Ms. Crump is a familiar figure in Baton Rouge. Now shes working for justice. The researchers have used archival records to follow their footsteps, from the Jesuit plantations in Maryland, to the docks of New Orleans, to three plantations west and south of Baton Rouge, La. The New York Times would like to hear from people who have done research into their genealogical history. 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. A fantastic research tool with video camera, navigation programs and so much more. The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II An astonishing book. June 1838 the University benefited from the sale of 272 slaves, some as young as 2 months old to finance the ailing institution. These are real people with real names and real descendants.. It would be better to suffer financial disaster than suffer the loss of our souls with the sale of the slaves, wrote the Rev. For Black History Month 2021, we focused on Black Medical Achievements, Inventors and Scientists.To see those posts, click here. The records describe runaways, harsh plantation conditions and the anguish voiced by some Jesuits over their participation in a system of forced servitude. 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. [32] An unknown number of slaves may also have run away and escaped transportation. [71] The university instead decided to raise $400,000 per year in voluntary donations for the benefit of descendants. Patricia Bayonne-Johnson, a descendant of another of the slaves sold by the Jesuits, is the president of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society in Spokane, Wash., which is helping to track the slaves and their families. Today, the universitys leaders, students and alumni are grappling with how to confront that history. On that same day, the university rededicated two buildings previously named for former university presidents who were priests and supporters of the slave trade. And she would like to see Corneliuss name, and those of his parents and children, inscribed on a memorial on campus. Password reset instructions will be sent to your registered email address. Georgetown University Sold Hundreds of SlavesDoes That Still Matter? The two women drove on the narrow roads that line the green, rippling sugar cane fields in Iberville Parish. But when Ms. Riffel, the genealogist, told her where she thought he was buried, Ms. Crump knew exactly where to go. The article details how the sold slaves were transported to three Louisiana plantations, where they faced brutal treatment. [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. Copyright 2023 America Press Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Ms. Crump, a retired television news anchor, was driving to Maringouin, her hometown, in early February when her cellphone rang. CNN In 1838, the Jesuits who ran Georgetown University sold 272 enslaved people to pay off the university's debts. Georgetown University Archives The Jesuits had sold off individual slaves before. 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. It was his Catholicism, born on the Jesuit plantations of his childhood, that would provide researchers with a road map to his descendants. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. [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. [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. They worried that new owners might not allow the slaves to practice their Catholic faith. 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. Advertisement In Bayonne-Johnson's hands,. 272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. It is better to prevent than to attempt to remedy. 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. this helps us promote a safe and accountable online community, and allows us to update you when other commenters reply to your posts. To comment or make suggestions on future posts, use Contact Us. The sale prompted immediate outcry from fellow Jesuits. And the 1838 sale worth about $3.3 million in todays dollars was organized by two of Georgetowns early presidents, both Jesuit priests. It also features audio recordings in which descendants recall memories, from segregated education to family migration away from the South. [27] The agreement provided that 51 slaves would be sent to the port of Alexandria, Virginia in order to be shipped to Louisiana. Father Mulledy promised his superiors that the slaves would continue to practice their religion. -- 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 . In April 2017, Georgetown renamed buildings that had honored university leaders responsible for selling those enslaved Africans to Louisiana plantations. Limit 20 per day. The presidents of Harvard University and Georgetown University discuss their institutions historic ties to slavery in a conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates. 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. We ask readers to log in so that we can recognize you as a registered user and give you unrestricted access to our website. As a result, he had to sell his property in the 1840s and renegotiate the terms of his payment. [42], Before the abolition of slavery in the United States in 1865, many slaves sold by the Jesuits changed ownership several times. We can't do it without youAmerica Media relies on generous support from our readers. And the money raised by the sale would not be used to pay off debt or for operating expenses. And they are confronting a particularly wrenching question: What, if anything, is owed to the descendants of slaves who were sold to help ensure the colleges survival? [17], Mulledy and McSherry became increasingly vocal in their opposition to Jesuit slave ownership. [34] During the controversy, Mulledy fell into alcoholism. History has attempted to take the sting out of it which is impossible. if you are trying to comment, you must log in or set up a new account. After the Jesuits vacated the buildings, Ryan and Mulledy Halls lay vacant, while Gervase Hall was put to other use. (Courtesy of Ellender Library) In 1838, two priests who served as president of Georgetown University orchestrated the sale of 272 people to pay off debts at the school. If you login and register your print subscription number with your account, youll have unlimited access to the website. Some children were sold without their parents, records show, and slaves were dragged off by force to the ship, the Rev. In addition to becoming physically dilapidated, all but one of the plantations had fallen into debt. It lists the slaves by name according to plantation where they lived, identifies family groups, and records which ship (1, 2, or 3) they were shipped in. 