Most of the 314 enslaved people were sent to Louisiana, but about a third remained in Maryland or were sold to other locations, according to an article on the website. Meanwhile, Georgetowns working group has been weighing whether the university should apologize for profiting from slave labor, create a memorial to those enslaved and provide scholarships for their descendants, among other possibilities, said Dr. Rothman, the historian. To pay that debt, the Jesuits who ran the school, under the auspices of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, sold 272 slaves -- the very people that helped build the school itself.. Twenty-seven years earlier, a document dated June 19, 1838, showed that Maryland Jesuit priests sold 272 slaves to the owners of Louisiana plantations. Corneliuss extended family was split, with his aunt Nelly and her daughters shipped to one plantation, and his uncle James and his wife and children sent to another, records show. Father Mulledy took most of the down payment he received from the sale about $500,000 in todays dollars and used it to help pay off the debts that Georgetown had incurred under his leadership. By the end of December, one of Mr. Cellinis genealogists felt confident that she had found a strong test case: the family of the boy, Cornelius Hawkins. Some of that money helped to pay off the debts of the struggling college. ", New England Historic Genealogical Society, "They thought Georgetown University's missing slaves were 'lost.' Today, the universitys leaders, students and alumni are grappling with how to confront that history. New website shows genealogy of descendants of slaves sold to benefit Dubuisson described how the public reputation of the Jesuits in Washington and Virginia declined as a result of the sale. [7], By 1824, the Jesuit plantations totaled more than 12,000 acres (4,900 hectares) in the State of Maryland, and 1,700 acres (690 hectares) in eastern Pennsylvania. Cornelius had originally been shipped to a plantation so far from a church that he had married in a civil ceremony. A photograph of Frank Campbell, one of 272 slaves sold to keep Georgetown University afloat, was found in a scrapbook at Nicholls State University in Louisiana. [18] The province was sharply divided, with the American-born Jesuits supporting a sale and the missionary European Jesuits opposing on the basis that it was immoral both to sell their patrimonial lands and to materially and morally harm the slaves by selling them into the Deep South, where they did not want to go. Are You A Liturgist With A Passion to Form Young Adults? [13], Beginning in 1800, there were instances of the Jesuit plantation managers freeing individual slaves or permitting slaves to purchase their freedom. Ms. Crump, 69, has been asking herself that question, too. John DeGioia, President, Georgetown University. This coincided with a protest by a group of students against keeping Mulledy's and McSherry's names on the buildings the day before. There is no indication that he received any response. [66] In 2020, the college removed Mulledy's name. A problem can is not solved without first recognizing it, discussing it and taking steps to rectify the long term damage that continues to this day. Ta-Nehisi Coates, National Correspondent, The Atlantic Recorded Thursday, September 29, 2016, at the Washington Ideas Forum. (Slaves were often donated by prosperous parishioners.) Slaves and the products they produced were responsible for well over 50% of the entire GNP of the United States. Required fields are marked *. [54] Despite the decades of scholarship on the subject, this revelation came as a surprise to many Georgetown University members,[48][55] and some criticized the retention of Mulledy's name on the building. That man, Thomas Mulledy, then the president of Georgetown University, had sold 272 slaves to pay off a massive debt strangling the university. Georgetown is not the first or only university to own slaves. When you register, youll get unlimited access to our website and a free subscription to our email newsletter for daily updates with a smart, Catholic take on faith and culture from. Georgetown is not the only institution that has prospered on the backs of enslaved people. In fact, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, University of Virginia did as well. [48] In 1977, the Maryland Province named Georgetown's Lauinger Library as the custodian of its historic archives, which were made available to the public through the Georgetown University Library, Saint Louis University Library, and Maryland State Library. To see information on Juneteenth, click here. We pray with you today because we have greatly sinned and because we are profoundly sorry. This message was delivered to more than 100 descendants of the original enslaved people who had been sol to finance the institution. By the 1830s, however, their physical and religious conditions had improved considerably. Joseph Zwinge (identified as "J.Z.") In April 2017, Georgetown renamed buildings that had honored university leaders responsible for selling those enslaved Africans to Louisiana plantations. You can also manage your account details and your print subscription after logging in. Use our links to Amazon anytime you shop Amazon. Maryland Province Archives at Lauinger Library at Georgetown University, A passage from the Rev. Isaac Hawkins was the first enslaved person listed in the 1838 sale document. