research resources

list of 4 items.

• collections

  the following collections are included in the materials held in the archives. for more detailed resources, visit our archives catalog page. for material currently available digitally, links are provided below.
  
  

  • school yearbook, the olla podrida, from 1885 – current
  • school newspaper, the lawrence, from 1890 – current digital copies from 1886-2013
  • preceding school newspapers, the graduate (1881) and the record (1881-1886)
  • alumni magazine, the lawrentian, from 1906 (as the alumni bulletin) – current -- digital copies from 1906-2018
  • other publications, including the lit, face books, and admissions bulletins
  • rare books written by or about lawrentians (lawrenceville authors special collections)
  • photographs of the school, faculty, students, alumni, and events
  • videotapes and dvds of school events
  • recordings, including choral performances, community meetings, and guest speakers
  • documents from various school departments, organizations, and alumni
  • 3-d artifacts, including school memorabilia
  • architectural plans and maps of campus
    student records for all students dating from c. 1890 – recent graduates
    

  
  for access to any of these materials, please submit a research form.
• 

  house histories

  hamill house, shown here circa 1895, was built in 1814.
  
  

  for those researching histories of the houses, the primary resource is the house system at the lawrenceville school, a manuscript first written by a. r. evans in 1963 and updated by virginia chambers in 1990.
  
  

  the manuscript explains the origin of the house system at lawrenceville, the details about how each house came to be built, and for whom it was named. there are also numerous lists of such things as the names of the house presidents and house masters over the decades and the number of school presidents to come from a given house. the archives has a copy of this manuscript available for research.
  
  

  each house also has records stored in the archives, although most of these records are slim and relate to such things as physical renovations of the houses. in addition to the documents, there are photographs of both the houses themselves and their members over the years, as well as architectural drawings.
  
  

  house	form/grouping	date built	named after	other
  haskell (boys)	fifth form	1832 or earlier	fred k. haskell, l. 1901	first classroom building. also served as a gymnasium, society hall, science building and music building. converted to housing in 1955.
  kinnan (boys)	fifth form	1913	alexander p.w. kinnan, l. 1873	originally built as the society building, converted to housing in 1930.
  Upper East & West (boys)	fifth form	1892	rev. caleb smith, grandfather of john cleve green	originally known as caleb smith hall, but common usage of “upper” has prevailed.
  mcpherson (girls)	fifth form	1929	simon john mcpherson, head of school, 1899-1919	originally served as an infirmary.
  reynolds (girls)	fifth form	1988	david p. reynolds, l. 1934
  cleve	circle houses (boys)	1885	middle name of john cleve green	enlarged in 1896.
  dickinson	circle houses (boys)	1885	maiden name of martha dickinson, daughter of jonathan dickinson, first president of princeton college and great-grandmother of john c. green	enlarged in 1895.
  griswold	circle houses (boys)	1885	maiden name of sarah helen griswold, wife of john c. green	enlarged in 1895.
  hamill	circle houses (boys)	1814	samuel mcclintock hamill, head of school from 1837 to 1883, and his brother hugh hamill	the earliest part of the building was built by rev. dr. isaac van arsdale brown, founder of the school.
  kennedy	circle houses (boys)	1889	robert l. kennedy, friend of john c. green and one of the executors of his estate.	enlarged in 1895.
  woodhull	circle houses (boys)	1885, 1892	middle name of henry woodhull green, brother of john c. green	destroyed by fire in 1892, rebuilt same year.
  carter	crescent houses (girls)	2010	mr. and mrs. thomas carter ’70 p’01 ‘05	2nd leed-certified campus building, built by v.j. scozzari and sons.
  kirby	crescent houses (girls)	1987	kirby family	originally unnamed and housed perry ross and cromwell girls. from 1989-1990, called alumni house.
  mcclellan	crescent houses (girls)	1987	bruce and mary elizabeth mcclellan, head of school and wife, 1959-1986	gift of trustee bert a. getz, l. 1955.
  stanley	crescent houses (girls)	1987	stanley family	gift of trustee edmund a. stanley, l. 1943, and his brother, thomas stanley, l. 1945.
  stephens	crescent houses (girls)	1987	wade c. stephens family	gift of trustee artemis a. w. joukowsky, l. 1950.
  davidson (boys)	lower school houses	1930	philip j. davidson, l. 1911, died august 1918 while in service for wwi	all four houses were originally in the old lower school, built in 1924 and officially named the alumni war memorial building. in 1972, davidson and thomas moved to raymond-davis house, built in 1930 and named for long-time faculty member charles henry raymond. cromwell and perry ross moved to dawes house, built in 1929 and named for rufus fearing dawes, l. 1909.

• school history guides

  to date, two comprehensive histories of the lawrenceville school have been written:

  slaymaker, s.r. five miles away: the story of the lawrenceville school. lawrenceville, nj: the lawrenceville school, 1985. call number: lac 373.2220974 sl19f (lawrenceville authors collection)
  
  depicts the history of the school from its founding through 1985 and the head mastership of bruce mcclellan. the index in the back covers only individuals, not buildings or subjects.
  
  

   

  mulford, roland j. history of the lawrenceville school, 1810-1935. new jersey: princeton press, 1935. call number: lac 373.2220974 m898h (lawrenceville authors collection)
  
  covers the story of the lawrenceville school from its founding by rev. isaac vanarsdale brown in 1810 through the introduction of allan heely as head master in 1934. the comprehensive index in the back is extremely useful for locating information on a particular person, building, or topic.

• research tips

  how is doing research in an archive different from other library research? archival materials are generally:

  • unpublished (letters, memos, record books, diaries, notes, etc.)
  • unique, one-of-a-kind, single items
  • often handwritten, so prepare to spend time deciphering
  • old and in fragile condition
  • not organized by subject, but by who created them! ex: headmaster’s papers, papers created by various clubs
  • limited by the collection policy of the archives
  • used only in the archives reading room and cannot be checked out or removed
  • stored in special conditions to limit deterioration

  tips for doing research in an archive:

  • do background research on your topic so that you have an idea what sort of collection you might find information in. an organization’s records? a personal collection? what archives might have such a collection? the lawrenceville school archives have only things related to lawrenceville.
  • remove only one folder at a time and use acid-free paper markers to mark the place where you removed a particular item.
  • keep everything in order as you find it, both folders and items within those folders.
  • handle items carefully. most are one of a kind!
  • if you are looking at unsleeved photos or very old documents, wear white gloves (available from the archivist) to protect them from damage.