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Panel: History and Restorative Justice in Princeton

Panelists discuss Princeton institutions, which have researched their historic involvement with slavery, discrimination or institutional racism and developed strategic responses. In person and Zoom.

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The library and its partners, Not In Our Town Princeton, the Morven Museum & Gardens, and the Princeton Theological Seminary, present a panel featuring researchers and experts on several Princeton institutions' histories, in order to explore how these institutions have taken on their history of involvement with slavery, discrimination or institutionalized racism by making it a subject of serious research and then weighing different strategies for reparative work, remediation or obligatory action as a response to that institutional history. The discussion on this panel will be moderated by Brandon McKoy, president of the Fund for NJ and introductory remarks will be made by Not In Our Town Princeton board member and historian Shirley Satterfield.

Panelists:

Sharece Blakney is a historical researcher and archival consultant who focuses on enslaved people, particularly women, in early America, African-American history and the Black experience. Currently, she acts as the Historical Research Consultant for the Morven Museum & Gardens, Research Consultant for Bartram's Garden, and Project Archivist for Rutgers University-Camden. She received her MA in American History from Rutgers Univerisity-Camden and her MI with a concentration in Archives & Preservation at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. 

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Gordon S. Mikoski is associate professor of Christian education at the Princeton Theological Seminary. His research and teaching interests focus on Christian education, the sacraments, the doctrine of the Trinity, and practical theology. He has written and edited several books, including, "With Piety and Learning: The History of Practical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, 1812-2012," with Richard R. Osmer (Münster, Germany: Lit Verlag, 2011). He serves as the editor for Theology Today and as the director of the PhD program at the Seminary. He earned his MDiv ('88) and MA ('89) degrees from the Seminary, and his PhD from Emory University. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he served a church in the Detroit area for eight years before returning to academia. In 2016 he published “A Failure of Theological Imagination: Beginning to Deal with the Legacy of Princeton Seminary on Matters of Slavery and Race,” in Theology Today 73(2).

Michele Minter is vice provost for institutional equity and diversity at Princeton University. In this role, she oversees the University’s strategic initiatives focused on diversity, inclusion and access for all campus populations and serves as chief compliance officer for Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, Title VI, Title VII and Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act. A Yale University graduate, Minter earned an MFA from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and an MA from Chicago Theological Seminary. Her many volunteer commitments have included service on the boards of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and the Princeton Theological Seminary.

Grace McEwen Kimbrough was born and raised in Princeton, with origins in the Princeton area going back on her paternal side of the family to the 1870 census and on her maternal side to their arrival around 1920. She was employed for 28 years with the Superior Court of New Jersey Probation Department as a senior probation officer, managing sensitive and confidential issues in this field with people convicted of criminal acts. For fifteen years she worked in juvenile probation, supporting many initiatives and programs such as “The Cognitive Skills Program,” and Jim Brown’s “Amer-I-can Program.” For the last fourteen years she worked with adult probationers, managing a specialized caseload of mental health, domestic violence and sex offenders. She retired in 2019 and currently volunteers regularly at the Burlington Township Food Pantry, where she is also a member of the board of directors, and she is the pickleball coordinator at the YMCA in Mt. Laurel, NJ. Her work within the community includes speaking at events such as the Joint Effort Safe Streets and representing the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church within the "Bending the Moral Arc Courageous Conversation" series, a joint group that focuses on closing the racial divide. Grace McEwen Kimbrough received her Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and she graduated from Princeton High School.

Moderator: 

Brandon McKoy is president of the Fund For NJ and an established leader in public policy analysis and advocacy statewide and nationally. Prior to his current position, he worked as the Vice President for State Partnerships and Co-Leader of the State Fiscal Policy Division at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C. Brandon is well known for his accomplishments from his time at New Jersey Policy Perspective, where he held several roles over the course of seven years, first as a State Policy Fellow through the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ program, next as a Policy Analyst, and then as Director of Government and Public Affairs, before assuming leadership of the organization as NJPP’s President from 2019 through late 2021. Throughout those years, he researched and promoted a variety of issues including the minimum wage, paid sick leave, equitable taxation, public budget processes, the legalization and regulation of cannabis, and much more. Returning to The Fund for New Jersey in 2024 served as a homecoming given that Brandon worked as a Program Associate at the organization and served as its first philanthropy fellow from 2012 to 2014. Brandon completed his bachelor’s degree at The College of New Jersey and earned a master’s degree from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. He is a lifelong New Jerseyan and now resides in Hunterdon County with his family.

Presented in partnership with Not In Our Town Princeton, the Morven Museum & Gardens and the Princeton Theological Seminary and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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