Around Campus with Scarlet & Black

Old Queens

Old Queens was the first building constructed for Queen's College (now Rutgers University). For the first forty years since the founding of the college in 1766, instruction took place at a local tavern and in the homes of the school's patrons. By 1808, the college finally raised enough money for the construction of its first permanent building. Rutgers history books (and the historical plaques posted around Old Queens) assert that construction began in April 1809 when President Ira Condict ceremoniously laid the cornerstone for the building. But this story obscures the hard labor that was necessary before the president could lay the cornerstone with all the pomp and circumstance proper for such a momentous occasion.

In fact, construction workers, including enslaved laborers, broke ground on the building in the summer of 1808. Among those who toiled to lay the foundation for the building was an enslaved man named  Will , and the nearby walkway has been named Will's Way in his honor.

Old Queens now houses central administration offices, including the Office of the Chancellor of Rutgers University–New Brunswick. It is called Old Queens because our school was known as Queen’s College from 1766 until 1825, when it was renamed for Henry Rutgers. This building originally served as the residence hall, classroom space, library, and offices all in one.

Will’s Way

In 2017, Will’s Way was named in honor of  Will , an enslaved man who had worked to lay the foundation for the university’s first permanent building in 1808. This building, now known as Old Queens, stands on a hill facing Hamilton Street between College Avenue and George Street. Will’s Way leads from Hamilton Street to the entrance of Old Queens. A historical plaque along the walkway commemorates Will. Another commemorative plaque is mounted near the door of the Old Queens building.

You can read about Will in the chapter  “His Name Was Will: Remembering Enslaved Individuals in Rutgers History”  in our book Scarlet and Black, Vol. 1: Slavery and Dispossession in Rutgers History.

Plaque 1 (walkway):

This plaque honors Will, an enslaved black man who worked to lay the foundation for the Old Queens building in 1808. In recognition of Will’s labor and the role of slavery in Rutgers’ early history, the walkway from Hamilton Street to the entrance of Old Queens has been named Will’s Way.

Plaque 2 (Old Queens door):

The walkway leading from this door to the Hamilton Street gate has been named “Will’s Way” in recognition of the labor of an enslaved man named Will who contributed to the early development of Queen’s College, which later became Rutgers University.

Construction began on Old Queen’s, the college’s first permanent building, in the fall of 1808. Will, who was enslaved by a local physician named Jacob Dunham, laid the foundation for the building. Dunham received about a dollar a day for Will's labor. It is likely that Will was not the only enslaved laborer on the campus of Queen’s College during its early decades, particularly in light of the fact that slavery persisted longer in New Jersey than in any northern state.

This plaque and the research upon which it is based are the result of work by the Committee on Enslaved and Disenfranchised Populations in Rutgers History, formed as part of the observance of the 250th anniversary of Rutgers’ founding in 2016.

Sojourner Truth Apartments

 Sojourner Truth (1797–1883)  was a famous African American abolitionist and women's rights advocate. She was born in Ulster County, New York, as Isabella Baumfree. She and her parents, James and Betsey Baumfree, were enslaved by Johannes Hardenbergh Jr. (1729–1799), the brother of Rutgers' first president Jacob R. Hardenbergh (1736–1790). She emancipated herself from slavery in 1827 and then successfully sued for her son Peter’s freedom. After changing her name to Sojourner Truth, meaning "itinerant preacher," she became a prominent abolitionist, Pentecostal evangelist, and women's rights activist. She traveled the country preaching about the gospel, Black freedom, and women's suffrage.

Although she never learned how to read and write, Sojourner Truth became a renowned orator. Her tall stature and captivating voice enthralled audiences that witnessed the compelling speeches she delivered. She published a powerful autobiographical book,  The Narrative of Sojourner Truth , with the help of her friend Olive Gilbert who transcribed Truth's memoirs of her life.

In 2017, Rutgers University named the new residence hall on College Avenue in honor of Sojourner Truth to acknowledge her connection with President Hardenbergh’s family and to celebrate her legacy as a freedom fighter.

Hardenbergh Hall

Hardenbergh Hall, one of the River Dorms located on George Street on the College Avenue campus, was built in 1956. It is named for  Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (1736-1790) , the first president of Queen's College (now Rutgers University). Hardenbergh was a Dutch Reformed minister who came from a prominent slaveholding family in Ulster County, New York.

