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Memories of Albert Einstein, the most famous of Princeton's Nobel
laureates, can be found by driving by his former home at 112 Mercer
Street.
The Einstein home -- a white frame two-story house with
large front porch in Greek revival style -- is set in a tight line
of other simple white frame houses on almost no grounds. It was the
residence of Albert Einstein from the time he left Germany and joined
the Institute for Advanced Study
until his death in 1955.
Einstein was on a lecture tour in America
when word came that the Nazis back in Germany had added his books to
their bonfires. Universities throughout the free world vied to have
the great Jewish theoretical physicist on their faculties. The newly
formed Institute for Advanced Study won out.
Einstein's arrival heralded a wave of intellectual emigres who enjoyed
the European-style ambiance of the town. The stories that he
helped neighborhood children with their math homework are
probably apocryphal. But he did walk to his office at the nearby
institute every day in good weather and was known to join youngsters
he met along the way in their water pistol fights and other games.
And he took the time to answer scores of letters addressed to him --
even when the writers asked questions that would have puzzled God,
let alone a mere genius.
A modest man, Einstein specifically
requested that his house not be turned into a museum. For years after
his death Einstein's secretary, Helen Dukas, and his
stepdaughter, Margot, lived at there. After their deaths it became the
property of the Institute for Advanced Study (www.ias.edu)
which now has 21 faculty members and 160 scholars from around the
world. The house was dangled as a lure to one of the professors, who
lives in it now. It is
not open to visitors
Souvenirs of and pamphlets on Einstein can be found at
Bainbridge House, home of the Princeton Historical
Society. Located across from Princeton University's Firestone
Library, it functions as an unofficial visitors center
and distributes free walking tour brochures.
On display is a permanent exhibit showing the history of the town. Its
items run the gamut from an actual window from a Steadman-designed
house and tools used by Italian stone carvers to portraits of colonial
dignitaries, and a bust of Woodrow Wilson.
The Georgian brick building itself is one of the most
venerable in Princeton. It was built in 1766 by Job Stockton --
cousin to Declaration of Independence signer Richard Stockton.
Robert Stockton (the builder of the D&R Canal) leased the house in
1774 to Dr. Absalom Bainbridge, a physician. His son William
Bainbridge (who grew up to be commodore of the famous ship "Old
Ironsides") was born here that year. In 1799 Dr. Ebenezer Stockton
bought the house and practiced medicine there while still maintaining
a tanning yard and brew house.
Ebenezer died in 1837 and
Elizabeth Stockton, his widow, kept boarders. In 1877 Princeton
University purchased the home and rented it first to the LaVake
family. Then it became a boarding house for students, and from 1910
to 1967 it served as Princeton's public library. The Historical
Society of Princeton has inhabited Bainbridge House
since 1967.
Inside, look for these elements of Georgian
architecture: symmetry (as in the placement of windows, fireplaces,
and the central hallway), pediments over the windows, chair rails,
cornices, and wide pine flooring. In the 19th century a
Federal-style fireplace was added to the front parlor.
The museum shop offers gifts such as quill pens, books for children
and adults, tee-shirts, paper dolls, post cards, and
Einstein souvenirs.
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Bainbridge House
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