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Princeton and Slavery Project Records
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Held at: Princeton University Library: University Archives [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: University Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The College of New Jersey was initially chartered in 1746. The first classes were held in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the parsonage of the president, the Reverend Jonathan Dickinson. Upon his death, the College moved to Newark, New Jersey, and was headed by the Reverend Aaron Burr, Sr. Since 1756, the College has been located in Princeton, New Jersey. For the first fifty years, nearly all College operations took place within Nassau Hall. Fires, fundraising difficulties, low student enrollment, and the Civil War challenged the vitality of the College in the early and middle nineteenth century, but the College grew vigorously under the leadership of President James McCosh, and it was renamed Princeton University in 1896. The Graduate School was established in 1900, although a limited graduate program had existed since the 1870s. Princeton enthusiastically supported the country (living up to its informal motto, "Princeton in the Nation's Service") during the First and Second World Wars, offering the expertise of faculty and campus space for training, as well as facilitating the early graduation of students so they could enlist. The post-World War II years brought dramatic changes to Princeton. The size and strength of the University's facilities and academic programs—especially for the applied sciences and public policy—were increased dramatically. Under President Robert Goheen, Princeton began to admit minority students in greater numbers in the 1960s and admitted women undergraduates in 1969. Today, Princeton is widely regarded as one of the top universities in the world.
The Princeton and Slavery Project Records contain both course materials and later project, symposium and performance materials.
Series 1: Princeton and Slavery Seminar Papers and Research Materials includes materials from the undergraduate seminar Princeton and Slavery, HIST 402, such as students' final papers; copies of original documents collected and compiled by the students and instructors at the New Jersey State Archives; and microfilmed sources within Firestone Library. Records also include correspondence about the course with alumni.
Series 2: The Princeton and Slavery Project Symposium includes schedules of events for speakers and the public; event tickets; a copy of the Princeton Alumni Weekly featuring the Symposium; a draft of and program for The Princeton and Slavery Plays at the McCarter Theatre; and correspondence with Martha Sandweiss.
Series 3: Princeton Atelier: Tune Every Heart includes the script and score of a musical theater performance, "Tune Every Heart: The Princeton and Slavery Project in Song" created by students in the Princeton Atelier course "Who Owns a Song? A Theatrical Investigation of Princeton and Slavery" in January, 2018.
Series 4: Princeton and Slavery Project Website links to an archived version of the website, which includes articles, stories, digitized primary sources, and multimedia resources gathered and created during the course of the project. The current capture may not allow access to multimedia elements of the site. See "Find More" for a link to the current version of the site.
Materials remain in the order in which they were transferred to the University Archives.
The first group of materials were transferred to the University Archives in March of 2014, as accession AR.2014.014. Princeton and Slavery Project Symposium Materials were transferred to the University Archives in January, 2018 (AR.2018.002). The Princeton Atelier "Tune Every Heart" script and score were transferred to the University Archives in March, 2018 (AR.2018.022).
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Lynn Durgin in May 2015. Finding aid written by Lynn Durgin in May 2015 and updated by Phoebe Nobles in 2018, 2019, and 2023.
No materials were separated from the collection.
- Publisher
- University Archives
- Finding Aid Date
- 2015
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. The Trustees of Princeton University hold copyright to all materials generated by Princeton University employees in the course of their work. For instances beyond Fair Use, if copyright is held by Princeton University, researchers do not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with use of materials from the Princeton University Archives.
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Collection Inventory
Materials remain in the order in which they were transferred to the University Archives.
Course materials include students' final papers; copies of original documents collected by the students and instructors at the New Jersey State Archives; and microfilmed sources from Princeton University's Firestone Library. Records also include correspondence about the course with Princeton alumni.
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Materials remain in the order in which they were transferred to the University Archives.
The Princeton and Slavery Project Symposium series includes schedules of events for speakers and the public; event tickets; a copy of the Princeton Alumni Weekly featuring the Symposium; a draft of and program for The Princeton and Slavery Plays at the McCarter Theatre; and correspondence with Martha Sandweiss. The Princeton and Slavery Project Symposium took place from November 16-19, 2017.
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Materials remain in the order in which they were transferred to the University Archives.
The Princeton Atelier hosted a 2017-2018 fall semester course called "Who Owns a Song? A Theatrical Investigation of Princeton and Slavery," co-taught by Cara Reichel and Peter Mills of the Prospect Theater Company. The course culminated with a staged reading of original musical theater works created by students in the course and inspired by the history revealed through the Princeton and Slavery Project, entitled "Tune Every Heart: The Princeton and Slavery Project in Song." This series of the Princeton and Slavery Project Records includes the script and the score for the production.
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Script and score.
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The Princeton and Slavery Project website contains stories and articles, digitized primary sources, and multimedia resources gathered and created during the course of the project.
Physical Description4 items
This is an archived version of the site, captured by Archive-It. Multimedia portions of the site may not be viewable.
Researchers may link to the current version of the site through "Find More."
Physical Description1 item
This is a Webrecorder capture of multimedia portions of the site. It offers access to some content not available through the Archive-It capture. Video content may not be viewable.
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Includes emails from interview prospects who are descended from enslaved people or slaveholders, release forms for recording interviews, and a family history of Anderson and Brickler families.
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Seminars were held in Fall and Spring 2013. The coursework of the 2016 freshman seminar included an interview project (see Series 5), contributing to a film by Melvin McCray. Students in the Fall 2017 seminar contributed to the Princeton and Slavery website and participated in the Princeton and Slavery Symposium.
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