A Harvard University committee is considering a call from several student groups to rename the John Winthrop House due to its namesakes’ connections to slavery.
The undergraduate student dormitory was named after Massachusetts Bay Colony Gov. John Winthrop and his great-great grandson Professor John Winthrop, a pioneer in mathematics and astronomy in early America. Both also owned slaves, according to the “Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery” report.
Elyse Martin-Smith, political action chair of Harvard’s Black Students Association, told The College Fix in a phone interview this month that her association wants to see the house renamed because of the Winthrops’ connections to slavery.
Demands to change the name initiated last year with two other student organizations, the Generational African American Students Association and the Natives at Harvard College, The Fix reported at the time.