The English Department of Princeton University was founded by University President Woodrow Wilson in 1904. Although courses in English and American literature had been offered at Princeton since as early as 1864, the Department flourished after Wilson's appointment of seven distinguished Preceptors of English in 1905. Since that time, Princeton has remained one of the top English faculties in the nation, recognized especially for its combined emphases on scholarship and teaching. Through the twentieth century the Department has been noted for its contributions to philology, literary history, American Studies, literary theory, and most recently, feminist scholarship and theory. Graduate study has been a major component of the Department's life since the foundation of the Graduate School (1901), and English has always remained one of the University's most popular undergraduate concentrations.
From the guide to the Department of English Records, 1872-2003, (Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections)
