The Ban's Main Perpetrator

I was very amused that my father, Neilson Abeel, is still recognized as a main perpetrator of the ban on cars in 1925. I am only sorry that you could not find a photograph of his effigy. He entered Princeton with the Class of 1924, and due to health issues took a year off and graduated with the Class of 1925. After marrying my mother in 1936 he never drove again, much to her irritation.

My father’s other notable campaign was to get Princeton to ban evangelist Frank Buchman from preaching and holding meetings on the campus. President Hibben was the final authority in that instance as well. In light of the current debates over the freedom of speech on academic campuses, I am not sure that the Buchman ban would pass the First Amendment test today.