Collection of the Historical Society of Princeton. Print of glass plate negative. An unidentified woman standing by a chair. May be the Princeton Model School. Believed to date around 1880–1883. From the Kopp & Silvester studio holdings.
Ticket Prices
Free admission
Join us for an engaging presentation about the early history of Princeton’s African American community with Educator and Princeton Historian Shirley Satterfield.
Morven’s newest exhibition, Northern Families, Southern Ties (opening November 6, 2025), explores the complex connections between North and South, and the interstate movement of enslaved people from the late eighteenth century through the Civil War.
How did these larger connections and movements impact Princeton’s Black community?
Educator, Princeton Historian, and Founder of the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society, Shirley Satterfield, will lead an illustrated talk sharing the stories, experiences, and foundational contributions of African Americans in eighteenth and nineteenth century Princeton.
This is a free hybrid event. Attend in person at Morven, or join online via Zoom webinar. Pre-registration is required.
About the Speaker
Photo credit: Witherspoon Presbyterian Church/YouTube
Shirley Satterfield is the fourth of six generations of the VanZandt Moore May family in Princeton. She graduated from Princeton High School, graduated with a degree in Elementary Education from Bennett College for Women and earned her Master’s Degree in Guidance/Personnel Services from Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey).
Shirley moved back to Princeton in 1981 and keeping the history of the Princeton African American Community has been Ms. Satterfield’s passion, including starting a walking tour of African American Life in Princeton. Shirley is presently the President of the Witherspoon-Jackson Neighborhood Society and serves as a board member of Not In Our Town (NIOT), Princeton Historic Preservation Commission, Princeton Master Plan Committee, Secretary of the Paul Robeson House Board, and Partner with the Einstein Museum of Science.