A different Princeton

Perhaps Princeton changed between 1895 and 1905. What I know of my maternal grandfather, Linsly R. Williams 1895, doesn’t jibe with Joyce Carol Oates’ description of 1905 (Campus Notebook, March 6). According to my grandmother, her husband was so poor when he attended Princeton that he had only one pair of trousers. When it was being cleaned, he stood around wrapped in a blanket. Following graduation, he became a physician and devoted most of his life to matters of public health. His specialty was tuberculosis.

In an obituary written by Andrew Imbrie, the class secretary, Dr. Williams is credited with prolonging “the lives of untold thousands.” Near the conclusion, Mr. Imbrie writes: “His classmates pay honor to the memory of one in whose great public service they take pride ... .”