An exploration of Princeton University’s historical ties to the institution of slavery
About the Project
Princeton University, founded as the College of New Jersey in 1746, exemplifies the central paradox of American history. From the start, liberty and slavery were intertwined. From 2013 to 2024, the Princeton & Slavery Project investigated the University’s involvement with the institution of slavery and ongoing legacies of institutional racism.
We invite you to explore the many stories and sources included here, which reflect the work of more than 50 contributors, the majority of them Princeton undergraduate and graduate students.
News & Events
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Princeton's Slaveholding Presidents
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Princeton’s first nine presidents all owned enslaved people at some point in their lives. Though widely considered to be forward-thinking religious, intellectual, and political leaders in the 18th and 19th centuries, they failed to align their practices with their ideals—embodying the tensions between liberty and slavery that characterized American life from the colonial period to the Civil War.
John Maclean Jr. and Princeton’s Commitment to Sectional Harmony
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John Maclean Jr., Princeton’s tenth president (1854-1868), was a non-slaveholder and held moderate antislavery views. His commitment to attracting southern students to the college and reducing sectional tension on campus, however, contributed to Princeton’s conservatism in the years leading up to the Civil War.
Featured Visualization
Facing Slavery: Princeton Family Stories
Facing Slavery: Princeton Family Stories is a 55 minute documentary written and edited by Melvin McCray (Class of 1974) and produced by McCray and Martha A. Sandweiss on the occasion of the Princeton & Slavery Project symposium in November 2017.
Featured Source
Letter from John Witherspoon Woods
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Letter from John Witherspoon Woods (class of 1837) to his mother, describing a student-led attack against an abolitionist.