6. George Goldie
The first campus gymnasium, built in 1859 where Witherspoon Hall now stands, was a wooden barn-like structure that was set on fire in the summer of 1865 by townspeople who heard that a vagrant with yellow fever had slept there. Shortly after newly-arrived President James McCosh expressed his support of organized athletics in 1868, construction began on a new center for physical education and improvement. Upon its completion in 1870, the Bonner-Marquand Gymnasium (with measurements slightly smaller than a modern basketball court) was considered the finest facility in the country and served the College for nearly forty years. Princeton’s first instructor in physical education and director of the gymnasium was George Goldie (shown here), a charismatic Scotsman with a full beard and large biceps who ranked among the greatest gymnasts of the era. Goldie outfitted the high-ceilinged second floor with gymnastic apparatus, climbing ropes, and weights, and under his influence, gymnastics became a prominent intramural activity. He remained director of the gymnasium until 1911, by which time Bonner-Marquand had been leveled to make way for Campbell Hall and was replaced by the larger, more-modern University Gymnasium. At the age of 75, Goldie completed one last giant swing on the high bar before turning in his resignation.
- To learn more about George Goldie, see Café
Vivian picture #7 and 79.
- To learn more about James McCosh, see quotation
#9 and Café Vivian picture #8,
11, 18, 68,
75, 79, 95,
and 101.
- To learn more about Allan Marquand, see Café
Vivian picture #58 and 108.
- To learn more about athletics at Princeton, see
quotation #4, 9, 21,
and 22, and Café Vivian picture #7,
9, 18, 22,
39, 48, 49,
54, 56, 61,
69, 72, 97,
102, 111, 123,
and 126.
- To learn more about Princeton’s athletic
facilities, see Café Vivian picture #7,
48, 49, 56,
61, and 111.
- To learn more about Princeton’s vanished
buildings, see Café Vivian picture #8,
25, 37, 40,
46, 48, 58,
62, 78, and 127.
- To learn more about campus grounds and buildings, see icon #1, 5, and 8, quotation #5, 7, 9, 28, and 39, and Café Vivian picture #4, 7, 8, 11, 16, 20, 25, 30, 33, 37, 40, 46, 48, 54, 58, 61, 62, 67, 68, 71, 78, 85, 87, 95, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105, 108, 109, 111, 118, 124, 127, and 133.