"Hardenbergh Hall" was also the name of the home where President Hardenbergh grew up. Located in Rosedale, NY, the original “Hardenbergh Hall” was an 18th-century stone building, which included slave quarters and a separate dungeon cell used for the confinement and punishment of enslaved persons.

In 2021, a Scarlet and Black historical marker was placed on campus in front of Hardenbergh Hall.

Plaque text:

Hardenbergh Hall was built in 1956 and named for Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh, who profited from the enslavement of Black people. Hardenbergh was a founder of Queens College (later renamed Rutgers College), and appointed its first president. He was a Dutch Reformed minister who came from a prominent slaveholding family in Ulster County, New York. Hardenbergh forced enslaved people to manage his household. We do not know how many or the names of enslaved people who came in and out of Hardenbergh's parsonage over the years, but his family owned many, including renowned abolitionist Sojourner Truth and her parents, Bomefree and Mau-Mau Bett. This marker honors Sojourner Truth, Bomefree, and Mau-Mau Bett and the other women, men, and children enslaved by the Hardenbergh family.

Frelinghuysen Hall

Frelinghuysen Hall, one of the River Dorms located on George Street on the College Avenue Campus, was built in 1956. It is named for the Frelinghuysen family, which was influential in the founding of Queen’s College (now Rutgers University) in the 18th century. Like many Dutch settlers in the Raritan Valley, the Frelinghuysens enslaved Black people. One of the men who had been enslaved—and later manumitted—by the Frelinghuysens wrote a famous autobiography where he recalled his capture in Africa and then his life in bondage in colonial New Jersey. His name was  Ukawsaw Gronniosaw  and his book was called  A Narrative of the Most remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African Prince, As related by himself . Published in 1772 in England, it was among the earliest autobiographies penned by a formerly enslaved person of African descent.

While Frelinghuysen Hall is a modern building that carries a historically significant name, there are also structures in the Raritan Valley that were constructed in the colonial era and are believed to have been the sites of enslavement. For example, the  Old Dutch Parsonage  is one such local historical site in Somerville associated with the Frelinghuysen and Hardenbergh families and the founding of Queen's College.

In 2021, a Scarlet and Black historical marker was placed on campus in front of Frelinghuysen Hall.

Plaque text:

Built in 1956, Frelinghuysen Hall is named for the Frelinghuysen family, including U.S. Senator Frederick Frelinghuysen (1753-1804), who enslaved Black people. He was a trustee and the first instructor at Queen's College (renamed Rutgers College). His grandfather Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (c. 1691-1747), who also enslaved Black people, was instrumental in its founding. Frederick's son Theodore Frelinghuysen was a Rutgers president and a leader in the American Colonization Society, which advocated for the forced removal of African Americans. Most names of those the Frelinghuysen family enslaved are unknown. However, Ukawsaw Gronniosaw's experience was documented in his 1772 world-renowned autobiography that describes being captured in West Africa and later enslaved by the Frelinghuysens in their Raritan Valley home. This marker honors Gronniosaw and all the women, men, and children enslaved by the Frelinghuysen family.

Livingston Campus

Today’s Livingston Campus embodies the legacy of Livingston College, which was established at Rutgers University in 1969 as a liberal arts school focused on social responsibility and cultural awareness. Livingston College merged with other residential colleges at Rutgers to form the School of Arts and Sciences in 2007, but the name lives on as part of the Livingston Campus moniker.

The Livingston College was named after  William Livingston (1723-1790) , the first governor of the state of New Jersey after the American Revolution, whose family maintained a connection with Rutgers over multiple generations. His brothers  Philip Livingston  and Robert Livingston were among the charter trustees of the college. The Livingstons were among the wealthiest and most politically powerful New Yorkers in the 18th century, and much of their wealth was derived from their business as merchants and slave traders operating out of New York City. During the American Revolution, William Livingston came to believe that slavery was incompatible with the young American nation’s ideals of freedom and began working to abolish slavery in New Jersey.

A Scarlet and Black historical plaque was placed along the pedestrian walkway between James Dickson Carr Library and the Livingston Student Center in 2021.

