Site Search

After a fire destroyed Nassau Hall in 1802, Princeton alumnus Joseph Clark canvassed Virginia on a nine-month fundraising mission. Throughout the trip, Clark relied on the hospitality and financial contributions of fellow Princeton alumni and their connections among Virginia’s slave-owning elite.

Patriot and theologian Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803) vigorously opposed slavery throughout his life. Paradoxically, his antislavery theology was inspired by his mentor, the slave-owning Princeton president Jonathan Edwards Sr.

As the institution of slavery slowly declined in 18th and 19th-century New Jersey, the Trustees of 1820 reflected the changing face of pro- and antislavery thought in the state—variously owning slaves, supporting gradual emancipation or African colonization, and advocating for immediate abolition.

Henry Kollock (1778-1819) was a Princeton professor, pastor, and slave owner. He appeared in the first fugitive slave narrative: Life of William Grimes, a Runaway Slave.

Jonathan Edwards Jr. (1746-1801), the son of early America’s preeminent theologian and Princeton’s third president, strongly opposed slavery throughout his life and career as a minister—becoming a leading antislavery activist of the 18th century and one of the few abolitionists Princeton ever produced.