Woodrow Wilson’s Legacy: Wrestling With History

In April 2016, the University trustees adopted the Report of the Trustee Committee on Woodrow Wilson’s Legacy at Princeton, which included a recommendation that the administration make a concerted effort to diversify campus art and iconography. A specific recommendation called for the installation of a permanent marker that would educate the campus community and others about both the positive and negative dimensions of Wilson’s complex legacy.  “Double Sights,” created by artist Walter Hood and installed on Scudder Plaza, tries to achieve that goal.

Trustee Brent Henry will introduce the talk. Henry chaired the Wilson Legacy Review Committee, whose recommendations led to the creation of “Double Sights.” During the talk, Michelle Minter, Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity, will discuss on-going efforts to diversify the Princeton campus, while Hood will lay out his vision and process in creating Double Sights. They will then engage in conversation about how all communities can honestly address and painful parts of their collective past without erasing history – and how Princeton hopes to be a leader in such efforts.

We will then visit Double Sights on Scudder Plaza, where President Eisgruber will offer remarks. A reception will follow in the Bernstein Gallery, Level A of Robertson Hall, where an exhibit, “In the Nation’s Service? Woodrow Wilson Revisited” is on display.

Michele Minter, Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity and Walter J. Hood, Creative Director, Hood Design Studio; Professor of Landscape Architecture, UC Berkeley