Plaque text:

Livingston Campus (site of former Livingston College) was named after William Livingston, the first governor of the state of New Jersey, whose family made a fortune trafficking human beings in the transatlantic slave trade. The campus opened in 1969 as an experimental, social-justice oriented campus at the site of Camp Kilmer, a World War II-era military camp. The Livingston family collectively enslaved hundreds of people and William’s brothers, Philip and Robert, two of Rutgers’ founding trustees, bought and sold hundreds more. When William Livingston moved to New Jersey, he enslaved at least two people, a woman named Bell and her son Lambert. Though he later advocated for gradual abolition, he continued to represent the legal interests of his slave-trading family’s wealth throughout his career. This marker honors Bell, Lambert, and the other women, men, and children enslaved and sold by the Livingston family.   

Wood Lawn Mansion

Wood Lawn Mansion was constructed in 1830 as the country estate of  James Neilson (1784–1862) , a prominent New Brunswick businessman and major Rutgers University benefactor. Bequeathed to Rutgers in 1937, the building currently houses the  Eagleton Institute of Politics .

The Neilson family of New Brunswick profited from enslaving people of African descent since the 18th century, amassing generational wealth that enabled them to support Rutgers University with donations of land and money. By the time the Neilsons moved to Wood Lawn Mansion in the 1830s, slavery was on the decline in New Jersey, but several individuals enslaved by James Neilson still worked at the house and most likely resided there in the 1830s and 1840s.

Many archival sources documenting the Neilsons' involvement in slavery have been digitized as part of the  New Jersey Slavery Records  database created by the Scarlet and Black research team. The names of the Black people related to the Neilson family include  Tony ,  Prince , Teunis,  Elizabeth ,  Dinah ,  Miller ,  Flora , and Flora’s daughters  Phillis  and  Ann . Members of the Harris family were among the last enslaved people associated with Wood Lawn and the attached farm. They were a married couple named  Ambo  and  Mark Harris Sr.  and their children  Clara ,  Ann ,  Eliza , and  Mark Jr.  All of the Harrises were born into bondage, and most (possibly all) of them eventually attained freedom.

The nearby Neilson Dining Hall and Neilson Street in downtown New Brunswick are also associated with the Neilson family. A statue in Monument Square in front of the Heldrich Hotel (at George Street and Livingston Avenue) depicts James Neilson's father  John Neilson (1745–1833) , a Revolutionary War colonel who bought and sold many enslaved people throughout his life.

Daniel S. Schanck Observatory (Rutgers Scientific School)

The Land-Grant Agricultural and Mechanical College Act, or  Morrill Act of 1862 , transformed scientific education at Rutgers at the expense of Native American displacement. Rutgers won the bid to become New Jersey’s land-grant college and consequently established the Rutgers Scientific School in 1864. The  Daniel S. Schanck Observatory , opened for astronomical research and instruction in 1866, was the first building erected solely for scientific purposes.

The Morrill Act provided funding for the new Rutgers Scientific School through the land-grant program whereby the federal government gave Rutgers 210,000 acres of "unappropriated lands" in the Western states. The sale of the land would provide an endowment for the college. The fact that Indigenous tribes lived on what the government called "unappropriated lands" was of no concern to the college leaders. The displacement and dispossession of Native Americans in the West funded scientific education for the white men who attended Rutgers in the 19th century, and silences around this history continue to bolster uncritical celebrations of Rutgers' land-grant status well into the 21st century.

To learn more about Rutgers history as a land-grant college, read  Kaisha Esty's chapter  about the Morrill Act in our book Scarlet and Black, Vol. 1: Slavery and Dispossession in Rutgers History.

Rutgers Geology Museum

The  Rutgers Geology Museum  was purpose-built to fulfill the terms of the Land-Grant Agricultural and Mechanical College Act, or the Morrill Act of 1862. Together with the nearby Schanck Observatory, the Geology Museum became one of the earliest concrete materializations in New Jersey of the U.S. law which granted expropriated Indigenous land to states in order to fund universities.

Opening in 1871 to enhance scientific instruction at Rutgers College, the Geology Museum was built to provide instructional and laboratory space as well as to make the mineral and fossil collections more accessible to the public. While the museum opened its doors in 1871, its collection was started years earlier by the student-run Natural History Society of Rutgers College. Over the next 150 years, the collections grew to encompass a wide range of specimens that included Native American artifacts. The museum’s collections are currently being inventoried and researched to fulfill Rutgers University’s obligations to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and to establish a comprehensive history of the museum and provenance of the collections.

