(Slaves were often donated by prosperous parishioners.) Now students, professors and alumni want to know what happened to those men and women and what the university will do moving forward. The records describe runaways, harsh plantation conditions and the anguish voiced by some Jesuits over their participation in a system of forced servitude. [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. A fantastic research tool with video camera, navigation programs and so much more. The remainder of the slaves were accounted for in three subsequent bills of sale executed in November 1838, which specified that 64 would go to Batey's plantation named West Oak in Iberville Parish and 140 slaves would be sent to Johnson's two plantations, Ascension Plantation (later known as Chatham Plantation) in Ascension Parish and another in Maringouin (Iberville Parish). 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. [50], The 1838 slave sale returned to the public's awareness in the mid-2010s. 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. 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. Mr. Cellini, whose genealogists have already traced more than 200 of the slaves from Maryland to Louisiana, believes there may be thousands of living descendants. 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. After the Jesuits vacated the buildings, Ryan and Mulledy Halls lay vacant, while Gervase Hall was put to other use. Unknown because that portion of history is so like anything that reflects on the horrors of slavery preempted from our history. But the revelations about her lineage and the church she grew up in have unleashed a swirl of emotions. The first payment on the remaining $90,000 would become due after five years. [136] Eufrosina Hinard (born 1777), a free black woman in New Orleans, she owned slaves and leased them to others. The church records helped lead to a 69-year-old woman in Baton Rouge named Maxine Crump. Enslaved, marginalized and forced into illiteracy by laws that prohibited them from learning to read and write, many seem like ghosts who pass through this world without leaving a trace. [30] In total, only 206 are known to have been transported to Louisiana. Revealed: The Slave Sold to Save Georgetown by Stacy M. Brown March 22, 2017 Frank Campbell was sold in 1838 to help save Georgetown. [48] It is one of the most well-documented slave sales of its era. Thomas Hibbert (1710-1780), English merchant, he became rich from slave labor on his Jamaican plantations. Join Amazon Prime Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime . A microcosm of the whole history of American slavery, Dr. Rothman said. Hundreds of Blacks were slaughtered and 10,000 left homeless in this largely unknown event. 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. By the 1830s, however, their physical and religious conditions had improved considerably. [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. Twenty-seven years earlier, a document dated June 19, 1838, showed that Maryland Jesuit priests sold 272 slaves to the owners of Louisiana plantations. Michelle Miller reports. Freedom Hall became Isaac Hawkins Hall, after the first slave listed on the articles of agreement for the 1838 sale. 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. That man, Thomas Mulledy, then the president of Georgetown University, had sold 272 slaves to pay off a massive debt strangling the university. The slaves were also identified as collateral in the event that Johnson, Batey, and their guarantors defaulted on their payments. These are real people with real names and real descendants.. 272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. [27] Johnson allowed these slaves to remain in Maryland because he intended to return and try to buy their spouses as well. 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. Some wrote emotional letters to Roothaan denouncing the morality of the sale. 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. [36], Soon after the sale, Roothaan decided that Mulledy should be removed as provincial superior. The Jesuits used the proceeds to benefit then-Georgetown College. He demanded that Mulledy travel to Rome to answer the charges of disobeying orders and promoting scandal. In all, the Jesuits sold 314 men, women and children over a 5-year period stretching from 1838 to 1843. Examined and found correct, he wrote of Cornelius and the 129 other people he found on the ship. [68], Georgetown University also extended to descendants of slaves that the Jesuits owned or whose labor benefitted the university the same preferential legacy status in university admission given to children of Georgetown alumni. [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. To see the full listing of posts, click on our Blog list, For Black History Month 2020, we posted daily. Leave a message for others who see this profile. To this day the search continues. ", 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. But the 1838 slave sale organized by the Jesuits, who founded and ran Georgetown, stands out for its sheer size, historians say. [71] The university instead decided to raise $400,000 per year in voluntary donations for the benefit of descendants. Twenty-seven years earlier, a document dated June 19, 1838, showed that Maryland Jesuit priests sold 272 slaves to the owners of Louisiana plantations. 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 notation betrayed no hint of the turmoil on board. Although modern slavery is not always easy to recognize, it continues to exist in nearly every country. Cornelius had originally been shipped to a plantation so far from a church that he had married in a civil ceremony. And the money raised by the sale would not be used to pay off debt or for operating expenses. Behind her are sugar plantations and the sugar mill where her ancestors worked. 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. We also hope to work with you on additional opportunities for engaging with those who many not be able to attend in-person gatherings. [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. 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. But this was no ordinary slave sale. The Jesuits decided that the elderly would not be sold south and instead would be permitted to remain in Maryland. Slaves were collateral and could be used to mortgage land and other goods. [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. We ask readers to log in so that we can recognize you as a registered user and give you unrestricted access to our website. Jesuit priests in Maryland sold 272 slaves to Louisiana plantations in 1838 to fund Georgetown . [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. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Catholic Church were among the largest slaveholding institutions in America. Central concepts and key points are illustrated through campus examples. 