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. She runs a nonprofit, Dialogue on Race Louisiana, that offers educational programs on institutional racism and ways to combat it. [5] In October of that year, Mulledy succeeded McSherry, who was dying, as provincial superior. GSA28: William Gaston entrusts a slave named Augustus to Fr. During this time, the Jesuits funded some of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in America in part through profits earned on their plantations. Please visit ourmembership pageto learn how you can invest in our work by subscribing to the magazine or making a donation. What Does It Owe Their Descendants? He was allowed to continue paying well beyond the ten years initially allowed, and continued to do so until just before the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, during the Civil War. Now students, professors and alumni want to know what happened to those men and women and what the university will do moving forward. The second is now named for a free African-American woman who founded a school for Catholic black girls in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Since 2015, Georgetown has been working to address its historical relationship to slavery and will continue to do so, a Georgetown spokesman said in a statement to Religion News Service on Friday. [69] Several groups of descendants have been created, which have lobbied Georgetown University and the Society of Jesus for reparations, and groups have disagreed with the form that their desired reparations should take. [41] The Jesuits never received the total $115,000 that was owed under the agreement. Limit 20 per day. March 24, 2017. But few were lucky enough to escape. this helps us promote a safe and accountable online community, and allows us to update you when other commenters reply to your posts. Please contact us at members@americamedia.org with any questions. Revealed: The Slave Sold to Save Georgetown Login to post. [5] The first record of slaves working Jesuit plantations in Maryland dates to 1711, but it is likely that there were slave laborers on the plantations a generation before then. Now, with racial protests roiling college campuses, an unusual collection of Georgetown professors, students, alumni and genealogists is trying to find out what happened to those 272 men, women and children. Timothy Kesicki, S.J., president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, during a morning Liturgy of Remembrance, Contrition, and Hope. Jesse Batey died in 1851 and the White Oak Plantation was sold. Key then transferred this property to John R. Thompson. -- Georgetown University has announced that descendants of 272 slaves, from whose sale the school profited in 1838, will receive "an advantage in the admissions process" as part of a larger . 2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. [35] He ordered McSherry to inform Mulledy that he had been removed as provincial superior, and that if Mulledy refused to step down, he would be dismissed from the Society of Jesus. It also features audio recordings in which descendants recall memories, from segregated education to family migration away from the South. It is interesting that the date was June 19th as many years later, it was on what is now recognized as Juneteenth. On November 14, 2015, DeGioia announced that he and the university's board of directors accepted the working group's recommendation, and would rename the buildings accordingly. The Rev. [12], One of the Maryland Jesuits' institutions, Georgetown College (later known as Georgetown University), also rented slaves. In 1844, Henry Johnson sold a share of Chatham and would eventually sell the remainder of his land and enslaved people to John R. Thompson in 1851. Drawing from campus-based research projects sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California, this invaluable resource provides real-world steps that reinforce primary elements for examining equity in student achievement, while challenging educators to specifically focus on racial equity as a critical lens for institutional and systemic change. Dr. Rothman, the Georgetown historian, heard about Mr. Cellinis efforts and let him know that he and several of his students were also tracing the slaves. [3], Much of this land was put to use as plantations, the revenue from which financed the Jesuits' ministries. By the 1840s, word was trickling back