Floyd Cummings, Jr. (Graduated with Class of 1976)
Kenneth Glover
Franklin Owens, Jr.
Michael Jerome Pierce
Ronald Stephen Sampson
Hector Lloyd Armando Scott
Arthur George Shay
1975
Thomas Harrison Hooper III
Mark Anthony McArthur
Edward Sommerville McCatty
Joseph Michael Miller
Gerald Wayne Stover
Robert Willingham Yancey
1976
Floyd Cummings, Jr.
David Lawrence Holmes
Jack Wade Jenkins
Ronald Lee Nabrit
Ronald Heribert Ware
Kenneth Gray Willoughby
1977
Quentin Frederick Atherley
Lucia Irene Butts
David Menilek Goodwin
Shelton Joyner, Jr.
Lloyd James Miller
Gerald Gilbert Anthony Penny
Michael Paul Whittingham
1978
Otho Wells Artis, II
Lawrence Edward Baugh
Charles Edward Blair
Steven M. Coleman
Jonathan Clark Gatlin
Woodrow Alque Pinder, Jr.
John David Williams, Jr.
1979
Darryl Nathaniel Harrison
Gregory Nelson
1980
Robert John Ellis, Jr.
Gregory Ivan Johnson
1981
James Corey De Pina
Julie Laurynn (Keith) Jarrett
David Gerald McLeod
Eric Nathaniel Miller
Charles Homer Riley, Jr.
Michael Anthony Joseph Thomas
1983
Beverly Elaine Allen
1984
Leopold W. Giscombe
Yvette Cecilia Mendez
Margaret Rose Vendryes
1985
Royal Lester Allen III
1987
Anthony Michael George
Steve Lawrence Joseph
Christopher David Manuel
Etta Patricia (Johnson) Milton
1989
Kevin Lawrence Frazier
1990
Paul Kwesi Bilson
1991
Derrick Andrew Lawrence
1996
Daina M. Howell
1997
Tara Christine (Goins) Brennan
Elizabeth Delilah Fairfax
Monet Elise Hilson
Nicole D. Scott
David Christopher Simms
1998
Jason Bradley Anderson
2000
Dana Alexis Perry-Hunter
Alissa Suzanne Wilson
2003
Kwesi A. Christopher
2005
Renee Marika Chung
Christopher W. Hunter
2006
Marc A. Fuller
2009
Chike Bartholomew Nnaji
2011
Jordan A. Moore-Fields
2013
Omar Wallace Brown, Jr.
Stefan Brian Henry Edwards
2014
Robert Frank Gooden III
Reyane Nafi Jeni Mbaye
2015
Lydia B. Nampeera
Morgan Ashly Venezia
2024
Kiiren Aamer Jackson
Faculty
Marion Brown
Mavis Christine Campbell
Asa Davis
James Quincy Denton
Jeffrey B. Ferguson
Lucius Weathersby
Staff
Elizabeth "Liz" Agosto
Chaka Ajene
Gertrude Batie
Robert Bosworth
Adolphus Butler
Luther Chaney
Joseph Cooper
Bobby Dodd
William Fisher
Barbara Forrest
Sabe Hairston
David Key
Genalvin Morse
Alexander Morton
F. Dwight Newport
Richard McDougald O'Daniel
Robert Gilbert Roberts
Fran Taylor-Anderson
Charles "Professor Charley" Thompson
Mable Whitehead
James Whitner
Reginald Young
The Civil War Soldiers
Joseph Evins
Charles Finnemore
Sanford Jackson
William Jennings
Genalvin Morse
Charles Thompson (Professor Charley)
Christopher Thompson
James Thompson
John Thompson
The Honorary Amherst College Friends
Those Amherst College Alumni, Students, Faculty and Staff Who Fought to Abolish Slavery During the Civil War
Robert C. Follette, Jr., Amherst College Employee - Friend of Amherst College Black Alumni (Long Time Director of Valentine Dining Hall)
Frank Alvan Hosmer (Born November 14, 1853; Amherst College Class of 1875); Ninth President of Punahou School [the Alma Mater of Barack Obama]; Great Barrington High School Educator Who Inspired W. E. B. DuBois to Pursue a College Education: Died May 28, 1918)
Kenneth Joseph Howard (Amherst College Class of 1966), "The White Shadow" of Manhasset High School (Manhasset, New York), Television's "The White Shadow" and Pudd'nhead Wilson and the President of Screen Actors Guild
Robert H. Romer (Amherst College Class of 1952 and Amherst College Physics Professor from 1955 to 2001) Author of "Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts" and articles pertaining to the Civil War Soldiers of Amherst and the Turbulent History of Phi Psi Fraternity During the Late 1940s
Charles Milson Stillman (Amherst College Class of 1967), Descendant of Founder of Stillman College, a HBCU; Long-Time Trustee of Stillman College; Two Million Dollar Benefactor of Stillman College
Henry Martin Tupper (Born April 11, 1831; Amherst College Class of 1859; European American Founder of Shaw University, the Second Oldest Historically Black College and University [HBCU]; Died November 12, 1893)
David W. Wills (Amherst College Professor of Religion) The General Editor of African American Religion: A Documentary History Project
The Honorary Amherst Alumni
Robert Purvis (African American Abolitionist Who Most Likely Attended Amherst Academy)
Amherst, MA - Robert H. Romer, of Amherst, Massachusetts, died peacefully at home at The Arbors on November 2, 2025 at the age of 94 with family by his side. He was a longtime Professor of Physics at Amherst College, a passionate scholar of local history, a strong advocate for justice, and deeply devoted to his family and his community.
