Join us for this subject-based tour of "Nursery of Rebellion" as Gabriel Swift, librarian for early American collections, highlights the ways in which the printing press helped unite the colonies and shape the outcome of the American Revolution. Highlights will include the Declaration of Independence, broadsides and weekly newspapers, Thomas Paine’s "Common Sense" and "American Crisis," the Federalist Papers, and the U.S. Constitution. Tours meet in the lobby of Firestone Library. 

Drawing on an array of PUL’s manuscript and rare book collections, this exhibition will commemorate the 250th anniversaries of U.S. independence and the Battle of Princeton, and showcase Princeton’s archival treasures from the revolutionary era alongside documents and artifacts that reveal local experiences of the American Revolution on campus and in the surrounding communities. Exploring the Revolution across lines of gender, class, race, allegiance, and status, the exhibition will offer visitors a range of perspectives on the Revolution’s ideals and contradictions, its anxiety and violence, and its achievements and tragedies.

Curated by Michael Blaakman, Associate Professor of History, and Gabriel Swift, Librarian for Early American Collections.

Milberg Gallery, Firestone Library from April 15 through July 12, 2026. Open to the public. 

Gallery hours: 10am-6pm Tues, Wed, Sat, and Sun. 10am-8pm Thurs and Fri. Closed Mondays.