WEST WINDSOR - One of the oldest academic and library institutions, The American Philosophical Society, published Mercer County Community College’s Assistant Adjunct and History Professor Sue Kozel’s blog post on Jan. 3.

The American Philosophical Society website published the article titled, “Turn the Page and Other Surprises from the Thomas Jefferson Papers.” The article discusses Kozel’s discovery of a new document in the Thomas Jefferson collection.

“Imagine my surprise when one of the earliest reactions condemning Lord Dunmore’s proclamation to free black slaves who ran to the British during the American Revolution was on the back of a letter in Jefferson’s files. The letter had a big X written over it.” Kozel said.

Dunmore, also known as John Murray, was the Earl of Dunmore and royal governor of Virginia. His strategy of freeing American slaves to fight for the British army played a major role on the war.

According to Kozel, turning pages is essential and is where she found a proclamation of Lord Dunmore, on the back of a letter Lord Dunmore and Captain White Eyes, a British Governor. Dunmore’s proclamation encouraged American slaves to gain freedom by joining the British Army.

Kozel hopes to inspire the undergraduate students she teaches saying, “research often presents surprises when new eyes review older information and overlooked records.”

“Academic research is strange, and each generation, reinterprets the ideas of the past,” Kozel said.

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 MCCC Professor Sue Kozel is an NJ Council for the Humanities Public Scholar for 2020-2022.