After 90 Years, Columbia Takes Slave Owner's Name Off a Dorm
Little is known about the 18th-century New Yorker described in an advertisement seeking the return of a runaway slave in 1776 beyond his given name (James), what he looked like (tall and thin, with bloodshot eyes) and that he was talkative.
James’s owner, Dr. Samuel Bard, is less obscure. He was a major figure in New York medical circles at the time, President George Washington’s doctor and a founder of Columbia University’s medical school. He also delivered Alexander Hamilton’s son Philip.
When Columbia opened a dormitory for medical students in Upper Manhattan in 1931, Dr. Bard’s name went on it as a tribute to his contributions to the university.
Now — nearly 90 years later, amid a summer of protests against racial injustice and as elite universities and other institutions continue to confront their ties to slavery — his name is about to come off.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/nyregion/columbia-university-slavery-samuel-bard.html