FitzRandolph Gate is a wrought-iron structure that serves as the official entrance of
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, standing in front of
Nassau Hall
Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. At the time it was built ...
on
Nassau Street in
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
. The gate was funded by a bequest of Augustus Van Wickle in honor of his great-grandfather, Nathaniel FitzRandolph, who had donated to the university the land on which Nassau Hall sits. The gate was completed in 1905 and was designed by
McKim, Mead & White
McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...
. The gate remained closed and locked apart from graduation and the
P-rade until 1970, when that graduating class ensured that it would always remain open, "in a symbol of the University's openness to the local and worldwide community."
At commencement each year the graduating seniors process out of the gates to mark the completion of their time at Princeton. A widespread legend exists on campus that students who walk out of the gates before graduation will not finish their degree. In 2004 a tradition was added at Princeton's opening exercises called the Pre-Rade where the matriculating freshmen march into the gates behind the banners of their
residential colleges
A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship wi ...
to mark their entrance into Princeton.
History
Nathaniel FitzRandolph (1703-1780) was a son of the one of the original 17th-century
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
settlers of Princeton. He was instrumental in raising the funds necessary to bring the College of New Jersey, as Princeton University was then known, to the town. FitzRandolph personally donated the four and half acres for Nassau Hall. His great-grandson, Augustus Van Wickle, died in a
Skeet shooting
Skeet shooting is a recreational and competitive activity where participants use shotguns to attempt to break clay targets which two fixed stations mechanically fling into the air at high speed and at a variety of angles.
Skeet is one of the t ...
accident in 1898 and he provided in his will for both the
Van Wickle Gates
The Van Wickle Gates form the ornamental entrance to Brown University's main campus in Providence, Rhode Island. The gates stand at the intersection of College Street and Prospect Street at the crest of College Hill, Providence, Rhode Island, Coll ...
at his alma mater,
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
, and the FitzRandolph Gates in honor of his great-grandfather. The gate was restored in 2005 for its centenary with some original elements needing to be reconstructed. Over 230 pieces of cast metal were replaced and all new and restored parts were made of authentic wrought iron from England, using traditional blacksmithing tools and techniques.
Nathaniel FitzRandolph died in 1780 and was buried nearby in his family plot. In 1909, during the construction of Holder Hall, 32 family graves were discovered. At
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
's direction, the remains were re-interred under the eastern arch of the new hall and a plaque was erected to commemorate FitzRandolph. It is inscribed with the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
phrase:
''In agro jacet nostro immo suo,''
In our ground he sleeps, nay, rather in his own.
Gallery
File:FitzRandolph Gate (eastern secondary gate).jpg, A secondary gate, near Joseph Henry House
The Joseph Henry House is a historic building located on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Joseph Henry, a prominent American physicist who worked in electromagnetics, designed the house in ...
File:FitzRandolph Gate inscription (Class of 1970).jpg, Inscription commemorating the Princeton class of 1970, whose efforts led to the opening of the gates on a permanent basis
File:Fitzrandolph Gate.jpg, Undergraduates avoid exiting the central gate, instead using the flanking gates
File:Nathaniel FitzRandolph Plaque.jpg, A plaque in the eastern archway of Holder Hall commemorating the burial place of Nathaniel FitzRandolph
See also
*
Van Wickle Gates
The Van Wickle Gates form the ornamental entrance to Brown University's main campus in Providence, Rhode Island. The gates stand at the intersection of College Street and Prospect Street at the crest of College Hill, Providence, Rhode Island, Coll ...
, the official entrance of
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
, also funded by Augustus Van Wickle
References
{{Princeton
Princeton University
McKim, Mead & White buildings
Gates in the United States
Historic district contributing properties in Mercer County, New Jersey