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Stories
Tracing Princeton’s Connections to Slavery: An Archivist’s View
by April C. Armstrong | Reconstruction to Present (1865-)
The work of collecting and organizing primary source material on Princeton’s connections to slavery required coordinated efforts of faculty, students, and library staff. This essay highlights some of the ways Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library staff have provided valuable specialized knowledge for the Princeton & Slavery Project.
Princetonians in Kentucky
by Trip Henningson | Colonial & Early National (1746-1820), Antebellum (1820-1861), Civil War (1861-1865)
Princeton’s early students from Kentucky reflected their state’s ambivalent attitude toward slavery. Though many Kentuckians opposed the institution and the state never seceded from the Union, slavery did not end in Kentucky until the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865. Prominent state and national leaders from Kentucky, including Princeton alumni, also supported the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Tapping Reeve and Mumbet: Abolishing Slavery in Massachusetts
by Suzanne Geissler Bowles | Colonial & Early National (1746-1820)
Tapping Reeve (1744-1823), Princeton alumnus and founder of the nation’s first law school, served as co-counsel in the 1781 case Brom and Bett v. J. Ashley, Esq., which led to the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts.
Stephen Alexander and Alfred Scudder
by Midori Kawaue | Antebellum (1820-1861), Civil War (1861-1865)
Stephen Alexander, Princeton’s first astronomy professor, held moderate antislavery views but denied the equality of Black and white Americans. At the same time, he may have employed an African American man named Alfred Scudder as an assistant on campus.
The KKK and Princeton's 1955 Emmett Till Petition
by Ellen Li | Reconstruction to Present (1865-)
When three Princeton students organized a petition protesting the acquittal of Emmett Till’s murderers in 1955, classmates dressed in KKK robes threatened their lives. Though the campus newspaper and Princeton administration characterized the incident as a “prank,” the event revealed deep divisions on campus over issues of racial justice.
Primary Sources
Database of Student Boarders
2020 | Antebellum (1820-1861)
Spreadsheet including names, class years, home towns, and other information related to Princeton students who lived in off-campus boarding houses.
Princeton Civil War Veteran Database
| Civil War (1861-1865)
Database of more than 600 Princeton alumni who served and died in the Civil War. More than half of them fought for the Confederacy.
News
After 274 Years, Princeton Will Have Its First Black Valedictorian
The New York Times, 5/12/20
Nicholas Johnson, who was named valedictorian of Princeton’s Class of 2020, called the achievement especially significant, given the school’s struggle in recent years to confront its troubled history with slavery.
Journal of American History Reviews The Princeton & Slavery Project
Journal of American History, December 2020
"Of all the available examples, the Princeton & Slavery web site offers far and away the most well-developed and best organized of these digital treatments."
Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Principles to Govern Renaming and Changes to Campus Iconography
Princeton University, 3/29/21
In September 2020, the Trustees of Princeton University convened the Ad Hoc Committee on Principles to Govern Renaming and Changes to Campus Iconography.
Events
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Destiny Salter (Class of 2020)
A Princeton & Slavery Oral History by Christo Ritter (Class of 2020), produced in conjunction with the freshman seminar Princeton, Slavery and Historical Memory (Fall 2016).
Kim Pearson (Class of 1978)
A Princeton & Slavery Oral History by Eli Berman (Class of 2020), produced in conjunction with the freshman seminar Princeton, Slavery and Historical Memory (Fall 2016).
John Roderick Heller III (Class of 1959)
A Princeton & Slavery Oral History by Natalie Nagorski (Class of 2020), produced in conjunction with the freshman seminar Princeton, Slavery and Historical Memory (Fall 2016).