149Results for "New York"
Stories
Princeton and the Ku Klux Klan
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During the early 1920s, Princeton students came into contact with local members of the Ku Klux Klan. Their interactions with the Klan reveal both curiosity about the organization and anxiety about the following it could develop on university campuses.
Bruce Wright’s Exclusion from Princeton University
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Bruce Wright, future member of the New York Supreme Court, was accepted into Princeton in the mid-1930s. His offer of admission was revoked when he arrived on campus and administrators learned that he was African American.
"The Celebrated Alexander Dumas Watkins": Princeton's First Black Instructor
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Alexander Dumas Watkins (1855-1903), a self-taught biologist, conducted significant scientific research alongside Princeton University professors from the 1880s until his death in 1903. Despite holding no formal academic position, Watkins worked in Princeton’s laboratories and taught courses as the University’s first Black instructor—and the last until the 1950s.
Prospect Farm
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Prospect Farm, today part of Princeton’s central campus, was worked by enslaved people in the 18th and 19th centuries. Prospect House was built in 1851 with money derived from slave labor on southern rice plantations.
Princetonians in Kentucky
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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.
Primary Sources
"Nights of the Nightshirt at Princeton"
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Photograph of members of the Princeton Class of 1920 dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes at the University's 1924 Reunions celebration.
View of South Street, from Maiden Lane, New York City
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An 1827 watercolor depiction of South Street, New York City, where Moses Taylor launched his commission business in the spring of 1832.
"Biology At Avon-By-The-Sea"
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Article from the New York Tribune describing the "Seaside Assembly," where Alexander Dumas Watkins worked alongside Princeton professor George Macloskie.
"Princeton Men Won Sheepskins By Negro's Aid"
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1938 article describing Alexander Dumas Watkins's role as a Princeton instructor.
"Attacks Follow Defense of Klan"
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Princeton professor William Starr Myers compares the Ku Klux Klan to labor unions and other activist organizations in the New York Times.
News
The Princeton & Slavery Project Mentioned on Legal History Blog’s “Weekend Roundup”
Legal History Blog, 11/11/17
Slavery and the American University
The New York Review of Books, 2/7/18
From their very beginnings, the American university and American slavery have been intertwined, but only recently are we beginning to understand how deeply.
$27 Million for Reparations Over Slave Ties Pledged by Seminary
The New York Times, 10/21/19
A New Jersey seminary has pledged to spend $27 million on scholarships and other initiatives to address its historical ties to slavery, in what appears to be the biggest effort of its kind.
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.
Princeton Will Remove Woodrow Wilson's Name From School
The New York Times, 6/27/20
University trustees concluded that Wilson’s “racist thinking and policies make him an inappropriate namesake for a school or college."
Events
Princeton & Slavery: A Paradox of American History
Thursday, May 3
6:30 pm Reception; 7 pm Presentation and Discussion
Princeton Club of NY (15 West 43rd St.)
The Princeton & Slavery Project: What We Learned and How We Learned It
Saturday, June 2
8:45 to 10 am
McCormick Hall, Room 106