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

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. And the 1838 sale worth about $3.3 million in todays dollars was organized by two of Georgetowns early presidents, both Jesuit priests. Now they are real to me, she said, more real every day.. 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. Cardinal McElroy responds to his critics on sexual sin, the Eucharist, and LGBT and divorced/remarried Catholics, Worried you retired too early? Some children were sold without their parents, records show, and slaves were dragged off by force to the ship, the Rev. Her great-uncle had the name, as did one of her cousins. [45] Patrick and Woolfolk's slaves were then sold in July 1859 to Emily Sparks, the widow of Austin Woolfolk. As early as the 1780s, Dr. Rothman found, they openly discussed the need to cull their stock of human. 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. [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. However, the total number of slaves is only one way to measure the level of slavery in a country. While it would seem as if there would be some mention of this in history, it remained largely unknown. As a frequent reader of our website, you know how important Americas voice is in the conversation about the church and the world. [32] An unknown number of slaves may also have run away and escaped transportation. Cornelius had originally been shipped to a plantation so far from a church that he had married in a civil ceremony. 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. Some tips for making the most of your twilight years. Unknown because that portion of history is so like anything that reflects on the horrors of slavery preempted from our history. For the eighth year, the Forum was hosted by The Atlantic in partnership with the Aspen Institute. [5], On June 19, 1838, Mulledy, Johnson, and Batey signed articles of agreement formalizing the sale. You are here: blueberry crumble cake delicious magazine; hendersonville nc city council candidates 2021; list of slaves sold by georgetown university . 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. To see the posts, click here. [58] In November of that year, following a student-led protest and sit-in,[59] the working group recommended that the university temporarily rename Mulledy Hall (which opened during Mulledy's presidency in 1833)[60] to Freedom Hall, and McSherry Hall (which opened in 1792 and housed a meditation center)[61] to Remembrance Hall. [34] Many Maryland Jesuits were outraged by the sale, which they considered to be immoral, and many of them wrote graphic, emotional accounts of the sale to Roothaan. But he said he could not stop thinking about the slaves, whose names had been in Georgetowns archives for decades. By the 1840s, word was trickling back to Washington that the slaves new owners had broken their promises. [24], Mulledy quickly made arrangements to carry out the sale. From these estates, the Jesuits traveled the countryside on horseback, administering the sacraments and catechizing the Catholic laity. [67] The university also gave permanent names to the two buildings. Kenney found the slaves facing arbitrary discipline, a meager diet, pastoral neglect, and engaging in vice. [12], One of the Maryland Jesuits' institutions, Georgetown College (later known as Georgetown University), also rented slaves. Freedom Hall became Isaac Hawkins Hall, after the first slave listed on the articles of agreement for the 1838 sale. The sale of these 272 slaves, known as the GU272, saved the university from foreclosure. A Reflection for Saturday of the First Week of Lent, by Christopher Parker. However, the remainder of the money received did go to funding Jesuit formation. This sale was overseen by Provincial Superior William McSherry and Friar Thomas Mulledy. [35][34] Benedict Fenwick, the Bishop of Boston, privately lamented the fate of the slaves and considered the sale an extreme measure. The college relied on Jesuit plantations in Maryland to help finance its operations, university officials say. We shop for the best values for you. But thewebsiteincludes a spreadsheet of 314 individuals whom genealogists have identified as being part of the group sold by the Jesuit priests. In the case of Amazon, please use our links whenever you shop. GSA28: William Gaston entrusts a slave named Augustus to Fr. Georgetown and the Society of Jesus Maryland Province have issued an apology for their role in this action to more than 100 descendants who had been traced at the time of the apology. The students organized a protest and a sit-in, using the hashtag #GU272 for the slaves who were sold. We receive a small royalty without cost to you. One building is now named in honor of a slave who was 65 years old when he was sold in 1838. Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more. She is outraged that the churchs leaders sanctioned the buying and selling of slaves, and that Georgetown profited from the sale of her ancestors. On June 19, 1838, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus agreed to sell 272 slaves to two Louisiana planters, Henry Johnson and Jesse Batey, for $115,000 (equivalent to approximately $2.96 million in 2021). 