list of slaves sold by georgetown university list of slaves sold by georgetown university

2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. The notation betrayed no hint of the turmoil on board. Census of slaves to be sold in 1838 This is the original list of slaves from the Jesuit plantations compiled in preparation for the sale in 1838. You are here: blueberry crumble cake delicious magazine; hendersonville nc city council candidates 2021; list of slaves sold by georgetown university . He was not yet five feet tall when he sailed onboard the Katharine Jackson, one of several vessels that carried the slaves to the port of New Orleans. Only 206 of the 272 slaves were actually delivered because the Jesuits permitted the elderly and those with spouses living nearby and not owned by Jesuits to remain in Maryland. But the revelations about her lineage and the church she grew up in have unleashed a swirl of emotions. people, women and others in the Catholic Church, Cardinal Cupich: Critics of Pope Francis Latin Mass restrictions should listen to JPII. [37] Roothaan was particularly concerned because it had become clear that, contrary to his order, families had been separated by the slaves' new owners. In letters written to Jesuit superiors in Maryland, one priest who accidentally crossed paths with the slaves in Louisiana after the sale bemoaned the fact that the slaves couldnt practice Catholicism.. Check out some of the. Now shes working for justice. [7] As early as 1814, the trustees of the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen discussed manumitting all their slaves and abolishing slavery on the Jesuit plantations,[10] though in 1820, they decided against universal manumission. A Reflection for Saturday of the First Week of Lent, by Christopher Parker. [45] Patrick and Woolfolk's slaves were then sold in July 1859 to Emily Sparks, the widow of Austin Woolfolk. Michelle Miller reports. Now students, professors and alumni want to know what happened to those men and women and what the university will do moving forward. Upon receipt of these 51, Johnson and Batey were to pay the first $25,000. [136] Eufrosina Hinard (born 1777), a free black woman in New Orleans, she owned slaves and leased them to others. As part of an ongoing consideration to this atrocity Georgetown is seeking to rectify their prior actions and, in a speech delivered to descendants of the identified descendants delivered this message: Today the Society of Jesus, who helped to establish Georgetown University and whose leaders enslaved and mercilessly sold your ancestors, stands before you to say that we have greatly sinned, said Rev. [48] It is one of the most well-documented slave sales of its era. Timothy Kesicki, S.J., president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, during a morning Liturgy of Remembrance, Contrition, and Hope. John DeGioia, President, Georgetown University. The Jesuits used the proceeds to benefit then-Georgetown College. Ms. Crump, a retired television news anchor, was driving to Maringouin, her hometown, in early February when her cellphone rang. Revealed: The Slave Sold to Save Georgetown by Stacy M. Brown March 22, 2017 Frank Campbell was sold in 1838 to help save Georgetown. [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. [5] McSherry delayed selling the slaves because their market value had greatly diminished as a result of the Panic of 1837,[24] and because he was searching for a buyer who would agree to these conditions. For Black History Month 2021, we focused on Black Medical Achievements, Inventors and Scientists.To see those posts, click here. [27], The articles of agreement listed each of the slaves being sold by name. The Society of Jesus, whose members are known as Jesuits, established its first presence in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Thirteen Colonies alongside the first settlers of the British Province of Maryland, which had been founded as a Catholic colony and refuge. Georgetown is not the first or only university to own slaves. But the popes order, which did not explicitly address slave ownership or private sales like the one organized by the Jesuits, offered scant comfort to Cornelius and the other slaves. A photo of the slave cabins at Laurel Valley in Thibodaux is part of the GU272 Memory Project. [24] He located two Louisiana planters who were willing to purchase the slaves: Henry Johnson, a former United States Senator and governor of Louisiana, and Jesse Batey. Of the sum, $8,000 was used to satisfy a financial obligation that,[23] following a long-running and contentious dispute, Pope Pius VII had previously determined the Maryland Jesuits owed to Archbishop Ambrose Marchal of Baltimore and his successors. Hundreds of Blacks were slaughtered and 10,000 left homeless in this largely unknown event. As early as the 1780s, Dr. Rothman found, they openly discussed the need to cull their stock of human beings. 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. [24], Mulledy quickly made arrangements to carry out the sale. Georgetown was a prominent Jesuit priests. 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. She found out about the Jesuits and Georgetown and the sea voyage to Louisiana. [19] At the congregation, the senior Jesuits in Maryland voted six to four to proceed with a sale of the slaves,[20] and Dubuisson submitted to the Superior General a summary of the moral and financial arguments on either side of the debate. The Jesuits had sold off individual slaves before. One-hundred-seventy-eight years ago, Georgetown University was free to everyone who was able to attend; it was also massively in debt. The truth was closer to home than anyone knew", "272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. 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. There is joy in that, she said, exhilaration even. She runs a nonprofit, Dialogue on Race Louisiana, that offers educational programs on institutional racism and ways to combat it. [28], Anticipating that some of the Jesuit plantation managers who opposed the sale would encourage their slaves to flee, Mulledy, along with Johnson and a sheriff, arrived at each of the plantations unannounced to gather the first 51 slaves for transport. This admissions preference has been described by historian Craig Steven Wilder as the most significant measure recently taken by a university to account for its historical relationship with slavery. Maxine Crump, 69, a descendant of one of the slaves sold by the Jesuits, in a Louisiana sugar cane field where researchers believe her ancestor once worked. He might have disappeared from view again for a time, save for something few could have counted on: his deep, abiding faith. As a frequent reader of our website, you know how important Americas voice is in the conversation about the church and the world. One building was renamed for Isaac Hawkins, first on the list of the 272 human beings sold in 1838. Slaves Transported on the Katherine Jackson of Georgetown, Arriving New Orleans 6 Dec 1838, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1838_Jesuit_slave_sale, https://slaveryarchive.georgetown.edu/items/show/9, https://gu272.americanancestors.org/family/all-families, https://gu272.americanancestors.