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 . But the 1838 slave sale organized by the Jesuits, who founded and ran Georgetown, stands out for its sheer size, historians say. There was no need for a map. [29], Not all of the 272 slaves intended to be sold to Louisiana met that fate. That man, Thomas Mulledy, then the president of Georgetown University, had sold 272 slaves to pay off a massive debt strangling the university. It also notes slaves who had run away, and those who had been "married off." [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. We also hope to work with you on additional opportunities for engaging with those who many not be able to attend in-person gatherings. This resulted in families being split for economic reasons with no consideration of human relationships. [24] When he returned in November to gather the rest of the slaves, the plantation managers had their slaves flee and hide. He addressed his concerns to Father Mulledy, who three years earlier had returned to his post as president of Georgetown. Three Jesuits traveled aboard The Ark and The Dove on Lord Baltimore's voyage to settle Maryland in 1634. Georgetown University was an active participant in the slave trade selling upwards of 272 slaves from their Maryland run plantation to the deep south in an effort to support the then struggling university in 1838 according to The New York Times. Keynote || Radcliffe Institute WELCOME Lizabeth Cohen, Dean, Radcliffe Institute, and Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies, Harvard University OPENING REMARKS (12:07) Drew Gilpin Faust, President and Lincoln Professor of History, Harvard University KEYNOTE (15:51) Ta-Nehisi Coates, Journalist; National Correspondent, the Atlantic: Author, Between the World and Me (Spiegel & Grau, 2015) and The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood (Spiegel & Grau, 2008) Conversation between Ta-Nehisi Coates and Drew Gilpin Faust (34:37). The students organized a protest and a sit-in, using the hashtag #GU272 for the slaves who were sold. Another building has been renamed Anne Marie Becraft Hall in honor of a free Black woman who established a school in the town of Georgetown for Girls of color. Please see also: Slaves Transported on the Katherine Jackson of Georgetown, Arriving New Orleans 6 Dec 1838, Source: "List of slaves on each estate to be sold," Box 40, Folder 10, Maryland Province Archives[2], Categories: Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Slave Owners | Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Slaves | Iberville Parish, Louisiana, Slave Owners | Iberville Parish, Louisiana, Slaves | Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia | Georgetown University Slaves | District of Columbia, Slave Owners | District of Columbia, Slaves | Maryland, Slaves | Maryland, Slave Owners, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. The college relied on Jesuit plantations in Maryland to help finance its operations, university officials say. In recognizing the role Georgetown in the use of slaves as money, they are recognizing some of the depths of what slavery actually represented. [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. The Jesuits ultimately received payment many years late and never received the full $115,000. 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. A few priests expressed qualms about the morality of human trafficking to Jesuit authorities, although most were concerned with the threat a heavily Protestant South would undoubtedly present to the slaves Catholic faith, it reads. [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. 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. [39], While Roothaan ordered that the proceeds of the sale be used to provide for the training of Jesuits, the initial $25,000 was not used for that purpose. Her great-uncle had the name, as did one of her cousins. While the school did own a small number of slaves over its early decades,[13] its main relationship with slavery was the leasing of slaves to work on campus,[14] a practice that continued past the 1838 slave sale. The date when the last slaves were freed in Texas 18 months after they had officially freed at the end of the Civil War. ", New England Historic Genealogical Society, "They thought Georgetown University's missing slaves were 'lost.' Anne Marie Becraft Hall, formerly known as McSherry Hall and renamed Remembrance Hall two years ago, is named for a free woman of color who established a school in the town of Georgetown for black girls. The sale of these 272 slaves, known as the GU272, saved the university from foreclosure. Required fields are marked *. 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. It would not survive, Father Mulledy feared, without an influx of cash. Slavery was much more than the theft of labor; it was the deprivation of liberty for which this country professes so loudly. 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. Cardinal McElroy responds to his critics on sexual sin, the Eucharist, and LGBT and divorced/remarried Catholics, Worried you retired too early? [24], Mulledy quickly made arrangements to carry out the sale. 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. [12], One of the Maryland Jesuits' institutions, Georgetown College (later known as Georgetown University), also rented slaves. Your email address will not be published. We shop for the best values for you. This has made people reluctant to see the past and this has had a long term harm by remaining hidden and allowed to fester. Behind her are sugar plantations and the sugar mill where her ancestors worked. [16] Mulledy in particular felt that the plantations were a drain on the Maryland Jesuits; he urged selling the plantations as well as the slaves, believing the Jesuits were only able to support either their estates or their schools in growing urban areas: Georgetown College in Washington, D.C. and St. John's College in Frederick, Maryland. (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. Eventually, Roothaan removed Thomas Mulledy as provincial superior for disobeying orders and promoting scandal, exiling him to Nice for several years. Many institutions owned slaves and Georgetown University was no exception. Check out some of the. Please contact us at members@americamedia.org with any questions. They change every day, so check often. [50], The 1838 slave sale returned to the public's awareness in the mid-2010s. Some slaves pleaded for rosaries as they were rounded up, praying for deliverance. The truth was closer to home than anyone knew", "272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. Maryland Province Archives at Lauinger Library at Georgetown University, A passage from the Rev. At Georgetown, slavery and scholarship were inextricably linked. 