116Results for "presidents"
Stories
Princeton's Slaveholding Presidents
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Princeton’s first nine presidents all owned slaves 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.
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.
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.
The Princeton Immigration Restriction League (1922-1924)
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In 1922, Princeton affiliates founded a chapter of the Immigration Restriction League (IRL) on campus, advocating for restrictions on non-western European immigration into the United States. Though the organization dissolved in 1924, the IRL leaders’ commitment to white supremacy extended into their professional lives as influential 20th-century scholars.
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.
Statue of John Witherspoon
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Cast bronze statue of John Witherspoon, Princeton's sixth president, on the university's main campus.
Aaron Burr Sr.
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A portrait of Aaron Burr Sr., second president of the College of New Jersey.
James McCosh
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Photograph of James McCosh, 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.
Thrive Conference: 'This is our Reunions'
Princeton Alumni Weekly, 11/13/19
During the three-day conference, Princeton’s black community reflected on highs and lows. The complex history of African Americans on Princeton’s campus was a recurring theme throughout the conference.
Ceremony Honoring James Johnson Arch Invokes ‘Ancestors Who Can Galvanize Community’
Princeton.edu, 11/24/18
Many Princeton students and others pass through the two arches and courtyard of East Pyne Hall daily, but on Monday afternoon foot traffic — and time — stopped for a special public ceremony to honor James Collins Johnson, a former enslaved man who worked on campus for more than 60 years until his death in 1902.
Princeton's Complicated Legacy: Reconsidering Woodrow Wilson, and Recalling a Slave Named Jimmy Johnson
Philly.com, 8/9/18
New efforts at one of the nation’s oldest elite universities to embrace and reveal its complicated past and become more welcoming to an increasingly diverse student body.
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.