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/GMP%20Ancestor%20Database%202019%2002%2008%20%281%29%20%281%29.xlsx, Send a private message to the Profile Manager, Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Slave Owners, Iberville Parish, Louisiana, Slave Owners, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, Public Comments: Georgetown University in Washington, seen from across the Potomac River. Having descendant voices present alongside historical documents is an essential part of the GU272 narrative, said Claire Vail, the projects director for American Ancestors, in an announcement about the website. Now that we have this data, my hope is that we can use it to open doors and make connections. in Fr. [36], Soon after the sale, Roothaan decided that Mulledy should be removed as provincial superior. If you login and register your print subscription number with your account, youll have unlimited access to the website. Since youre a frequent reader of our website, we want to be able to share even more great, As a frequent reader of our website, you know how important, Georgetown students voted to pay for reparations. One building is now named in honor of a slave who was 65 years old when he was sold in 1838. You dont have to purchase the item in the link but using the link helps both of us and we thank you for your support. That alumnus, Richard J. Cellini, the chief executive of a technology company and a practicing Catholic, was troubled that neither the Jesuits nor university officials had tried to trace the lives of the enslaved African-Americans or compensate their progeny. The two women drove on the narrow roads that line the green, rippling sugar cane fields in Iberville Parish. The Jesuits decided that the elderly would not be sold south and instead would be permitted to remain in Maryland. . Required fields are marked *. A fantastic research tool with video camera, navigation programs and so much more. This indispensable guide presents academic administrators and staff with advice on building an equity-minded campus culture, aligning strategic priorities and institutional missions to advance equity, understanding equity-minded data analysis, developing campus strategies for making excellence inclusive, and moving from a first-generation equity educator to an equity-minded practitioner. 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. This is not a disembodied group of people, who are nameless and faceless, said Mr. Cellini, 52, whose company, Briefcase Analytics, is based in Cambridge, Mass. In 2013, Georgetown began planning to renovate the adjacent Ryan, Mulledy, and Gervase Halls, which together served as the university's Jesuit residence until the opening of a new residence in 2003. The site includes a searchable database with genealogies of descendants who have died. 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. The first payment on the remaining $90,000 would become due after five years. Now they are real to me, she said, more real every day.. [67] The university also gave permanent names to the two buildings. Jan Roothaan, who headed the Jesuits international organization from Rome and was initially reluctant to authorize the sale. [65], On April 18, 2017, DeGioia, along with the provincial superior of the Maryland Province, and the president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, held a liturgy in which they formally apologized on behalf of their respective institutions for their participation in slavery. The website is part of a collaboration between Boston-based American Ancestors, also called the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the Georgetown Memory Project, which was founded by Georgetown alumnus Richard Cellini. 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. It would be better to suffer financial disaster than suffer the loss of our souls with the sale of the slaves, wrote the Rev. Twenty-seven years earlier, a document dated June 19, 1838, showed that Maryland Jesuit priests sold 272 slaves to the owners of Louisiana plantations. Wondering why we ask for your email, or having trouble registering. So Judy Riffel, one of the genealogists hired by Mr. Cellini, began following a chain of weddings and births, baptisms and burials. But few were lucky enough to escape. The students organized a protest and a sit-in, using the hashtag #GU272 for the slaves who were sold. It was his Catholicism, born on the Jesuit plantations of his childhood, that would provide researchers with a road map to his descendants. If youre already a subscriber or donor, thank you! Shoes and clothing were made in the North and shipped to be used by the enslaved people. We ask our visitors to confirm their email to keep your account secure and make sure you're able to receive email from us. The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II An astonishing book. [10], Due to these extensive landholdings, the Propaganda Fide in Rome had come to view the American Jesuits negatively, believing they lived lavishly like manorial lords. To see the posts, click here. By the 1830s, however, their physical and religious conditions had improved considerably. Start Free Trial Now Our membership program offers special benefits for just $99 per year: *Unlimited instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows, *FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items, *Unlimited, ad-free streaming of over a million songs and more Prime benefits, Join Amazon Prime Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime Start Free Trial Now. In fact, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, University of Virginia did as well. There is no indication that he received any response. [70], The Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen was created in 1792 to preserve the property of the. After the sale, Cornelius vanishes from the public record until 1851 when his trail finally picks back up on a cotton plantation near Maringouin, La. But the 1838 slave sale organized by the Jesuits, who founded and ran Georgetown, stands out for its sheer size, historians say. Families would not be separated. The article details how the sold slaves were transported to three Louisiana plantations, where they faced brutal treatment. (Slaves were often donated by prosperous parishioners.) Other industries made loads of money indirectly. They could then make 40% on the labor of the slave and pay the bank 8%. He has contacted a few, including Patricia Bayonne-Johnson, president of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society in Spokane, who is helping to track the Jesuit slaves with her group. [29], Not all of the 272 slaves intended to be sold to Louisiana met that fate. 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. 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.