During the Bicentennial Symposium on November 14, 2023, members of the Primus Project at Trinity College led a discussion to educate and talk about their research and publications. The Primus Project started in the summer of 2020 and explores how the history of Trinity College is entwined with the histories of slavery and white supremacy. The Project hopes to educate members of the college and the greater Hartford community as it grapples with this complicated past and looks to build a more just future. As Trinity College celebrates its bicentennial, the researchers are focused on the founding of Trinity in 1823 (then known as Washington College), but will soon extend their examination into later years.
The project is directed by Scott Gac (History) and Chris Hager (English), members of the Trinity College faculty who have led a small army of student researchers in the past three years. A good deal of the student research developed in sections of HIST 397 Trinity & Slavery. However, academic interns and hired student researchers also conducted work in support of the Primus Project. The discussion detailed the reliance of student researchers on digitized archives, but highlighted that the major investigative breakthroughs of the Primus Project occurred when students dug through physical documents in archives such as those of the Episcopal Church in Meriden, Connecticut, Watkinson Library at Trinity, and New Haven Museum.
The project is named after Rebecca Primus, a Hartford resident born in 1836. Primus’ grandfather had been stolen from Africa and sold into slavery, before fighting in the Revolutionary War in exchange for his freedom. Primus herself was a deep believer in teaching and education—and she taught Black children in Hartford at segregated schools held in Black-led churches in the city. After the conclusion of the Civil War, Primus moved to Maryland to teach and educate now-freed slaves. She made such an impact in Maryland that the community named her school building the Primus Institute.
The Project has released three detailed reports on the founding of Trinity College and its relationship with slavery. The three reports discuss the Atlantic slave economy, religion, and politics in relation to the college’s founding. Additionally, the group will communicate its findings to committees at the College, asking them to reconsider naming certain buildings, re-examine prominent members from Trinity’s past, and finally, with these new histories of Trinity in mind, organize efforts of repair and rebuilding.