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. Timothy Kesicki, S.J., president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, during a morning Liturgy of Remembrance, Contrition, and Hope. 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. 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. Much more than a way to chat. An inspector scrutinized the cargo on Dec. 6, 1838. [48] It is one of the most well-documented slave sales of its era. [4][a] Several of the Jesuits' slaves unsuccessfully attempted to sue for their freedom in the courts in the 1790s. It also notes slaves who had run away, and those who had been "married off." Today, the universitys leaders, students and alumni are grappling with how to confront that history. History has attempted to take the sting out of it which is impossible. Descendants are learning new links to their pasts as a result of the project. The sale of 272 slaves in 1838 rescued the College from crushing debt. [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. [50], The 1838 slave sale returned to the public's awareness in the mid-2010s. Following Batey's death, his West Oak plantation and the slaves living there were sold in January 1853 to Tennessee politician Washington Barrow and Barrow's son, John S. Barrow, a resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Anyone can read what you share. [72][70] Georgetown also made a $1million donation to the foundation and a $400,000 donation to create a charitable fund to pay for healthcare and education in Maringouin, Louisiana. We also hope to work with you on additional opportunities for engaging with those who many not be able to attend in-person gatherings. [8] These consisted primarily of the plantations of White Marsh in Prince George's County, St. Inigoes and Newtown Manor in St. Mary's County, St. Thomas Manor in Charles County, and Bohemia Manor in Cecil County. [24] When he returned in November to gather the rest of the slaves, the plantation managers had their slaves flee and hide. Others, including two of Corneliuss uncles, ran away before they could be captured. If you login and register your print subscription number with your account, youll have unlimited access to the website. [15] Alice Clifton (c. 1772-unknown), as an enslaved teenager, she was a defendant in an infanticide trial in 1787. It was his Catholicism, born on the Jesuit plantations of his childhood, that would provide researchers with a road map to his descendants. [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. . 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. To see the full listing of posts, click on our Blog list, For Black History Month 2020, we posted daily. Georgetown is not the first or only university to own slaves. [22], In October 1836, Roothaan officially authorized the Maryland Jesuits to sell their slaves, so long as three conditions were satisfied: the slaves were to be permitted to practice their Catholic faith, their families were not to be separated, and the proceeds of the sale had to be used to support Jesuits in training,[23] rather than to pay down debts. Their panic and desperation would be mostly forgotten for more than a century. So Judy Riffel, one of the genealogists hired by Mr. Cellini, began following a chain of weddings and births, baptisms and burials. Georgetown is not the first or only university to own slaves. History must be faced in order to heal and move forward! The 1970s saw an increase in public scholarship on the Maryland Jesuits' slave ownership. [63][38], The College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, of which Mulledy was the first president from 1843 to 1848, also began to reconsider the name of one of its buildings in 2015. Our membership program offers special benefits to college students including: * Unlimited FREE Two-Day Shipping (with no minimum order size), * Exclusive deals and promotions for college students, Georgetown University confronts its history with slavery. CNN In 1838, the Jesuits who ran Georgetown University sold 272 enslaved people to pay off the university's debts. A notation on the second page indicates that it was discovered by Fr. Maryland Province Archives at Lauinger Library at Georgetown University, A passage from the Rev. Copyright 2023 America Press Inc. | All Rights Reserved. This is the original list of slaves from the Jesuit plantations compiled in preparation for the sale in 1838. Required fields are marked *. Logging in will also give you access to commenting features on our website. 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. He demanded that Mulledy travel to Rome to answer the charges of disobeying orders and promoting scandal. ALL OF THE PEOPLE LISTED ON THIS PAGE HAVE PROFILES. [137] Thomas C. Hindman (1828-1868), American politician and Confederate general. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Catholic Church were among the largest slaveholding institutions in America. And the money raised by the sale would not be used to pay off debt or for operating expenses. You can either click on the link in your confirmation email or simply re-enter your email address below to confirm it. He addressed his concerns to Father Mulledy, who three years earlier had returned to his post as president of Georgetown. 