeptics’ concerns through a series of amendments protecting individual liberties. Now called the Bill of Rights, each of these first ten amendments carries its own legacy of colonial resistance and the trials of war.
This official edition of the US Constitution – one of 14 copies known to survive – is on display as part of Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution," which is open now in the Milberg Gallery at Firestone Library.
