Princeton Considers Removing Statue of John Witherspoon

Witherspoon owned slaves during his time as Princeton’s president

By Brett Tomlinson

Published Dec. 29, 2022

2 min read

The University’s Committee on Naming is reviewing a proposal to remove or replace a campus statue of John Witherspoon, an influential figure in the American Revolution who owned slaves during his time as Princeton’s president.

Last May, five members of the philosophy department — graduate students Brendan Kolb, Kathryn Rech, Giulia Weissmann, and Waner Zhang, and Professor Boris Kment *06 — created a petition that said the statue, which has stood outside East Pyne Hall since 2001, “pays great honor … to someone who participated actively in the enslavement of human beings, and used his scholarly gifts to defend the practice.” The petition, signed by 285 members of the campus community, proposed replacing the statue with a plaque that “details both the positive and negative aspects of Witherspoon’s legacy.”

Witherspoon, who emigrated from Scotland to serve as the College of New Jersey’s sixth president, from 1768 to 1794, was the only clergyman and college president to sign the Declaration of Independence. The 10-foot bronze sculpture, created with an identical twin at the University of the West of Scotland, stands on a plinth with three tablets that explain his legacies as a patriot, president, and preacher.

But Witherspoon also had a “complex relationship to slavery,” according to Princeton & Slavery Project research by Lesa Redmond ’17, who wrote her senior thesis about the Witherspoon family’s ties to slavery in the United States. While Witherspoon tutored three free Black students during his time at Princeton, he also purchased two enslaved people to farm his country estate and voted against abolishing slavery in New Jersey.

The naming committee’s review “will be informed by rigorous research, scholarly expertise within and beyond the University community, and input from the broad University community,” according to a University release. The committee began holding listening sessions with alumni, faculty, staff, and students in late November and found “diversity of opinion about the statue among every constituency,” according to history professor Angela Creager, the committee’s interim chair.

Princeton’s Board of Trustees will have the ultimate say in any changes to the statue’s placement or presentation. In April 2021, the trustees adopted “Principles to Govern Renaming and Changes to Campus Iconography” (available online at bit.ly/re-naming), which established “criteria to help guide specific decisions about renaming and changing campus iconography.” Those criteria include determining whether the namesake was “significantly out of step with the standards” of the namesake’s time and if the space in question plays “a substantial role in forming community at the University.”

Kolb, Rech, and Zhang, who responded to questions from PAW by email, wrote that while Witherspoon, in his time, “didn’t stand out among people in power for a commitment to defending racist norms or power structures,” the towering statue and its high-traffic location unduly exalt his legacy.

“[O]ur argument has both aesthetic and moral dimensions,” they wrote, “based on the broad principle that depictions of a certain grandeur are inappropriate for certain spaces when the subject depicted was actively engaged in racialized slavery — a practice that separated out the humanity that Princeton aims to serve.”

Published in the January 2023 Issue

On the Campus Administration Witherspoon Statue

12 Responses

Norman Ravitch *62

1 Year Ago

Removing Statues and Renaming Names

The changed name for the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs was the result of concern with Wilson’s Southern views of racial matters, as if a Southern man could or should suddenly become a New England abolitionist! At the time, I was more concerned with Wilson’s performance at the Peace Conference at the end of World War I. I now apologize, having read The Ghost at the Feast by Robert Kagan, which rehabilitates almost all the criticisms I and many others had about Wilson in the years leading up to the World War and thereafter. I now see him as a hero and not any more as a Presbyterian fool. He tried to avoid war, he did his best, but when war was the only way to block German plans for the subjugation of most of Europe, he did the right thing. Clemenceau said talking to him was like taking to Christ, a typical French piece of arrogance and self-righteousness. The allies made Wilson’s life miserable as did the Republicans back home, Henry Cabot Lodge and Teddy Roosevelt. He actually made Princeton proud, and we should recognize this.

Kevin R. Loughlin ’71

1 Year Ago

Statues Should Commemorate, Educate

On Jan. 8, George Will *68 wrote a Washington Post column, “Wokeness comes for a statue,” and questioned the wisdom of a demand, by some, to remove the statue of John Witherspoon from campus because he owned two slaves (On the Campus, January issue). I replied in a letter published by The Washington Post on Jan. 13 that I agreed with him and cautioned that it is myopic to judge too harshly the behavior of others through a historical lens of several centuries.

I suggested that instead of removing Witherspoon’s statue, it would be more instructive to erect two additional statues to acknowledge the significant contributions and courage of two Princetonians to the civil rights movement in the 1960s. John Doar ’44 provided legal support to freedom riders and other civil rights activists and escorted James Meredith to register at the University of Mississippi in 1962. Nicholas Katzenbach ’43 represented the federal government at the “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” at the direction of John F. Kennedy ’39 and confronted then Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who unsuccessfully tried to prevent the enrollment of two Black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, at the University of Alabama in June 1963.

