Rutgers Alumni (before 1945)

Description

This collection consists of photographs, manuscripts, and clippings that document the lives of the men who studied at Rutgers before 1945. Twenty-five African American men attended Rutgers before the end of World War II, and they are the main subjects of this collection. The list begins with James Dickson Carr RC1892, Edward H. Lawson RC1908, and Paul Robeson RC1919. The final alumni in this collection are the 1943 graduates Walter G. Alexander II, Harry Hazelwood Jr., and Arthur M. Johnson. Each item in this collection has been tagged with the name and graduation year of the featured alumnus.

Many of the archival items featured here have been preserved as part of the Rutgers University Biographical Files for Alumni, a major collection at the Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives. Additional items were compiled by the Scarlet and Black research team from other archives and historical newspapers.

Some of the alumni and the archival items from this collection were discussed in our book Scarlet and Black, Volume 2: Constructing Race and Gender at Rutgers, 1865-1945.

View all items in this collection sorted by date.

Exhibits

Our exhibit Rutgers African American Alumni Gallery: The Forerunner Generation serves as the entry point into this collection. The exhibit features a portrait and biographical sketch for each African American alumnus and helps you discover relevant archival sources. If you are searching for documents that pertain to a specific alumnus, we suggest you begin your research by viewing his profile in the exhibit.

Additionally, this collection contains archival documents related to Klemmer Kalteissen RC1916, a white lawyer who participated in the New Brunswick NAACP's anti-lynching campaign in the 1920s. These documents are featured in our exhibit: NAACP in New Brunswick: Saving Silas Parmore.

Collection Items

Photograph of Klemmer Kalteissen
Undated photograph of young Klemmer Kalteissen in a military uniform coat. Kalteissen served in the US Army from November 1917 until January 1919.

Vote for Klemmer Kalteissen (campaign card)
Klemmer Kalteissen's campaign card for Middlesex County Board of Freeholders in the 1920s. Kalteissen first ran for freeholder in 1923 (unsuccessfully) and then succeeded in getting on the board in 1925. The card includes a portrait of Kalteissen.

Klemmer Kalteissen update in the alumni magazine
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