These three albums, compiled by Princeton University student John Watson Christie around 1904, contain 219 photographs of college buildings, events, and student life in the early 20th century. Volumes 1 and 2, each 15cm x 18cm, have green cloth covers with the word "Photographs" printed on the front in gold. Volume 3 (18cm x 28cm) has a deteriorating brown leather cover. Each album contains prints of various sizes, usually no larger than 8.5cm x 12cm, and the first two volumes include inscriptions by John W. Christie. A number of photos have come loose from the pages, and a few loose captions are laid into the first volume. An envelope that once housed a letter to Christie, postmarked in 1907, is laid into the second album.
Many of the photographs, including all but a few items in the third volume, are exterior shots of Princeton University buildings, grounds, and unidentified private or university residences. Interior views feature animal skeletons, religious ornamentation, and athletic banners and memorabilia. Most of the remaining items depict social events such as preparations for a bonfire, processions, and graduation ceremonies. Students are often shown in costumes, masks, or women's clothing, and the first two albums contain a few informal portraits of unidentified men and women. Also included are pictures taken during baseball and football games and during a parade that featured Native American costume. Christie also collected pictures of an ornate ship's bell that Princeton alumni presented to the United States Gunboat Princeton and of the Liberty Bell surrounded by a crowd. One photograph of a campus building in the third album is hand-colored.
John Watson Christie was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, on November 7, 1883, the son of Robert Christie and Pauline Clay. The Christie family lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, before relocating to Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh). After graduating from Princeton University in 1904, John Watson Christie studied at the Western Theological Seminary, graduating in 1907; he then studied abroad in Berlin and Glasgow. A Presbyterian, he led congregations in Van Wert, Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Wilmington, Delaware. He and his wife, Ruth Tracy Bigelow (1883-1964), married in 1909 and had three children: Catharine, Pauline Clay, and Robert. John Watson Christie died in 1974. These albums were donated by his grandson, John Christie Dann.
