Paving a Way

Caroline Bamberger Fuld and Louis Bamberger  founded the Institute for Advanced Study  in Princeton, New Jersey in 1930. From the earliest documentation regarding the founding, the Bambergers note the significance of a sense of place in their efforts. In the Certificate of Incorporation published in the  first Bulletin of the Institute for Advanced Study  (1930), the founders specify location as central to the foundation of the Institute for Advanced Study. The founders write: "the purpose for which this corporation is formed is the establishment, at or in the vicinity of Newark, New Jersey, of an institute for advanced study, and for the promotion of knowledge in all fields."  Correspondence between Founding Director Abraham Flexner and the Bambergers  reveals that the Bambergers understood these specifications around the placement of the Institute as essential. For the Bambergers, the Institute for Advanced Study became a gift to be given reciprocally to a place in which they had experienced material success.

The first Faculty at the Institute for Advanced Study likewise understood the Institute's place as a critical component of its community and, ultimately, its success.  In a series of correspondence from 1930 ,  Oswald Veblen  advised  Flexner , "The location of your Institute should be such that your group of scholars should be one of several cultural groups...It should never be too large." Even before he officially joined the Faculty, Veblen advised Flexner to seek out locations that provided both the occasion for diversity and a sense of intimacy. His advice speaks to the complicated realities of scholarly life in the twentieth century. Veblen's letters reveal the importance of intimacy in academic spaces in the model of European universities like Oxford and Cambridge that often housed scholars who had been displaced, drawn from international peripheries to cultural centers that afforded the necessary support for advanced research. 

When Veblen joined the Faculty of the Institute, he became instrumental in cultivating a sense of place for the community. In 1934,  Veblen again advised Flexner  on the importance of lands: "There is no educational institution in the United States which has not in the beginning made the mistake of acquiring too little rather than too much land.” As part of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, Veblen went on to lead the charge to acquire and develop lands for the Institute. Between 1936 and 1947, Institute Trustees oversaw the acquisition of over 589 acres.

Today, these lands serve as backbone for the Institute's community of scholars. Their development and cultivation allows for office spaces and housing for scholars, and their recent histories remind us of the power of land as a shelter and a refuge for the dispossessed and displaced.

This StoryMap serves as a navigational tool for those looking to learn more about these histories. However, as the artist and activist Lucy R. Lippard reminds us in the excerpt above, place is intersectional and connected. These stories tell one history of this place. There are many more histories that surround and exist besides these.

Visitors navigating the Institute for Advanced Study for the first time may be surprised to find themselves lingering on Einstein Drive or driving through Veblen Circle. There are scholars in the streets of the Institute for Advanced Study. These roads serve as an important reminder of the historic scholars that paved a way for the groundbreaking research that happens today on the  Institute campus . The roads here allow us to navigate the storied history of the Institute for Advanced Study from its foundation in 1930 to today.

Though many of these roads are relatively recent in their construction, it is important to recognize that the Institute for Advanced Study occupies lands with a much longer history. The Institute grounds have been integral to the stories of many people. The routes are simultaneously a part of the unceded territories of the Leni-Lenape people, the sites of some of the first Quaker settlements of the late 17th century, the grounds of historic marches in revolutionary America, and the home to native plants and wildlife that have preceded these stories. Each of these histories could themselves represent the beginning of the route that led to the construction and the naming of the Institute’s roads.

However, in this instance, it will suffice to begin with the aftermath of World War II. During the war, the Institute grew significantly as government-funded research bolstered key projects of Institute Faculty and as international turmoil saw the Institute take on an increasing number of Members. With the guidance of then  Electronic Computer Project  Chief Engineer  Julian Bigelow , Director  Frank Aydelotte  purchased eleven former barracks in 1946. The structures provided expanded member housing. By the 1950s, the Institute’s newest Director  J. Robert Oppenheimer  saw the need to replace the rapidly aging structures. Architect  Marcel Breuer  reimagined the housing into the structures that Institute Members call home today. As the more permanent structures went up, Trustees oversaw the development of informal streets into fully paved roads. As the streets developed, the Trustees turned to the Institute’s most beloved Faculty as inspiration. As early as 1968, the IAS  Board of Trustees Committee on the Future of the Institute  took part in votes to help formally decide which scholars would be honored with road names.

A full list of potential names from 1968 includes many early Faculty that would later be honored as development continued. Though, as then Director Carl Kaysen noted,  Ernst H. Kantorowicz  posed a particular challenge based on the perceived difficulty of spelling his name. Additionally, as Trustee Julian P. Boyd confirms the Trustees originally chose to avoid choosing from living scholars (which discounted Marston Morse and  Elias Avery Lowe  as viable options in 1968). Instead, street names have generally been named to honor the legacies of scholars past.

In keeping with this tradition, this StoryMap offers a bit more detail in remembrance of the lives and legacies of those scholars. Each road name features a brief biography of its scholarly namesake. Those interested in learning more about the scholars in question or about the construction and development of the Institute are advised to visit the Institute’s archive at the  Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center  located in the  Historical Studies and Social Sciences Library .

Those interested in learning more about the history of the Institute for Advanced Study, including accessing the historic documents cited in this research, are welcome to visit the Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center.

The Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center sustains the shared history at the center of the Institute for Advanced Study. We collect, preserve, and provide access to materials that document the work of our scholars, supporters, and administrative staff. We strive to create opportunities to engage with the Institute’s past and to work collectively towards the Institute’s future.

We welcome feedback, additions, and corrections to this information. If you are interested in visiting the Archives Center or discussing additional documentation, please feel free to contact Archivist Caitlin Rizzo at  crizzo@ias.edu . If you are unable to visit the Archives Center but would like to know more, please visit the Institute's repository of digitized items,  Albert .