and finally a piece of New Jersey history that's largely been left out of textbooks as the state and country get ready to celebrate America's 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War the Princeton Battlefield Society is partnering with a group of students in Trenton to research black soldiers who fought in the critical battle there and the outsized role those soldiers played in helping the US gain its independence raven Santana has the story it was here on this battlefield that the fate of the revolution was decided and we're hoping that today you get a chance to relive some of that it was here nearly 250 years ago the Continental Army under the command of George Washington secured a pivotal victory over British forces at Princeton marking their third triumph in just 10 days during my visit Ben Strong president of the Princeton Battlefield Society and trustee Mark Herur gave me a tour of the historic site they showed me the grounds where reenactments of the battle took place and the rural farmhouse known as the Clark House which stood at the heart of the fighting and was later used as a hospital for wounded soldiers during the battle here at the Princeton Battlefield Society we have begun our 250th anniversary efforts and part of that effort is to pay attention to the common soldiers or as we like to refer to them the men without shoes the generals get all the attention they had the boots they had the horses they had the cloaks the grunts the G.I joes the men who were marching in the ranks were frequently underfed underclod and didn't have shoes among the soldiers who fought at Princeton on January 3rd were at least 14 black men from various states though little is known about their individual stories or experiences their lives their service their courage their sacrifice and what they did here the details of their service we want to bring that to life we want to make that part of the fabric of American history because America's history belongs to all Americans and in order to tell a full picture of the Battle of Princeton and by extension the American Revolution you need to tell everyone's story and you need to tell it in a detailed fashion and that's what we're doing here in an effort to identify these black soldiers and highlight the vital role they played in Washington's army the Princeton Battlefield Society is partnering with Foundation Academy Charter School in Trenton a free public charter school serving more than 1100 students in grades K through 12 to launch the man without shoes research project one of the projects that we are embarking on for the next two years is to find them depending on which historian you want to site as many as 5 to 25% of the American army were black soldiers some of them were free blacks some of them were slaves who fought in their master's places but here at Princeton we know that at least 14 men who fought were black soldiers and one black marine the work is always difficult when you're trying to make somebody alive who ultimately in history is dead casey Scott a student success team social worker at Foundationmies acknowledges that researching these unidentified soldiers will be a challenging task however she notes that the students are eager engaged and ready to take it on my students are always connected because it's black history point blank period but you're looking at about 50 plus students all different ages so you're looking at easy from 7th grade to 12th grade is really different perspectives different um unique talents coming to the table and breaking up the um project in ways where each student or each group of students will get an individual so they will learn and embody that individual so they will be the expert of one of the 14 scott is leading the project alongside high school teacher Isaiah Jones jones believes that the newly uncovered research about black soldiers presence during the pivotal battle will help black students see themselves reflected in American history and recognize their place in its narrative i stand that is teaching the students about how to research how to access databases and trying to connect us to like resources like Trenton Free Public Library that has tons of resources and also making sure things are kept in the historical perspective and I think you know learning the contributions of their ancestors will help them uh you know have more pride in American history as well as their own history they now hope to set up an exhibit showcasing the students research in time for Black History Month in February 2026 for NJ Spotlight News I'm Raven Santana [Music]