to Washington that the slaves new owners had broken their promises. Freedom Hall became Isaac Hawkins Hall, after the first slave listed on the articles of agreement for the 1838 sale. Other industries made loads of money indirectly. [136] Eufrosina Hinard (born 1777), a free black woman in New Orleans, she owned slaves and leased them to others. Examined and found correct, he wrote of Cornelius and the 129 other people he found on the ship. On June 19, 1838, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus agreed to sell 272 slaves to two southern Louisiana sugar planters, former governor Henry Johnson and Jesse Batey, for $115,000, equivalent to $2.79 million in 2020, in order to rescue Georgetown University from bankruptcy. From the 2016 Washington Ideas Forum. They worried that new owners might not allow the slaves to practice their Catholic faith. The slaves were also identified as collateral in the event that Johnson, Batey, and their guarantors defaulted on their payments. [29] Some of the initial 272 slaves who were not delivered to Johnson were replaced with substitutes. James Van de Veldes. [1] The Jesuits received land patents from Lord Baltimore in 1636, were gifted land in the some Catholic Marylanders' wills, and purchased some land on their own, eventually becoming substantial landowners in the colony. Census of slaves to be sold in 1838 - Georgetown University She was the citys first black woman television anchor. The article details how the sold slaves were transported to three Louisiana plantations, where they faced brutal treatment. Within two weeks, Mr. Cellini had set up a nonprofit, the Georgetown Memory Project, hired eight genealogists and raised more than $10,000 from fellow alumni to finance their research. 1838 Jesuit slave sale - Wikipedia ", What We Know: Report to the President of The College of The Holy Cross 2016, "Historical Timeline: Events Affecting the GU272 from the 1838 Sale to the Present", "Bill of Sale from the Heirs of Jesse Batey to Washington Barrow, January 18, 1853", "Bill of Sale for Land and People from Washington Barrow to William Patrick and Joseph B. Woolfolk, February 4, 1856", "Bill of Sale for Land and 138 People from William Patrick and Joseph Woolfolk to Emily Sparks, Widow of Austin Woolfolk, July 16, 1859", "Henry Johnson's Sales of Enslaved Persons, 18441851", Report of the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation 2016, "University Requests Change in Use for Ryan Hall and Mulledy Hall", "Renovation of Former Jesuit Residence Beginning May 19", "Slavery's Remnants, Buried and Overlooked", "Georgetown University to rename two buildings that reflect school's ties to slavery", "Announcing the Working Group on Slavery, Memory & Reconciliation", "Concrete Expressions of Georgetown's Jesuit Heritage: A Photographic Sampler of Campus Buildings and the Jesuits for Whom They are Named From the University Archives", "Heeding Demands, University Renames Buildings", "Mulledy Name To Be Removed From BrooksMulledy Hall", "President's Response to Report of the Mulledy/Healy Legacy Committee", "Georgetown Apologizes, Renames Halls After Slaves", "Georgetown Apologizes for 1838 Sale of More Than 270 Enslaved, Dedicates Buildings", "Georgetown University Plans Steps to Atone for Slave Past", "For Georgetown, Jesuits and Slavery Descendants, Bid for Racial Healing Sours Over Reparations", "Georgetown Students Agree to Create Reparations Fund", "Catholic Order Pledges $100 Million to Atone for Slave Labor and Sales", "Saving Souls and Selling Them: Jesuit Slaveholding and the Georgetown Slavery Archive", "Foundation and First Administration of the Maryland Province, Part I: Background", "Catholic Slaveowners and the Development of Georgetown University's Slave Hiring System, 17921862", Report of the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation to the President of Georgetown University, The Lost Jesuit Slaves of Maryland: Searching for 91 people left behind in 1838, What We Know: Report to the President of The College of The Holy Cross, Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project, Video of Isaac Hawkins Hall dedication ceremony from C-SPAN, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1838_Jesuit_slave_sale&oldid=1141447737, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 03:24. We encourage you to share the site on social media. But thewebsiteincludes a spreadsheet of 314 individuals whom genealogists have identified as being part of the group sold by the Jesuit priests. One-hundred-seventy-eight years ago, Georgetown University was free to everyone who was able to attend; it was also massively in debt. [35][34] Benedict Fenwick, the Bishop of Boston, privately lamented the fate of the slaves and considered the sale an extreme measure. Check out some of the. Meet Paul Haring, the CNS photographer who covered the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the election of