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. Although modern slavery is not always easy to recognize, it continues to exist in nearly every country. [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. Alfred Francis Russell (1817-1884), 10th President of Liberia. Limit 20 per day. In all, the Jesuits sold 314 men, women and children over a 5-year period stretching from 1838 to 1843. 272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. She runs a nonprofit, Dialogue on Race Louisiana, that offers educational programs on institutional racism and ways to combat it. John DeGioia, President, Georgetown University. In exchange, they would receive 272 slaves from the four Jesuit plantations in southern Maryland,[5][24] constituting nearly all of the slaves owned by the Maryland Jesuits. That building is now known as Freedom Hall. He might have disappeared from view again for a time, save for something few could have counted on: his deep, abiding faith. Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 03:24, Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, abolition of slavery in the United States, Slavery at American colleges and universities, "Where were the Jesuit plantations in Maryland? There is no indication that he received any response. 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. His owner, Mr. Batey, had died, and Cornelius appeared on the plantations inventory, which included 27 mules and horses, 32 hogs, two ox carts and scores of other slaves. [64] Mulledy Hall, a student dormitory that opened in 1966,[65] was renamed as BrooksMulledy Hall in 2016, adding the name of a later president, John E. Brooks, who worked to racially integrate the college. Ta-Nehisi Coates, National Correspondent, The Atlantic Recorded Thursday, September 29, 2016, at the Washington Ideas Forum. He listened . Thomas R. Murphy, a historian at Seattle University who has written a book about the Jesuits and slavery. [52] In 2014, renovation began on Ryan and Mulledy Halls to convert them into a student residence. [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. March 24, 2017. 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. To see the posts, click here. [30] In total, only 206 are known to have been transported to Louisiana. [136] Eufrosina Hinard (born 1777), a free black woman in New Orleans, she owned slaves and leased them to others. 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. 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. Now shes working for justice. (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 the 1800s. Leave a message for others who see this profile. Despite coverage of the Maryland Jesuits' slave ownership and the 1838 sale in academic literature, news of these facts came as a surprise to the public in 2015, prompting a study of Georgetown University's and Jesuits' historical relationship with slavery. The children with Mr.. Revealed: The Slave Sold to Save Georgetown by Stacy M. Brown March 22, 2017 Frank Campbell was sold in 1838 to help save Georgetown. Consider the following list: Top 10 Countries with the Highest Prevalence of Modern Slavery (by slaves per 1000 residents) - Global Slavery Index 2018: North Korea - 104.6 (10.46%) Eritrea - 93 (9.3%) Burundi - 40 (4.0%) Central African Republic . 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. (Valuable Plantation and Negroes for Sale, read one newspaper advertisement in 1852.). With time, Georgetown professors, students and alumni are taking a look at this portion and tracking the people sold to finance the institution. The name had been passed down from generation to generation in her family. The university created the liturgy in partnership with members of the descendant community, the Archdiocese of Washington and the Society of Jesus in the United States. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. It soon became clear that Roothaan's conditions had not been fully met. . And she would like to see Corneliuss name, and those of his parents and children, inscribed on a memorial on campus. Photo by Claire Vail. [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. 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: Continue to scroll for fascinating Videos and Books to enhance your learning experience. We also posted a 5 part mini-series on the 100th anniversary of one of the most horrific massacres in the history of America. In recognizing the role Georgetown in the use of slaves as money, they are recognizing some of the depths of what slavery actually represented. [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. Georgetown University announced on Tuesday it will create a fund that could generate close to $400,000 a year to benefit the descendants of slaves once sold by the university, the latest in the . In all, the Jesuits sold 314 men, women and children over . (Slaves were often donated by prosperous parishioners.) Interview: Whats it like to photograph Pope Francis? What remains is what is owed to the descendants. [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. [13], Beginning in 1800, there were instances of the Jesuit plantation managers freeing individual slaves or permitting slaves to purchase their freedom. The Jesuit leaders running the institution that would later become Georgetown University sold the 272 enslaved men, women