James Dickson Carr Library

 James Dickson Carr Library  (formerly known as Joyce Kilmer Library) is Rutgers University’s business library located on the Livingston Campus in Piscataway. The library was renamed in honor of James Dickson Carr in 2017, following the  recommendations  of the Committee on Enslaved and Disenfranchised Populations in Rutgers History and the historical work of the Scarlet and Black research project.

James Dickson Carr (1868-1920) was the first African American student to graduate from Rutgers. He was also a disabled student, having lost sight in his left eye through an accident when he was a child. Born on September 28, 1868, in Baltimore, Maryland, Carr attended Rutgers Preparatory School and was then admitted to Rutgers College in 1888. He was an outstanding student and was initiated into Phi Beta Kappa at the end of his junior year. He graduated from Rutgers in 1892 and delivered the  “Ivy Oration”  at commencement.

After graduating from Rutgers, Carr went to Columbia University Law School where he was also among the earliest African American students to graduate from the institution. Carr graduated from law school and passed the New York Bar in 1896. After practicing law in New York City for three years, Carr was appointed Assistant District Attorney of New York County—the first African American to hold such a position in the state of New York. While in this position, he played a key role in building the United Colored Democrats, an all-black group within Tammany Hall. After this appointment, Carr worked as an Assistant Corporation Counsel of the New York City Law Department. He was also named one of New York City’s first Black judges in 1920 shortly before his death.

Carr continued to keep in touch with his Alma Mater until the end of his life and took a keen interest in how Rutgers treated the next generation of Black students. In 1919, he wrote a scathing letter to Rutgers President William H. S. Demarest regarding the racist exclusion of Black scholar-athlete Paul Robeson (RC 1919) from a football game against Washington and Lee University. You can  view this letter  and  Demarest's reply  in the  Scarlet and Black Digital Archive .

You can read more about James Dickson Carr in Peter Mazzei's biographical article  "James Dickson Carr: First Black Graduate of Rutgers College"  as well as in the chapter "The Rutgers Race Man: Early Black Students at Rutgers College" in our book  Scarlet and Black, Vol. 2: Constructing Race and Gender at Rutgers, 1865-1945 .

Paul Robeson Plaza

Accomplished as a scholar, athlete, actor, singer, and global activist, Paul Leroy Robeson (1898-1976) is one of Rutgers University's most distinguished alumni and the quintessential 20th-century Renaissance man.

The Paul Robeson Plaza is located on Seminary Place near Voorhees Mall. It is an open-air plaza featuring eight granite panels that detail the story of Paul Robeson's life and achievements. It was gifted to the university by the Class of 1971 with support from the Rutgers African American Alumni Alliance and unveiled in April 2019 as part of the  centennial celebration  of Robeson’s graduation from Rutgers College.

Paul Robeson was born in 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey, where his father served as a Presbyterian minister. His mother, Maria Louisa Bustill Robeson, came from a prominent free Black family in Philadelphia, while his father, William Drew Robeson, was born into slavery in North Carolina and made a daring escape to Philadelphia when he was 15 so that he could gain freedom.

Robeson attended Rutgers College in New Brunswick on an academic scholarship, becoming the university’s third Black student and its first Black football player. At Rutgers, "Robey"—as he was known at school—showed his prowess on the athletic field as well as in the classroom. An extraordinary athlete, he won 15 varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball, and track. He was a two-time All-American in football and has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. His scholarly accomplishments included being inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society and Rutgers' Cap and Skull Honor Society. At Rutgers, Robeson honed his oratory skills as a member of the Intercollegiate Debating Association; he went on to speak more than 20 languages fluently. He was valedictorian of his graduating class in 1919.

After graduation, Robeson earned a law degree from Columbia Law School but decided to use his artistic talents in theater and music to promote African and African-American history and culture. Over nearly four decades, he achieved worldwide acclaim as a vocalist and actor on stage and screen. A towering figure in the African-American struggle for human dignity and democratic rights, Robeson connected this struggle with people around the world who also were fighting for political rights, cultural recognition, and economic justice.

See the timeline of Paul Robeson's life at the  Paul Robeson Centennial Celebration  website.

Additional stops related to Paul Robeson on this virtual tour include the Paul Robeson Cultural Center on Busch Campus, the Paul Robeson Campus Center in Newark, and the Paul Robeson Library in Camden.

Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities

The house at 17 Bartlett Street has served for many years as the cultural home for diverse communities on campus, first as the original Black House, and currently as the Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities. Both of these campus organizations have roots in Black student and staff leadership on campus.

