Swarthmore College removes professor’s name from campus after excavating Native American burial site.
A Pennsylvania liberal arts college has removed a college professor’s name from a campus building after it emerged he dug up a Native American burial site — but critics say the move is a red herring.
Swarthmore College desecrated Spencer Trotter’s name from its Trotter Hall building after learning that he excavated the site in 1899 and placed the remains on campus, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Trotter, who was part of the department of biological sciences, promoted the dominance of races in his works – scholars decided to be “scientific racism.”
Valerie Smith, president of the college, revealed last December that Trotter Hall and Trotter Lawn will be renamed after an 18-month investigation.
The hall has been temporarily named “Old Science Hall” and the permanent name will be announced in the fall.
Smith said the name change “isn’t just about renaming spaces” and acknowledged it could be divisive.
“It is an acknowledgment of injury, a commitment to learning from the past, and affirming our responsibility to take care of the issues and heritage preserved in this institution,” she said.
“I understand that these issues may cause a range of emotions and concerns.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in April 2022 that two university professors held a Lenape burial site, but did not mention Trotter by name.
The site was donated to the Delaware Nation for just $1 and the process was completed in March 2022. It is the only officially recognized Native American burial site in Chester County.
The university identified Trotter as one of the professors and Smith said in May 2023 that the reports required the university to “reflect and face our past.”
He said university officials could not determine how long the bones had been on campus – or where they were stored.
“Our work to try to answer those questions continues.” And none of these facts change the sad fact that more than 120 years ago and for an unknown period of time after that, these remains were kept and displayed here,” he said.
“Regardless of what the educational goals were or whether these practices were common at the time they occurred, these remains should have been treated with dignity and respect and should never have been removed from their burial site.”
Smith created a team made up of students and staff, responsible for coming up with a new name – but some graduates weren’t entirely enthusiastic about renaming Trotter Hall.
“I also don’t see the merit in renaming Trotter Hall,” Steve Harari, a 1978 graduate of Swarthmore College, told the Swarthmore Phoenix.
“Reviewing behavior like this undermines Swarthmore’s mission of intellectual honesty and curiosity.”
“We’ve had messages from people saying, ‘Why should we judge someone’s actions 125 years ago by our standards today?’ And that is a [fair] contradiction,” psychology professor Cat Norris, who led the team, told the Swarthmore Phoenix.
