PRINCETON: Battlefield Society uses Flag Day to keep pressure on Institute for Advanced Study

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The Princeton Battlefield Society on Tuesday continued to keep up its public pressure on the Institute for Advanced Study by protesting at Battlefield State Park against the IAS faculty housing project going on nearby.
“We want to bring attention on Flag Day to the destruction of one of the most important sites in American history, the Princeton Battlefield, and to clearly show the public that the battlefield is being threatened by the Institute for Advanced Study,” said Society president Jerry Hurwitz with morning rush-hour traffic zipping by on Mercer Road.
A handful of protestors like Roger Williams held handmade signs or American flags, with some motorists honking in support. A piece of earth-moving equipment was parked along one side the road, to symbolize the “destruction of the battlefield,” in Mr. Hurwitz’s words.
“As a public historian, I think it’s important for the community to really recognize this place in American history,” said Mr. Williams, the secretary of the Society. “Why should Lexington and Concord have all the fun?”
For its part, the IAS had no comment Tuesday about the protest.
The IAS intends to build on its property 15 units of faculty housing that it says fills a need. The Society, however, contends the project would destroy a critical section of the Revolutionary War battlefield.
Work started in December to clear the site, even though there are pending legal challenges. The Battlefield Society is in state and federal court fighting to stop the project. Later this month, the organization will go before a federal judge seeking an injunction.
Tuesday’s protest also included some residents who live near the IAS, concerned about the impact the project is having on their neighborhood. One resident pointed to the noise and truck traffic it has generated and damage to Olden Lane from heavy trucks.
“It’s preservation of not only a battlefield, said Lisa Serieyssol of Olden Lane, “but the quality of life in our neighborhood.”