In 1969, Black student activists organized a series of protests across Rutgers campuses and raised their voices against the racial injustices plaguing the university. As a result of their actions, the Black House was established here at 17 Bartlett Street. This was the university’s first home for black culture, organizing, and student life. The Black House grew into the  Paul Robeson Cultural Center , now located on Busch Campus.

The year 1969 also saw the founding of the Student Homophile League—the first LGBT student organization at Rutgers—led by outspoken Black gay activist Lionel Cuffie RC’72. Cuffie's activism was inspired by both the Black student protest movement and the Stonewall uprising that took place in New York City in June of 1969. The Student Homophile League was among the earliest campus organizations established by and for gay students in the United States. This student organization eventually became the Bisexual, Lesbian, and Gay Alliance at Rutgers University (BiGLARU).

It took many years of persistent LGBT activism on campus before the university established the Office of Diverse Community Affairs and Lesbian and Gay Concerns in 1992, tasked with improving the climate for LGBT students on campus. Renowned Black lesbian poet, activist, and educator Dr. Cheryl Clarke was the founding director and steered the office for 17 years. In 2005, the unit became known as the  Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities . Over the years, the center has moved around to several locations on College Avenue and Livingston campus. In 2016, the center moved to 17 Bartlett Street.

Check out Dr. Cheryl Clarke's  oral history interview  and her  article about meeting Lionel Cuffie .

Conklin Hall

Conklin Hall was the site of a dramatic three-day student takeover that took place in 1969 and proved to be a major turning point for equity and inclusion at Rutgers University. This nonviolent takeover protested the campus's lack of African American students and faculty and the absence of diverse academic programs. Student leaders had worked for years to convince the administration to change the admissions process so that the student body would reflect Newark’s majority African American population. Frustrated by the lack of progress on their concerns, Black student activists from Newark, New Brunswick, and Camden came together to coordinate a series of simultaneous protest actions across all three Rutgers campuses.

The Black Organization of Students (BOS) took the lead in Newark and launched a building takeover on February 24, 1969. They entered Conklin Hall in the early hours of the morning and refused to leave until the school adhered to their demands. Climbing to the roof of the building, they unfurled a banner declaring the building "BOS Liberation Hall." They held the building for three days until the university administration agreed to take significant steps to increase enrollment and support for minority students. BOS gained nationwide publicity for their cause, and their actions were an important part of a national Black student movement taking place on numerous college campuses across the country.

Black activism did not stop with the Conklin Hall takeover. Students and community members continued to work tirelessly to hold the university accountable to the needs of students of color. Their courageous actions helped Rutgers–Newark to become a more inclusive campus and led to the creation of Rutgers University’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Program.

Read more about Conklin Hall and BOS in the chapter "A Second Founding: The Black and Puerto Rican Student Revolution at Rutgers–Camden and Rutgers–Newark" in our book  Scarlet and Black, Vol. 3: Making Black Lives Matter at Rutgers, 1945–2020 .

Hear interviews from the  Rutgers-Newark in the 1960s and 1970s Oral History Collection  where  Vickie Donaldson  and other veterans of the Conklin Hall takeover recall the events in their own words.

Learn more about the Black Organization of Students and see historical documents and news footage on the  RiseUp Newark  website.

Camden Campus Center

In February 1969, Black students across all three Rutgers campuses coordinated a series of protests to draw attention to racial discrimination and the lack of support for African Americans at Rutgers University. On February 26, 1969, members of Camden’s Black Student Unity Movement (BSUM) barricaded themselves inside the Campus Center overnight until the university administration agreed to address their concerns. The students worked closely with the Black People's Unity Movement, a Black Power community organization in Camden. Their dramatic building takeover inaugurated an era of persistent student activism that pushed Rutgers–Camden to tackle exclusionary racist practices, increase recruitment and support for students of color, and establish programs for Africana Studies, urban studies, and community development.

Read more about BSUM in the chapter "A Second Founding: The Black and Puerto Rican Student Revolution at Rutgers–Camden and Rutgers–Newark" in our book  Scarlet and Black, Vol. 3: Making Black Lives Matter at Rutgers, 1945–2020 .

Check out our interview with  Roy Jones , one of the leaders of the 1969 takeover, recorded as part of the  Black Camden Oral History Project .

You can also see a collection of digitized archival sources about  Black Student Activism in Camden  in the  Scarlet and Black Digital Archive .