Features | Princeton Magazine

“Experience the Battle of Princeton” on Jan. 7

On Sunday, January 7, the Princeton Battlefield Society (PBS) will mark the 247th anniversary of the Battle of Princeton with its signature educational event, “Experience the Battle of Princeton.”

The event will begin at 9:45 a.m. with introductions and comments on the background of the battle. Members of the public are urged to arrive at the site by 9:15 a.m. to secure space and parking. A narrated reenactment of a portion of the Battle of Princeton will begin at 10 a.m. featuring reenactors portraying Crown and Continental forces. The reenactment will conclude by 11 a.m. more

“CelloGayageum: Lunar New Year Celebration” at McCarter

In 2016, Austrian cellist Sol Daniel Kim and Korean gayageum player Dayoung Yoon created a musical phenomenon bridging cultural divides through the universal language of music. Their unique fusion of instruments and musical styles will be showcased live at McCarter Theatre in “CelloGayageum: Lunar New Year Celebration” on Friday, February 2 at 8 p.m. By demonstrating the beauty and richness of South Korean music to audiences around the world, they are redefining what it means to be a global musical act. more

French American School of Princeton Hosts Open House

Interested students and families are invited to join the French American School of Princeton (FASP) for their Winter Open House on Saturday, January 20 from 9 to 11 a.m. This event is designed for prospective preschool through eighth grade students. more

Kwanzaa Celebration Dinner at Grounds For Sculpture

On Thursday, December 28 from 5 to 8 p.m., Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) in Hamilton will be honoring the third day of Kwanzaa. On this day, special attention will be given to Ujima, which means “collective work and responsibility.” The aim of Ujima is to build and protect community, aiding each other and solving problems while ensuring that no man or woman ever feels entirely left alone. more

Upcoming Exhibit at Brandywine Museum of Art Focuses on Influence of Kuerner Farm

Karl J. Kuerner (b. 1957), Pennsylvania Farmer, 1996.

From January 27 to May 19, 2024, the Brandywine Museum of Art will be spotlighting Andrew Wyeth’s artistic connection and inspiration that he drew from the Kuerner family and their farm. During his lifetime, Wyeth painted numerous masterful studies of the Kuerner Farm, which sat adjacent to his own property. more

Cupid’s Chase 5K in Princeton

Attention all runners and walkers! It’s time to put on your sneakers and hit the pavement for Cupid’s Chase 5K in Princeton on Saturday, February 10, 2024. Check in opens at 8:30 a.m. and the starting gun will go off at 10 a.m. more

Princeton Palmer Square DIY Project: Illustrated Recipe Cards

On December 17, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., join the Arts Council of Princeton in its cozy Palmer Square studio to learn how to hand-embellish favorite recipe notes and notecards with charming drawings and written instructions. The workshop is led by teaching artist Barbara DiLorenzo, and all materials will be provided. It is intended for adults, but children ages 12 and older are welcome with adult supervision. more

Volunteers Plant 100 Trees in Lambertville

Sixteen volunteers recently gathered to plant 100 native trees and shrubs along a new section of the Lambertville Nature Trail. The group, including Lambertville Mayor Andrew Nowick, planted a variety of native trees and shrubs including eastern red cedar, flowering dogwood, sweet birch, white oak, and eastern redbud. These trees and shrubs will help to reduce flash flooding from this hillside neighborhood, filter and cool air and water, and provide important wildlife habitat. more

Princeton Holiday Trolley Tours

Image Source: Palmer Square and Princeton Holiday Trolley Tours

On December 9 and 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Princeton Holiday Trolley Tours will take visitors past some of the town’s most significant sites. 2023 marks a complete re-design of the popular experience with an expanded route that will teach participants about the area’s prize-winning thinkers, writers, scientists, and noteworthy history. From Woodrow Wilson and Albert Einstein to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Toni Morrison, this tour is action-packed! more

Neurodiverse Crafting Circle and Social Networking at PPL

On Thursday, December 21 from 4 to 5:30 p.m., Princeton Public Library (PPL) welcomes any neurodivergent individuals who are looking to connect with Princeton community members while working on their own crafting projects (brought from home). The crafting session will be held at PPL’s STEAM Studio. The program is intended for people ages 17 and older. more

S’mores by the Sleigh at Earl’s New American in Peddler’s Village

Every day from 5 to 7 p.m. from December 18 to 22, Earl’s New American will welcome guests to a holiday celebration in the courtyard, against the backdrop of their festive Christmas sled. Guests can enjoy a bonfire, free s’mores, and a cash bar serving hot toddies, hot Washington apple cider (with vanilla vodka and apple brandy), and hot chocolate. Earl’s New American’s full restaurant menu will remain open until 9 p.m. Be sure to snap an Instagram-worthy picture in front of the sleigh and other decorations! Also, take advantage of the extra holiday shopping hours, which means that stores are open until 9 p.m. more

“Where the Wild Things Are” at Princeton Garden Theatre

Princeton Garden Theatre will present a screening of Spike Jonze’s creative film, Where the Wild Things Are, based on the beloved book by Maurice Sendak. The in-person showing will take place on Sunday, January 14 at 10 a.m. The film is approximately 1 hour and 41 minutes and is suited to children and adults of all ages. more

From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

Welcome to your Fall issue of Princeton Magazine.

