Historian Jack Washington’s new book punctures a number of widely accepted myths.
By: Michael Redmond
Jack Washington of Trenton was savoring the irony of being physically present at The Princeton Packet, a newspaper without which, he said, he "could not have written" his new book. "Were it not for The Packet, the history of Princeton could not be told," he said.
Mr. Washington was just being matter-of-fact; he certainly had no need to sweet-talk a reporter about to interview him. Aside from being totally out of the man’s character, such behavior would be inexplicable when your book has already been described as "the definitive history of blacks in Princeton" and its author "one of the premier historians of New Jersey history" by Cornel West, the first of a long and impressive line of endorsements to be found on the book’s back cover.
"The Long Journey Home: A Bicentennial History of the Black Community of Princeton, New Jersey, 1776-1976" (Africa World Press) weighs in at more than 400 pages. The Packet was but one of numerous sources, of course, that Mr. Washington consulted during four years of research and writing.
A historian at Trenton High School West, Mr. Washington was in effect commissioned to write the history of Princeton’s black community by a three-year research fellowship granted to him by the African-American Studies Program at Princeton University.
Mr. Washington credits Professor Nell Painter, Edwards Professor of American History, since retired, with inspiring the book. He had written two books on the history of blacks in Trenton, designed for high school use. Professor Painter was sufficiently impressed by these books to reach out to Mr. Washington and propose a Princeton history a scholarly work that nonetheless would be accessible to the public.
Mr. Washington spoke of "three myths" about Princeton’s blacks which he believes that his research demolishes.
"There’s this belief that blacks were brought up here from the Deep South to serve the sons of Southern gentlemen who were studying at the university. This is simply not so," he said.
"Blacks were brought here as slaves by the Dutch and the English, and eventually a community of free, property-owning blacks emerged as part of the Princeton community. There were certainly blacks living in Princeton during the Revolutionary War. You would be amazed. John Witherspoon allowed blacks to be educated for the ministry and Native Americans, too."
The second myth at which Mr. Washington takes aim is that the university "graduated its first black in 1947. We know that there were blacks attending Princeton University before that and that they received master’s degrees. It’s all in the book."
The third myth is that "all blacks that came to Princeton came as slaves. No free blacks came here. Land that is now University Place was sold to Richard Stockton by a black freeman."
Generally speaking, Mr. Washington found that relations between the races were civil in Princeton over the decades. This is not to say that there was no racism, but it appears that Princeton’s white community surely had no use for the Ku Klux Klan at one time, a force in central and southern New Jersey.
"I found no evidence of any racist organization taking root in Princeton," Mr. Washington said.
"Princeton struggled with the race issue, but I discovered a community that was always willing to take the next step. Princeton integrated its schools in 1948, before the rest of the country. Then the townwide vigil for the passage of the Civil Rights Act."
On Friday at 8 p.m., Jack Washington will be present for a book signing at Witherspoon Presbyterian Church, located at 112 Witherspoon St., Princeton.
A North Jersey native, Mr. Washingon resides in Trenton with his wife, Rita, and son, "Jay Jay," who is in the seventh grade. His daughter, Dawne, is a junior at Rutgers University.
"The Long Journey Home" is available at Micawber Books, the Princeton University Bookstore, and the Historical Society of Princeton.

