117Results for "presidents"
Stories
Princeton's Slaveholding Presidents
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Princeton’s first nine presidents all owned enslaved people at some point in their lives. Though widely considered to be forward-thinking religious, intellectual, and political leaders in the 18th and 19th centuries, they failed to align their practices with their ideals—embodying the tensions between liberty and slavery that characterized American life from the colonial period to the Civil War.
Slavery at the President's House
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At least five Princeton presidents who served between 1756 and 1822 owned enslaved people who lived, worked—and on one occasion were auctioned off—at the President’s House on campus. During this period, the President’s House was the center of slavery at Princeton.
Princeton in the West Indies
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Under the leadership of President Witherspoon, the College of New Jersey launched an ill-fated campaign to secure donations from slaveholding planter elites in the West Indies.
Aaron Burr Jr. and John Pierre Burr: A Founding Father and his Abolitionist Son
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Aaron Burr Jr. (Class of 1772), the third Vice President of the United States, fathered two children by a woman of color from Calcutta, India. Their son, John Pierre Burr (1792-1864), would become an activist, abolitionist, and conductor on the Underground Railroad.
Slavery in the Curriculum
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John Witherspoon and Samuel Stanhope Smith’s curriculum emphasized Scottish moral philosophy, providing early Princeton students with a new philosophical framework for opposing slavery even as pro-slavery apologists used the same philosophical concepts to defend the practice of owning slaves.
Primary Sources
1850 Census Entry for James Carnahan
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1850 census entry for Princeton president James Carnahan, who employed "free colored persons" in his household in Princeton.
1820 Census Entry for James Carnahan
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1820 census entry for Princeton president James Carnahan, who owned two slaves while living in Georgetown, Washington D.C.
Ashbel Green
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A portrait of Ashbel Green (Class of 1783), who served as the university's 8th president from 1812-1822.
James Carnahan
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A portrait of Princeton's longest-serving president.
John Maclean Jr.
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Portrait of John Maclean Jr., Princeton's tenth president.
News
A Slave Auction, Slave-Owning Presidents: Princeton University Unveils a Dark Past
NJ.com, 11/8/17
The project sheds light on how slavery was a part of daily life for early Princeton faculty and students.
Princeton Digs Deep into Its Fraught Racial History
The New York Times, 11/6/17
Princeton University has a long history connected to slavery, which has remained hidden until now.
Princeton Research Project Explores Past Ties to Slavery
Princeton University, 11/6/17
That a slave sale took place on campus and that the first nine Princeton presidents were slaveholders at some point in their lives are two of the major findings from a sweeping new endeavor by Princeton scholars and students to explore the ties of early University trustees, presidents, faculty and students to the institution of slavery.
Princeton University Launches Princeton & Slavery Website
The Daily Princetonian, 11/6/17
The Princeton & Slavery Project explores how early University trustees, faculty, and students were connected to the institution of slavery.
Princeton & Slavery Project Launches Website
Princeton Magazine, 11/6/17
The project is a remarkable research effort and work of public history that stands to reshape the thinking of both University affiliates and Princeton area residents.
Event Photos
Memorial Plaque - President's House
In May 2019, Princeton University placed a memorial plaque commemorating the 16 enslaved people who lived and worked on campus on permanent display outside the historic President's House.