A walk past Nassau: the historically black Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood
Linh NguyenBeyond FitzRandolph Gate, the hustle and bustle of Nassau Street — full of trendy restaurants, University apparel shops, and retail chains — serve as the facade of the town, the first image that tourists, visitors, and University students encounter upon leaving campus grounds. But unbeknownst to many non-residents, past Nassau lies a history of segregation and an ongoing struggle to preserve the culture of the town’s historically African-American Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, whose first inhabitants settled in the 1680s.