Bob Romer was born on April 15, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received a B.A. from Amherst College in 1952 and a Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton in 1955. After receiving his Ph.D. he joined the faculty of Amherst College, where he spent his entire career. From 1988 until his retirement in 2001 he served as the editor of the "American Journal of Physics". During his time at Amherst he published numerous articles on low-temperature physics in "Physical Review" and "Physical Review Letters", as well as many articles in the "American Journal of Physics", "The Physics Teacher", and other journals. In 1976 he authored the book "Energy: An Introduction to Physics", which presented the basic principles of physics within the very timely framework of the energy crisis. Bob was passionate about physics and strove to instill a love of the subject in students at all levels.
A strong believer in working toward peace and justice, Bob attended the 1963 March on Washington and participated in multiple protests against the Vietnam War. Wishing to go beyond protesting, he spent the 1969-1970 academic year as a Visiting Professor of Physics at Voorhees College, a historically Black college in Denmark, South Carolina.
Bob married Diana Haynes the day after her graduation from Smith College in 1953 and they remained married until her death in 1992. They raised their three children in Amherst. Bob was an ardent supporter of Diana's work in Amherst town government and was actively involved in the civic life of the town himself. He loved cross-country skiing and took up long-distance running in his fifties, completing the Boston and New York marathons multiple times, including running in the 100th Boston marathon on his 65th birthday. He also ran the Mount Washington Road Race several times and ran and won the Echo Hill Marathon three times.
Bob married Betty Steele in 1994 and they were devoted partners until her death in 2022. After retirement they supported one another's dedication to new pursuits: Betty became an art docent at the Wadsworth Atheneum and at the Springfield Museums, and Bob became deeply interested in the often overlooked history of slavery in New England. His extensive research on slavery in Old Deerfield eventually led to the installation of Witness Stones commemorating enslaved individuals. Using primary sources, he made an in-depth study of slavery in the area and worked to increase awareness of slavery in the North, authoring the books "Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts" (2009) and "'I am a Bitter Enemy to Slavery': An Amherst College Student Goes to War" (2021). In 2011 he led efforts to properly honor the service of Black Civil War soldiers from Amherst who are buried in West Cemetery.
Bob's numerous honors included elections as a fellow of the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also received the Conch Shell Award from the Amherst Historical Society and the Human Rights Award from the Amherst Human Rights Commission.
Bob is survived by his brother, James Romer of Unity, NH; three sons and three daughters-in-law, Evan Romer and Mary Sweeney of Trumansburg, NY, David and Christina Romer of Milton, MA, and Theodore and Shannon Romer of Seattle, WA; four grandchildren, Katherine Stansifer, Paul Romer Present, Matthew Romer, and Ciara Romer; five great-grandchildren; and seven nieces and nephews. He is also survived by a stepson and step-daughter-in-law, Neil and Frances Goodzeit of Berwyn, PA, and a step-grandchild, Elliot Goodzeit. He was predeceased by his parents, Alfred Sherwood Romer and Ruth Hibbard Romer; his first wife, Diana Haynes Romer; his second wife, Betty Steele Romer; his sister, Sally Romer Evans; and his stepdaughter, Alison Goodzeit Aller.