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. [4][a] Several of the Jesuits' slaves unsuccessfully attempted to sue for their freedom in the courts in the 1790s. Other industries made loads of money indirectly. [53], With work complete, in August 2015, university president John DeGioia sent an open letter to the university announcing the opening of the new student residence, which also related Mulledy's role in the 1838 slave sale after stepping down as president of the university. 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. Georgetown is not the first or only university to own slaves. Ta-Nehisi Coates, National Correspondent, The Atlantic Recorded Thursday, September 29, 2016, at the Washington Ideas Forum. [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. He was valued at $900. Some slaves suffered at the hands of a cruel overseer. Acknowledging the changing realities and increasing demands placed on contemporary postsecondary education, this book meets educators where they are and offers an effective design framework for what it means to move beyond equity being a buzzword in higher education. Her ancestors, once amorphous and invisible, are finally taking shape in her mind. They were looking to buy slaves in the Upper South more cheaply than they could in the Deep South, and agreed to Mulledy's asking price of approximately $400 per person. [27] Johnson allowed these slaves to remain in Maryland because he intended to return and try to buy their spouses as well. [2] As the sole ministers of Catholicism in Maryland at the time, the Jesuit estates became the centers of Catholicism. Documents provide the factual framework, but people supply the human story.. March 24, 2017. WASHINGTON The human cargo was loaded on ships at a bustling wharf in the nations capital, destined for the plantations of the Deep South. The children with Mr.. It lists the slaves by name according to plantation where they lived, identifies family groups, and records which ship (1, 2, or 3) they were shipped in. James Van de Veldes. Thomas F. Mulledy and the Rev. Unknown because that portion of history is so like anything that reflects on the horrors of slavery preempted from our history. 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. Your email address will not be published. [3], Much of this land was put to use as plantations, the revenue from which financed the Jesuits' ministries. Relationship Counseling - Marriage resources, Falling in Love Finding God Marriage and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, The problem of hatredand how Christians are contributing to it, Jesuit sex abuse expert appointed to Vatican office for child protection, Sin, hell and scrupulosity: How to repent during Lent (and how not to). Melvin Robert and Joya Mia Italiano look into Georgetown Universitys response on the Lip News. Use our links to Amazon anytime you shop Amazon. A Jesuit reports on the slaves' religious life in Louisiana, 1848, Chatham Plantation, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. 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. Other slaves were sold locally in Maryland so that they would not be separated from their spouses who were either free or owned by non-Jesuits, in compliance with Roothaan's order. Please visit ourmembership pageto learn how you can invest in our work by subscribing to the magazine or making a donation. Why am I being asked to create an account? More than half were younger than 20, and nearly a third were not yet 10 years old. [24], Johnson was unable to pay according to the schedule of the agreement. They also knew that life on plantations in the Deep South was notoriously brutal, and feared that families might end up being separated and resold. [70], The Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen was created in 1792 to preserve the property of the. [13], Beginning in 1800, there were instances of the Jesuit plantation managers freeing individual slaves or permitting slaves to purchase their freedom. Central concepts and key points are illustrated through campus examples. In fact, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, University of Virginia did as well. Now, for the first time, Ms. Crump understood its origins. There is joy in that, she said, exhilaration even. Now that we have this data, my hope is that we can use it to open doors and make connections. 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. [70], In 2019, undergraduate students at Georgetown voted in a non-binding referendum to impose a symbolic reparations fee of $27.20 per student. While they continued to support gradual emancipation, they believed that this option was becoming increasingly untenable, as the Maryland public's concern grew about the expanding number of free blacks. 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. To see the full listing of posts, click on our Blog list, For Black History Month 2020, we posted daily. Join Amazon Prime Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime . [9] The main crops grown were tobacco and corn. Georgetown University (Daniel Slim/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images) Article A genealogical organization launched a free website Wednesday to help those who want to learn more about the. Ms. Crump, 69, has been asking herself that question, too. Many have been located; however, it is difficult to determine exactly how many were exploited by the University in this financial transaction. In 1996, the Jesuit Plantation Project was established by historians at Georgetown, which made available to the public via the internet digitized versions of much of the Maryland Jesuits' archives, including the articles of agreement for the 1838 sale. Upon receipt of these 51, Johnson and Batey were to pay the first $25,000. ALL OF THE PEOPLE LISTED ON THIS PAGE HAVE PROFILES. Slaves were collateral and could be used to mortgage land and other goods. 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.
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