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Cezar Trent, one of the elite free black citizens of antebellum Princeton, was the employee of a prominent landowner, the object of a town resident's published recollections, and a slave owner.

The Witherspoon-Jackson community, centered around Witherspoon Street, comprised the heart of Princeton’s African-American community during  the 19th century.

Peter Scudder rose from humble beginnings to become a successful businessman and a notable member of the free black community in Princeton.

As tensions over slavery led to sectional crisis in the first half of the 19th century, Princeton’s commencement addresses became increasingly pro-slavery in tone.

Local academies in Princeton helped maintain the relationship between the College of New Jersey and the South.