Princeton and Slavery: Our Original Sin
More than 50 years after the end of the Civil War, a memorial to the Princeton alumni who lost their lives in the bloody conflict over slavery was carved into the marble walls of Nassau Hall’s atrium. Alone among American universities, Princeton chose to commingle the names of Union and Confederate dead without noting which side they had fought for. That reticence, says Princeton history professor Martha A. Sandweiss, grew out of the University’s antebellum history and the deep ties to slavery that shaped a Northern school long known for its affinity with the South.