Bob's wide-ranging curiosity and love of sharing knowledge led him to develop a remarkable network of good friends. His quality of life in his final years was greatly improved by the love and companionship of Susan Snively, the Amherst Unitarian Men's Group, and his other dear friends.
The family thanks Bob's professional caregivers for their compassionate care and support.
Robert H. Romer was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He drew deep, personal satisfaction from a lifetime of work as a student, teacher, physicist, and historian. He translated his belief in peace and justice into meaningful action. His was a life well lived. He will be greatly missed.
A celebration of Bob's life will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 17.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Partners In Health, 800 Boylston Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02199.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Published by Daily Hampshire Gazette on Nov. 11, 2025.
Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts by Robert H. Romer
In this first history of slavery in western Massachusetts in colonial times, Robert H. Romer demonstrates that slavery was pervasive in the Pioneer Valley in the 1700s, where many of the ministers and other “important people” owned black slaves. To show the role of slavery in the valley, Professor Romer presents a “snapshot” of slavery, choosing a moment (1752) and a place (the main street of Deerfield) to present detailed information about the slaves who lived in that place at that time – and their owners. Working largely from original sources – wills, probate inventories, church records, and merchants’ account books – he shows that slavery was much more significant than had previously been thought. Some twenty-five slaves belonging to fifteen different owners lived on that mile-long street in 1752. He emphasizes that these were individuals, some born in Africa, some born as slaves in New England, forced to live their lives as property, always subject to being sold away at the whim of an owner.
Deerfield is used simply as an example – slavery was pervasive throughout the valley. In other chapters he treats – in less detail – other towns in the valley. He also gives a brief history of slavery in Massachusetts, from its beginnings in the 1630s until its gradual end in the final decades of the 1700s and then discusses how in the following centuries New Englanders for the most part managed to forget that slavery had ever existed here.
His work brings out of obscurity the many black slaves who lived in the valley, the invisible men and women of our colonial past.
A dorm named for descendants of a slave who sued for his freedom
By Robert H. Romer ’52
Zion Chapel was built in 1869 on land provided by Amherst College on the site where Newport House now stands "so that the colored people of the town will have a place to worship." In the early 1900s the congregation of Zion Chapel divided, some members moving down Woodside Avenue to form the A.M.E. Zion Church, others moving to Gaylord Street, where they built Hope Congregational (now Hope Community) Church. Both Dwight and Edward Newport were founding members of Hope Church.
Those who pass Newport House, a college dormitory at the corner of Woodside Avenue and Northampton Road—if they notice the name of the building at all—probably have no idea that the name is a reminder of our colonial past, of a time when slavery was widespread in Western Massachusetts. The building is named for two descendants of Amos Newport, a slave who, through his efforts to become free, made a difference in the history of our state.
Amos was born in Africa about 1715, captured as a boy and taken to America on a slave ship. He arrived in Springfield as the property of David Ingersoll, who sold him in 1729 to Joseph Billing of Hatfield. Very little is known about Amos’s life in Hatfield, except for the very important fact that in 1766 Amos decided that he did not want to be a slave any longer and went to court to sue for his freedom.
There were a number of “freedom suits” by Massachusetts slaves at this time, many of which were successful, often because the slave had evidence that a previous owner had promised him his freedom. But Amos made no such claim—he simply wanted to be free. The owner produced a bill of sale, properly executed and witnessed: “I David Ingersoll ... have sold & delivered a certain young Negro Boy ... for fifty pounds to Joseph Billing of Hatfield ... .” The jury had no choice but to conclude that Amos was indeed a slave belonging to Joseph Billing. Amos, not easily deterred, appealed to the highest court in the province, which simply affirmed the decision of the lower court and declared that “the said Amos was not a freeman as he alleged but the proper Slave of the said Joseph ... .” Amos never did become free, but filing those two court cases probably contributed in some small way to the gradual ending of slavery in Massachusetts during the last two decades of the 1700s.
Amos’s son did become free, and by the mid-1800s there were Newports living in Amherst. (Of all the slaves who lived in this valley in the 1700s, very few had surnames—almost always simply names assigned by the owner, such as Caesar or Jenny or Pompey. If not for the fact that Amos, even as a slave, had a surname, it would be nearly impossible to trace his descendants.) Amos’s great-great-grandson, F. Dwight Newport, was an athletic trainer and boxing instructor at Amherst, and his son, Edward Foster Newport, attended the college for two years as a member of the Class of 1909, became an athletic trainer like his father and was, for many years, custodian at the Phi Delta Theta (later Phi Delta Sigma) fraternity. In 1984 Amherst abolished fraternities and named the old houses, now dormitories, in honor of people who had been associated with the college and with that fraternity. And thus the dormitory was named Newport House, in honor of those two men.