It’s my job to tell you a little bit about what’s in a particular issue, and this issue is particularly interesting because there is a set of common themes that runs through most of the articles within.

One of the main themes is books, so I will begin by mentioning Stuart Mitchner’s Book Scene where he writes about Dr. Seuss and his 1971 book The Lorax, in which he taught the youth of the day about the oncoming climate change. Stuart also brings our attention to other children’s books on the topic. more

Lake Carnegie

A Princeton Treasure

By Laurie Pellichero | Photography by Charles R. Plohn

Andrew Carnegie portrait by Howard Russell Butler. (Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum, Scotland)

It all began with a portrait. In 1902, steel magnate and noted philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was posing for painter Howard Russell Butler, Princeton University Class of 1876, when Carnegie brought up the many lochs he had built in his native Scotland. Butler, a former member of the University rowing team, took the opportunity to inform Carnegie of the cramped rowing conditions along the Delaware and Raritan Canal, where the team practiced but also had to deal with freight traffic traveling between New York and Philadelphia. This had forced the rowing program to disband in 1886.

Butler suggested a building a dam at the confluence of the Millstone River and Stony Brook, which would flood the swamps around the Washington Road Bridge, creating a reservoir that would be a much better option for the University’s team. According to Princetoniana, it was an idea that Carnegie quickly embraced. more

Q&A with Jonathan Lee Walton President of Princeton Theological Seminary

Interview by Donald Gilpin | Photo courtesy of Princeton Theological Seminary

Jonathan Lee Walton became the eighth president of Princeton Theological Seminary on January 1, 2023. He is the first African American and the first Baptist to hold that position.

Walton earned his Ph.D. (2006) and Master of Divinity (2002) degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS). Before his return to PTS, he served as dean of Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity, where he was the Presidential Chair in Religion and Society, and before that as the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church at Harvard University. more

The People Behind the Books

Dorothea von Moltke and Cliff Simms at home in Princeton.

Labyrinth’s Founding Family

By Wendy Greenberg | Photography by Andrew Wilkinson

“Lo the Poor Bookseller,” H. L. Mencken wrote in a 1930 essay: “The marvel is, indeed that [the bookseller] ever survives at all. It is as if a haberdasher, in addition to meeting all the hazards of the current fashion, had to keep in stock a specimen of every kind of shirt, collar, sock, necktie, and undershirt in favor since 1750.”

The picture of the underappreciated bookseller was brushed up when Jeff Deutsch wrote in the introduction to his 2022 book, In Praise of Good Bookstores: “The good bookstore’s collection comprises books that might have been published a month ago, a year ago, a half century ago, a couple of millennia ago. The attuned bookseller must provide a selection of books of all vintages.” more

Making Medicine Personal

Thanks to precision medicine, medical care is getting personal — highly personal. Described as the future of medicine, precision medicine technologies enable doctors and researchers to analyze what a person’s genes say about them and how that relates to a specific diagnosis. The intention is that precision medicine can provide more accurate care, especially when it comes to cancers, COVID-19, and other rare disorders.

One leader in the field of precision medicine is David C. Fajgenbaum, M.D., MBA, MSc. Dr. Fajgenbaum is an associate professor of medicine in translational medicine and human genetics at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the founding director of the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment and Laboratory (CSTL), which aims to identify and treat patients with Castleman disease, COVID-19, and other cytokine storm disorders. CSTL works to uncover “novel diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutics, identify optimal treatment approaches, and to provide world-class patient care,” as noted on med.upenn.edu/CSTL. more

Migrating Songbirds are Coming to a Sky Near You

By Ilene Dube

In J.D. Salinger’s 1951 bildungsroman The Catcher in the Rye, narrator Holden Caulfield obsesses over where the ducks in the Central Park Lake go in winter. They fly south for the winter, a taxi driver tells him.

Not necessarily, according to the park’s website. “The answer is that most stay put in Central Park, while some will migrate south during the winter months. It is not unusual to see them huddled together around the various bodies of water in the park.” more

The Power of Music

by Anne Levin

It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but I have watched the scene of the Sex and the City episode where Mr. Big finds Carrie in Paris, and confesses that she’s “the one,” countless times. And it never fails to make me weepy.

Yes, it’s touching. But I have realized, over the years, that the reason I tear up isn’t just the acting or the dialogue. It’s the music. And it gets me, every time. more