New Jersey

Confronting Slave-Owning Past, Rutgers University Renames Buildings

A dedication ceremony Thursday included a reading of Maya Angelou's poetry and a rare ringing of the school's centuries-old Old Queens Bell

Rutgers University has officially renamed two buildings and a walkway in an effort to confront the New Jersey school's slave-owning past.

The university held a dedication ceremony Thursday that included a reading of Maya Angelou's poetry and a rare ringing of the school's centuries-old Old Queens Bell, NJ.com reported.

The board overseeing the university decided in February to rename the Old Queens Walkway "Will's Way" in honor of a slave who helped lay the nearby administration building's foundation.

The College Avenue Apartments are now the Sojourner Truth Apartments, after the abolitionist who was once owned by relatives of the school's first president.

Officials also renamed the Kilmer Library to the James Dickson Carr Library. Carr was Rutgers' first black graduate.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us