After I finished my 2009 book, Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts (Levellers Press), I tried to find out where and when Amos arrived in America and how he came to Springfield. Perhaps he arrived on a slave ship in Newport, R.I., and that was how he acquired his surname, but I have found no evidence to support this speculation. I have been more successful at discovering further descendants. Until about 1990 there were Newports living in Amherst. One of my sons remembers a Newport girl from grade school. Then I met—by e-mail—further generations of Newports. And a year ago a fifth-grader in California wrote a school report about her great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Amos, using my book as a source.
Next time you approach the traffic light by College Hall as you drive into Amherst from Northampton, look to your right at Newport House and think about Amos Newport, who lived a life of consequence in this valley 250 years ago.
Photo courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
The obituary for Thomas Gibbs ’51 (In Memory, Fall 2010) contains only a brief allusion to an important event in Amherst history, an event in which Gibbs played the central role. In the spring of 1948 the undergraduate members of Phi Kappa Psi, the Amherst chapter of a national fraternity, issued an invitation to Tom Gibbs, a black freshman, to join the fraternity. Although Phi Kappa Psi was not one of the five Amherst fraternities that at that time still had exclusionary rules, the leaders of the national organization did not react favorably when they learned of the Amherst chapter’s intentions. After some not-so-cordial negotiations during the following summer and fall, the Amherst students notified the national organization of Phi Kappa Psi that they were determined to proceed with Gibbs’ initiation. At that point the national organization suspended the Amherst chapter, which reorganized as Phi Alpha Psi, a local fraternity. Three weeks later Gibbs, together with the other sophomore pledges, was formally initiated into Phi Alpha Psi.
Although it now seems hard to believe that an invitation to a black student to join an Amherst fraternity could cause such a furor, the “Phi Psi Affair” was national news. In The New York Times alone that fall there appeared at least six news items on the topic and an editorial, which read in part: “The Amherst College football team beat Williams on Saturday by a score of 13 to 7, but it may be that another sort of victory, won on the Amherst campus on Friday, will be longer remembered. Until Friday, Amherst had a chapter of the national Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. On Friday that chapter was suspended by the national executive committee for ‘unfraternal conduct.’... In this episode we see the real meaning of a liberal education. An Amherst degree has always been respected. It will be more respected now.”
Staff photo by Diane LedermanThis is the grave of Charles Finnemore, who served in the Massachusetts 54th Infantry, one of the first black units in the Civil War. Finnemore is buried in West Cemetery in Amherst and is one of five soldiers to be honored in ceremonies Sunday.
AMHERST - Just before Memorial Day last spring, Robert Romer was walking through the West Cemetery when he noticed that there were no commemorative flags marking the graves of black soldiers who served in the Civil War.
"I'm absolutely sure this was an accident. We don't keep very good records."," he said, adding that his first thought was "somebody's got to fix this."
So, Romer and his wife, Betty, bought some flags and had a conversation with Veterans Agent Steven Connor to ensure the graves would not be missed next year. Connor said "let's make a ceremony out of this," Romer recounted.
That ceremony will take place Sunday at 2 p.m. at West Cemetery, followed by a public reception at Hope Community Church, 16 Gaylord St. Some of the soldiers' descendants will be attending, Romer said.
Romer, a retired Amherst College physics professor and author of "Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts," said they initially talked about a celebration earlier this summer, but he's glad they waited.
Now, he said, "we know so much more" about the men.
Romer said he expects that more black soldiers are buried in the cemetery, considering 20 from Amherst fought in the Civil War.
Included among the late black soldiers is Charles Finnemore, who served in the Massachusetts 54th Infantry and fought in the battle at Fort Wagner in Charleston S.C., where he was wounded. He had three children, all of whom died, and was one of the founders of Hope Church in Amherst.
Other black soldiers are Genalvin Marse, who served in the Connecticut 29th Infantry and moved to Amherst around 1890, and Christopher Thompson, a member of the Massachusetts 5th Cavalry.
Marse was a janitor at Amherst College’s Chi Psi fraternity. Thompson died in Pelham, but a death certificate said he was buried in West Cemetery.