and children in 1838 to settle mounting debts threatening the. [34] During the controversy, Mulledy fell into alcoholism. In fact, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, University of Virginia did as well. Joseph Carberry, 1824 GSA29: Priscilla Queen petitions for her freedom, 1810 GSA30: Edward Queen petitions for his freedom, 1791 GSA31: Proceedings of the General Chapter at White Marsh, May 1789 GSA32: Fanny & her family, 1815 Melvin Robert and Joya Mia Italiano look into Georgetown Universitys response on the Lip News. The hope was to eventually identify the slaves descendants. These posts focus on the reality of Black life in America after the Civil War culminating in the landmark Brown v Board of Education that changed so many of the earlier practices. The Jesuits decided that the elderly would not be sold south and instead would be permitted to remain in Maryland. They recognize that despite their principals, they recognized the theft of labor, the destruction of families and the long term devastation that this inflicted on an entire race of people. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Join Amazon Prime Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime. The two feared that because the public would not accept additional manumitted blacks, the Jesuits would be forced to sell their slaves en masse. And she learned that Cornelius had worked the soil of a 2,800-acre estate that straddled the Bayou Maringouin. The U.S. Department of State defines modern slavery as "the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled . But this was no ordinary slave sale. 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. 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. . 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. 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. This coincided with a protest by a group of students against keeping Mulledy's and McSherry's names on the buildings the day before. Please contact us at members@americamedia.org with any questions. The New York Times would like to hear from people who have done research into their genealogical history. In 1836, the Jesuit Superior General, Jan Roothaan, authorized the provincial superior to carry out the sale on three conditions: the slaves must be permitted to practice their Catholic faith, their families must not be separated, and the proceeds of the sale must be used only to support Jesuits in training. Slavery was much more than the theft of labor; it was the deprivation of liberty for which this country professes so loudly. Tweet. Its hard to know what could possibly reconcile a history like this, he said. What can you do to make amends?. And they were sold, along with scores of others, to help secure the future of the premier Catholic institution of higher learning at the time, known today as Georgetown University. However, the history of the sale and the Jesuits' slave ownership was never secret. All of this was new to Ms. Crump, except for the name Cornelius or Neely, as Cornelius was known. He was about 48 then, a father, a husband, a farm laborer and, finally, a free man. The enslaved were grandmothers and grandfathers, carpenters and blacksmiths, pregnant women and anxious fathers, children and infants, who were fearful, bewildered and despairing as they saw their families and communities ripped apart by the sale of 1838. In 2017, Georgetown University held aday of remembranceduring which the president of the Jesuit order apologized to more than 100 descendants attending a contrition liturgy. Books and Textbooks One of the greatest ways to advance your life choices and future. [46] Due to financial difficulties, Johnson sold half his property, including some of the slaves he had purchased in 1838, to Philip Barton Key in 1844. We have committed to finding ways that members of the Georgetown and Descendant communities can be engaged together in efforts that advance racial justice and enable every member of our Georgetown community to confront and engage with Georgetowns history with slavery.. But priests at the Jesuit plantations recounted the panic and fear they witnessed when the slaves departed. [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. By the 1830s, however, their physical and religious conditions had improved considerably. 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. Share. [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. Share with your friends! James Van de Velde, a Jesuit who visited Louisiana, wrote in a letter in 1848. The slaves were also identified as collateral in the event that Johnson, Batey, and their guarantors defaulted on their payments. Use our links to Amazon anytime you shop Amazon. It would not survive, Father Mulledy feared, without an influx of cash. 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 Jesuits used the proceeds to benefit then-Georgetown College. [71] The university instead decided to raise $400,000 per year in voluntary donations for the benefit of descendants. The first payment on the remaining $90,000 would become due after five years. The Jesuits ultimately received payment many years late and never received the full $115,000. 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. In 1870, he appeared in the census for the first time.