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Jehu A. Orr (class of 1857) was a prominent slaveholder, Confederate leader, and colonel during the Civil War.  As the last surviving member of the Confederate Congress, he played an influential role in shaping Civil War memory in the 20th century.

William Potter Ross—a Princeton alumnus, Cherokee chief, and Confederate officer during the Civil War—advocated for Cherokee sovereignty in part by defending the practice of slavery.

Hundreds of Princeton alumni served the Confederacy as soldiers, officers, and political leaders. Yet Princeton’s close involvement with the Confederate States of America has received surprisingly little scholarly attention until recently.

The Civil War divided Princeton as well as the United States along regional lines, complicating the university’s patriotic history of wartime service as students and alumni fought in both the Union and Confederate forces.

As Princeton president John Witherspoon’s children married and left New Jersey, their relationships to slavery were shaped by the political climate and economy of their new homes throughout the North and South.