Romer placed a temporary marker next to the grave of Thompson's son, Charles Thompson, also a member of the Massachusetts 5th Cavalry and a janitor at Amherst’s Delta-Kappa-Epsilon fraternity.
Because gravestones were expensive, the family may not have had money to install one, Romer said.
John Thompson, also of the Massachusetts 5th Cavalry, died during a "training accident" at Camp Readville, near Boston.
Christopher Thompson's great-great-granddaughter and great-great-great-grandsons will attend the ceremony, Romer said, including William Harris, who's flying in from Los Angeles.
"It means a great deal," to them Romer said.
Besides celebrating these five, Romer said, he also hopes the ceremony will call attention to the fact that 200,000 black soldiers fought in the Civil War.
"That's a number that ought to be in bold," he said.
On Friday night, the film "Glory" will be shown at 5:30 p.m. at Hope Community Church. The film shows the Massachusetts 54th's July 1863 attack on Fort Wagner. The 54th was one of the first black units organized in the northern states.
Pizza and a discussion will follow the film.
Acting Amherst Town Manager M. David Ziomek will participate in Sunday's festivities, which will include choral performances by choirs from Hope Community Church and Amherst's Goodwin Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church.
Alfred Romer was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Harry Houston Romer and his wife, Evalyn Sherwood. He was educated at White Plains High School.[2]
Romer was a keen practical student of vertebrate evolution. Comparing facts from paleontology, comparative anatomy, and embryology, he taught the basic structural and functional changes that happened during the evolution of fishes to ancestral terrestrial vertebrates and from these to all other tetrapods. He always emphasized the evolutionary significance of the relationship between form and function of animals and their environment.
Through his textbook Vertebrate Paleontology, Romer laid the foundation for the traditional classification of vertebrates. He drew together the then widely scattered taxonomy of the different vertebrate groups and combined them into a single scheme, emphasizing orderliness and overview. Based on his research into early amphibians, he reorganised the labyrinthodontians.[8]Romer's classification has been followed by many subsequent authors, notably Robert L. Carroll, and is still in use.
Namesakes
Taxonomic patronyms
In honor of Alfred Romer, several taxonomic patronyms were given in animals:
Romeriida is the name for a clade that contains the diapsids and their closest relatives.
Romeriscus is a genus from the early Pennsylvanian (Late Carboniferous) initially described as the oldest known amniote,[9] but this is because limnoscelids were, at that time, considered amniotes by some authors. A subsequent study showed that the fossil lacks diagnostic characters and can only be assigned to Tetrapoda.[10]
Dromomeron romeri is a species of non-dinosaurian dinosauromorph named in July 2007. The genus name means 'running femur,' and the species name honors the paleontologist, a key figure in evolution research. The finding of these fossils was hailed as a breakthrough proving dinosaurs and other dinosauromorphs "lived together for as long as 15 to 20 million years."[11][12]
Romer's gap
Romer was the first to recognise the gap in the fossil record between the tetrapods of the Devonian and the later Carboniferous period, a gap that has borne the name Romer's gap since 1995.[13]
Romerogram
A romerogram of the vertebrates at class level, with the width of spindles indicating number of families.
A romerogram, also called spindle diagram, or bubble diagram, is a diagram popularised by Alfred Romer.[14] It represents taxonomic diversity (horizontal width) against geological time (vertical axis) in order to reflect the variation of abundance of various taxa through time.[15]
Books
Romer, A.S. 1933. Vertebrate Paleontology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. (2nd ed. 1945; 3rd ed. 1966)
Romer, A.S. 1933. Man and the Vertebrates. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. (2nd ed. 1937; 3rd ed. 1941; 4th ed., retitled The Vertebrate Story, 1949)
Bob has just finished a short book about the life of an Amherst student at the start of the Civil War who became an officer in a black Union regiment. No further details provided. (Amherst class notes, SUMMER 2019)
"Juneteenth 160 years later: I am a manifestation of their hope"\Professor Emeritus Robert H. Romer '52 is mentioned.\\Source NEPM News - Jun 19, 2025\
Numerous Professional Articles
Author - 'Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts' 2009 Author - 'Energy Facts and Figures' 1985; Author - 'Energy-An Introduction to Physics' 1976;
Book Review Ed-Amer Journ of Physics 1982-88
Assoc Editor 'American Journal of Physics' 1968-74
Author, "I Am a Bitter Enemy to Slavery": An Amherst College Student Goes to War: Christopher Pennell (1842-1864).