Statues are intended to commemorate, but they should also educate. The mission of Princeton, above all else, is to educate. I would suggest that the statues of Doar and Katzenbach should be placed on either side of Witherspoon not only to acknowledge the mistakes of the past, but to emphasize the progress that has been made and to remind us all of how much work on racial harmony remains to be done. A small plaque with a short history of the actions of the three men at the base of the statues would enhance the education of all who pass by. It should also be remembered that Witherspoon was the only college president who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Where would racial justice be today without that document? Interpretation of history is not straightforward, it is nuanced. All historical figures have blemishes, as did Witherspoon. If the statue of Witherspoon is removed and nothing more, the opportunity for education disappears as well.

Ken Moyle ’61

1 Year Ago

Judging Through the Lens of the Present

As if the accusations against Professor Scanlan and the dismissal of Professor Katz were not enough, now Princeton is considering the removal of John Witherspoon’s statue. Witherspoon, who was a founder and patriot, had an ambiguous position on the issue of slavery but he did own two slaves which he agreed to free at age 28. The student recommendation to replace Witherspoon’s statue with a plaque was “based on the broad principle that depictions of grandeur are inappropriate for certain spaces when the subject depicted was actively engaged in radicalized slavery.” Since George Washington owned 137 slaves at the time of his death and Thomas Jefferson owned over 600 slaves during his lifetime, it would follow that their depictions should be removed as well, both at Princeton and over the country at large.

George Will *68 noted in his recent column on Princeton and Witherspoon that this is a classic case of “judging the past through the lens of the present.” The University’s faculty and administration, in collusion with and/or cowed by radical students, have undermined the Princeton’s educational mission in the pursuit of social activism. It reminds me of the Chinese Cultural Revolution except there are no human deaths, just the death of free speech, free inquiry, and unorthodox thinking. It's very sad to witness the devolution of a once proud and vibrant institution of learning.

Alec Bretton Urbach ’17

1 Year Ago

Letting Lessons of the Past Speak

When I graduated in 2017, the topics of history and legacy on campus were already contentious. During my time at Princeton, groups like the Black Justice League had staged protests over the Woodrow Wilson School’s name, claiming that it should not be part of Princeton’s illustrious legacy because it had been stained by the former University president’s political and social views. I disagreed. So, when it came time to choose a quote for the yearbook, I reached for something far less trite than the oft-cited Santayana quote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

“History is a vast early warning system” — Norman Cousins

It is unlikely that any student, alumnus, or even aspirant to a Princeton education would forget the past when it is made readily available. A thirst for knowledge and the pursuit of greater understanding are what drew us to our Orange Bubble, after all. For that reason, discussions of removing or masking the past always sit poorly with me. My concentration was in Intellectual and Cultural Histories, and we were trained to analyze the impact of history on literature and art, as well as the inverse.

I recall, once, during a course on the nature of evil, we had a discussion about whether it was better to scrub the historical record of the names of dictators who encouraged genocide, or to acknowledge their presence each time the topic came forward. The class was split rather evenly — after all, to remove a name from history is to make it so no accomplishments can be discussed, but it also prevents discussion of and accountability for atrocities.

In this case, we have a statue installed barely more than two decades ago on campus, highlighting the legacy of a University president who led Princeton through the founding of our nation. Surely, some might say, we do not need to consider removing it with the same historical weight as we might employ in a discussion regarding the bronze tigers in front of Nassau Hall. I believe each element of our school’s legacy — good, bad, or ugly as they may be — should be displayed proudly, where they can be analyzed, appreciated, or criticized by any who would pass them by.

It is the duty of historians to oppose those who would replace or obscure records of the past, especially at an institution with a reputation as estimable as Princeton’s. Instead of removing names, statues, and whatever comes next, we can add. If the concern is that people will not understand the nuance of the past, then we lay it out plainly for those who are curious enough to engage with knowledge. Where the proposal is to replace Witherspoon’s statue with a plaque, it would be far simpler, and, I propose, far more effective to add one beside the base of Witherspoon’s statue, denoting the complexities of honoring a man who contributed to the University but also upheld an institution we now consider deplorable.

Instead of taking away the speakers that sound the alarm, let us include warnings alongside them. The past holds innumerable lessons if only we will take the time to let it speak.

Bill Hewitt ’74

1 Year Ago

Honoring Witherspoon

I wish the PAW On the Campus piece on the petition to remove the Witherspoon statue had included comment from an advocate for honoring Witherspoon. One of the University Trustees who approved the 2001 installation of the statue, such as Robert Murley ’72, could have been an aptly informed source.

The statement the PAW quoted by the petition's proponents that Witherspoon “used his scholarly gifts to defend the practice [of slavery]” is contradicted by Witherspoon’s lecturing at Princeton against slavery. To imply Witherspoon advocated the furtherance of slavery places him in a false light. Similarly, our judgment on his decision not to attempt the immediate legislative end to slavery in New Jersey should be tempered by Witherspoon’s belief that the practice of slavery was already proceeding to end. According to Wikipedia, Eli Whitney (Yale Class of 1792) didn’t invent the cotton gin until 1793, the year before Witherspoon’s death. Whitney himself believed his invention would largely eliminate the need for slave labor to remove seeds from cotton. Instead, it came to revolutionize the cotton industry in the Southern United States, and vastly increased the number of slaves used to grow and pick cotton.

