NEW BRUNSWICK — Rutgers University plans to rename parts of its campus after former slaves and a library after the school’s first African-American graduate in an acknowledgement of the university’s historic ties to slavery, school officials said.
The Rutgers Board of Governors will vote Wednesday on the new names for the two buildings and a walkway in the heart of the historic New Brunswick campus, according to the board agenda. The proposed changes are:
- Renaming the Old Queens Walkway near the main administration building “Will’s Walkway” after a slave known only as Will who helped lay the building’s foundation. Researchers found Will was leased out for construction work by a New Brunswick doctor who owned him when the school began building Old Queens in the early 1800s.
- Changing the name of the College Avenue Apartments to the Sojourner Truth Apartments after the former slave and famed abolitionist who was originally owned by the father of Rutgers’ first president. The 14-story building, which opened last fall in the new complex known as The Yard, contains some of the campus’ most upscale student housing.
- Renaming Kilmer Library on the Piscataway campus to the James Dickson Carr Library after Rutgers’ first African-American graduate. Carr, who also has a Rutgers scholarship named after him, graduated from the university in 1892. He went on to earn a law degree from Columbia University and get a top job in the New York City Law Department.
Rutgers published a book, titled “Scarlet and Black”, in November detailing how the university’s 250-year history is intertwined with the history of slavery and racism. The research was compiled to address the concerns of African American students who pressed university officials about racism on campus.
Rutgers report acknowledges ties to slavery
“Like most early American colleges, Rutgers depended on slaves to build its campuses and serve its students and faculty,” the book said. “It depended on the sale of black people to fund its very existence.”
Other universities around the nation, including Princeton, Yale and Columbia, have also confronted their ties to slavery and segregation in recent months amid controversy. Some students have called for buildings bearing the names of former slave owners and known racists to be changed.
The Rutgers committee of professors and students that compiled the research in the book released last fall recommended placing historical markers on campus to recognize how slaves and Native Americans contributed to the school’s history since its founding in 1766. The group also called for renaming the area near Old Queens “Will’s Way” and placing the names of prominent African Americans and Native Americans on other buildings.
Little is known about Will, the slave who documents show helped do masonry work on the foundation of Old Queens in 1808, researchers said. The last record of him was in 1823, when he may have run away or been sold to another owner.
Other slaves probably contributed to the construction of the Rutgers campus, though no records of their names or work have been found, researchers said.
“I want our African-American students to be proud of Will and to understand that their ancestry helped build the university,” Deborah Gray White, the history professor who chaired the research committee, said in November. “I want New Jerseyans and Americans to understand that African-Americans were integral to this nation even though we came here in chains.”
Staff writer Adam Clark contributed to this report.
Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.
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