Francis, numerous international papal trips and the daily action of Vatican life for over a decade. American Ancestors announced the new GU272 Memory Project website on Wednesday (June 19), the anniversary of Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when some American slaves learned they had been freed. Jesuit priests in Maryland sold 272 slaves to Louisiana plantations in 1838 to fund Georgetown . Slave trade in the United States - Wikipedia Three Jesuits traveled aboard The Ark and The Dove on Lord Baltimore's voyage to settle Maryland in 1634. Inspiring Stories of Black History and Achievement, 272 Slaves Sold to Finance Georgetown University. There was no need for a map. Georgetown Univ. Announces Admissions 'Advantage' for - ABC News Thomas Hibbert (1710-1780), English merchant, he became rich from slave labor on his Jamaican plantations. Melvin Robert and Joya Mia Italiano look into Georgetown Universitys response on the Lip News. The two women drove on the narrow roads that line the green, rippling sugar cane fields in Iberville Parish. Many of them baptized Catholic, they were bought by planters to work. [56] An undergraduate student also brought this to public attention in several articles published by the school newspaper, The Hoya between 2014 and 2015, about the university's relationship with slavery and the slave sale. Cardinal McElroy responds to his critics on sexual sin, the Eucharist, and LGBT and divorced/remarried Catholics, Worried you retired too early? More than half were younger than 20, and nearly a third were not yet 10 years old. They were looked on not as humans but as collateral and sold to secure the future of this great Catholic institution that hold such a place of honor to this day. The sale prompted immediate outcry from fellow Jesuits. Although the working group was established in August, it was student demonstrations at Georgetown in the fall that helped to galvanize alumni and gave new urgency to the administrations efforts. To see the full listing of posts, click on our Blog list, For Black History Month 2020, we posted daily. She later joined the Oblate Sisters of Providence, recognized as the oldest active Roman Catholic sisterhood in the Americas established by women of African descent. But he was persuaded to reconsider by several prominent Jesuits, including Father Mulledy, then the influential president of Georgetown who had overseen its expansion, and Father McSherry, who was in charge of the Jesuits Maryland mission. Colleges and universities have placed greater emphasis on education equity in recent years. We see that slavery was MUCH more than depriving people of their liberty and theft of their services, it was the cruel and long lasting emotional devastation of selling away loved ones, taking indecent liberties, cruel and inhumane treatment and so much more. The Rev. (The two men would swap positions by 1838.). New England ship builders made ships to bring people to this country. Upon receipt of these 51, Johnson and Batey were to pay the first $25,000. Georgetown Reflects on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation Georgetown is engaged in a long-term and ongoing process to more deeply understand and respond to the university's role in the injustice of slavery and the legacies of enslavement and segregation in our nation. These are real people with real names and real descendants.. Youll never know where you came from, said Mlisande Short-Colomb, a descendant of the group of slaves, in a statement about the project. [29] The slaves Mulledy gathered were sent on the three-week voyage aboard the Katherine Jackson,[27] which departed Alexandria on November 13 and arrived in New Orleans on December 6. What has emerged from their research, and that of other scholars, is a glimpse of an insular world dominated by priests who required their slaves to attend Mass for the sake of their salvation, but also whipped and sold some of them. She listened, stunned, as he told her about her great-great-grandfather, Cornelius Hawkins, who had labored on a plantation just a few miles from where she grew up. This is the original list of slaves from the Jesuit plantations compiled in preparation for the sale in 1838. The Jesuits ultimately received payment many years late and never received the full $115,000. We encourage you to visit our website, call us at (202)-687-8330, or email us at descendants@georgetown.edu if you are interested in learning more or sharing your ideas and reflections. (RNS) A genealogical association has launched a new website detailing the family histories of slaves who were sold to keep Catholic-run Georgetown University from bankruptcy in . Georgetown and the College of the Holy Cross renamed buildings, and the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States pledged to raise $100 million for the descendants of slaves owned by the Jesuits.
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