Witherspoon’s writing and teaching in opposition to slavery had influence beyond New Jersey. According to Kevin DeYoung, author of The Religious Formation of John Witherspoon, this culminated in the 1818 declaration by the Presbyterian Church for the abolition of slavery. And even well after his death Witherspoon was admired by Great Britain’s foremost anti-slavery advocate, William Wilberforce. The latter’s moral authority moved Britain to outlaw slavery there and — through the sacrifice of its blood and treasure — to eradicate the whole of the Atlantic slave trade.

Witherspoon helped lead Princeton and our nation away from the practice of slavery. Witherspoon did not get us all the way into the promised land of freedom, equality, and justice for all. But without him we might well never have progressed so far. For this Witherspoon deserves our honor as a University and a nation.

Leslie Spencer ’79

1 Year Ago

Witherspoon Statue Petition

The petition to remove Witherspoon’s statue characterizes Princeton’s campus as a “home” where students should enjoy safety and protection from “discomfort.” Campus should arguably be the opposite — a place where discomforting ideas and wide-open debate is championed. Princeton’s students are intelligent and inquiring. It is presumptuous, even insulting, to assume they need protection from Witherspoon’s legacy.

Princeton promises thorough review, including input from academic experts, before making a decision. The website of Princetonians for Free Speech, an alumni group on whose board I serve, includes an essay by Witherspoon scholar Kevin DeYoung. To those who argue that Witherspoon’s ownership of two slaves sidelines his life’s legacy, DeYoung replies, “ … bare facts do not tell the whole story — not the whole story about Witherspoon the [Princeton] president and patriot, nor the whole story about how Witherspoon related to slaves and free Blacks, what he believed about slavery, and what he hoped America, as it related to slavery, would be like in the future.”

Cancel culture is demonstrably disastrous for academic freedom and open debate in higher education. In today’s climate of self-censorship, “listening sessions” cannot possibly reveal the true thoughts of the broad Princeton community. If petitioners succeed in pressuring Princeton’s leadership to remove the statue, it will perpetuate threats to academic freedom at Princeton by sending a message to faculty and students that they must submit to the dominant ideology or they too, could be erased.

Eric Weitze

1 Year Ago

John Witherspoon and the Signers’ Legacy

As a naturalized citizen, having traveled and worked around the world for 30 years I could kiss the ground on each return to be thankful to be living in this adopted country. In visits to the campus I would always stand by the statue eager to explain to bewildered visitors who John Witherspoon was. The signers to the Declaration of Independence were hunted by the British. Princeton and surrounding areas were battlefields where men died to give us the country and freedoms we have today. Sadly it took another 80 years and over half a million deaths to end slavery.

The statue should remind us of the history of this country, good and bad, and that is why the statue must remain.

Linda Krenz

1 Year Ago

Room for an Addition?

In response to the removal of the Witherspoon statue, why not just add the desired information to the base of the statue and have both information plaque and statue work together?

Sandra Souder s*71

1 Year Ago

Witherspoon Street Legacy

In the 1970s there was an African American reporter for The Princeton Packet named Roger Witherspoon. I once asked him, “Are you related to Witherspoon Street in Princeton?” He replied, “Yes, they owned us.”

Dick Boera ’46

1 Year Ago

Political Correctness Running Amok

This is insane. At this rate, a hundred years from now, President Eisgruber’s name will be expunged from the list of former presidents of the University because of something for which he was quoted in 2023. All these deeds or espousing of racial theories are being taken totally out of context from the times during which the “offenders” lived. How soon will there be a serious debate regarding the renaming of the Washington or Jefferson memorials because they honor slaveholders? Enough is enough. Disband your committee now … before every building on campus has to be renamed.

Paul Hertelendy ’53

1 Year Ago

Another Witherspoon Statue, in D.C.

John Witherspoon also has a life-size statue in Washington, D.C., on Connecticut Ave., just below Dupont Circle. He was a law-abiding patriot. I used to walk past it daily, long before I knew about Princeton.

I also had a great uncle named Witherspoon, a true southern gent, whom I met often at family dinners. He had a favorite riddle: Who was the only person who did not sign the Declaration of Independence with a pen?

The answer of course was With-a-spoon!

Richard M. Waugaman ’70

1 Year Ago

Enough Already

It’s not a good sign when we get confused about whether we’re reading a news item or The Onion. Aren’t we getting a bit carried away with our virtue signaling? George Washington owned far more slaves than did Witherspoon. Should we take down the Washington Monument? Rename Washington, D.C., and Washington state? As a lifelong liberal, cancel culture is making me ashamed of some of my fellow liberals, since they discredit all of us when they go overboard with their plague of calling out.

True, ancient Egyptian pharaohs erased all references to their predecessors. But that doesn’t mean we have to imitate them.

¡Basta!