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. Roughly two-thirds of the Jesuits former slaves including Cornelius and his family had been shipped to two plantations so distant from churches that they never see a Catholic priest, the Rev. The sale however is the largest one acknowledged to date. this helps us promote a safe and accountable online community, and allows us to update you when other commenters reply to your posts. Georgetown is not the first or only university to own slaves. That building is now known as Freedom Hall. The students organized a protest and a sit-in, using the hashtag #GU272 for the slaves who were sold. On that same day, the university rededicated two buildings previously named for former university presidents who were priests and supporters of the slave trade. Continue to scroll for fascinating Videos and Books to enhance your learning experience. 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. History must be faced in order to heal and move forward! Dubuisson described how the public reputation of the Jesuits in Washington and Virginia declined as a result of the sale. March 24, 2017. Please visit ourmembership pageto learn how you can invest in our work by subscribing to the magazine or making a donation. [3], Much of this land was put to use as plantations, the revenue from which financed the Jesuits' ministries. 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 $2.96million in 2021). 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. However, the history of the sale and the Jesuits' slave ownership was never secret. New England ship builders made ships to bring people to this country. But the decision to sell virtually all of their enslaved African-Americans in the 1830s left some priests deeply troubled. A Reflection for Friday of the First Week of Lent, by Jill Rice. But few were lucky enough to escape. 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. 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. 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. Required fields are marked *. [37], Before Roothaan's order reached Mulledy, Mulledy had already accepted the advice of McSherry and Eccleston in June 1839 to resign and go to Rome to defend himself before Roothaan. With time, Georgetown professors, students and alumni are taking a look at this portion and tracking the people sold to finance the institution. An inspector scrutinized the cargo on Dec. 6, 1838. [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. ). The ship manifest of the Katharine Jackson, available in full at the. June 1838 the University benefited from the sale of 272 slaves, some as young as 2 months old to finance the ailing institution. Now they are real to me, she said, more real every day.. 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. [67] The university also gave permanent names to the two buildings. It is also emblematic of the complex entanglement of American higher education and religious institutions with slavery. [12], One of the Maryland Jesuits' institutions, Georgetown College (later known as Georgetown University), also rented slaves. We pray with you today because we have greatly sinned and because we are profoundly sorry.. However, the remainder of the money received did go to funding Jesuit formation. We also posted a 5 part mini-series on the 100th anniversary of one of the most horrific massacres in the history of America. . Georgetown owned these human beings and they had been used to build the institutions physical buildings, tend farms and perform hard labor under rigid control. 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 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. The 1970s saw an increase in public scholarship on the Maryland Jesuits' slave ownership. As early as the 1780s, Dr. Rothman found, they openly discussed the need to cull their stock of human. Many have been located; however, it is difficult to determine exactly how many were exploited by the University in this financial transaction. At the time, the Catholic Church did not view slaveholding as immoral, said the Rev. Kenney found the slaves facing arbitrary discipline, a meager diet, pastoral neglect, and engaging in vice. [50], In 1981, historian Robert Emmett Curran presented at academic conferences a comprehensive research into the Maryland Jesuits' participation in slavery, and published this research in 1983. But when Ms. Riffel, the genealogist, told her where she thought he was buried, Ms. Crump knew exactly where to go. [28] Most of the slaves who fled returned to their plantations, and Mulledy made a third visit later that month, where he gathered some of the remaining slaves for transport. 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. But he said he could not stop thinking about the slaves, whose names had been in Georgetowns archives for decades. [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. As early as the 1780s, Dr. Rothman found, they openly discussed the need to cull their stock of human beings. The Jesuits had sold off individual slaves before. 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. (Valuable Plantation and Negroes for Sale, read one newspaper advertisement in 1852.). But thewebsiteincludes a spreadsheet of 314 individuals whom genealogists have identified as being part of the group sold by the Jesuit priests. 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. Alfred "Teen" Blackburn (1842-1951), one of the last living survivors of slavery in the United States who had a clear recollection of it. Jan Roothaan, who headed the Jesuits international organization from Rome and was initially reluctant to authorize the sale. Timothy Kesicki, S.J., president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, during a morning Liturgy of Remembrance, Contrition, and Hope. This coincided with a protest by a group of students against keeping Mulledy's and McSherry's names on the buildings the day before. Johnson and Batey agreed to pay $115,000,[5] equivalent to $2.96million in 2021,[25] over the course of ten years plus six percent annual interest. Georgetown is not the first or only university to own slaves. [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. The university itself owes its existence to this history, said Adam Rothman, a historian at Georgetown and a member of a university working group that is studying ways for the institution to acknowledge and try to make amends for its tangled roots in slavery. Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more. A white man, he admitted that he had never spent much time thinking about slavery or African-American history. It is necessary to keep in mind that these people were free in their native country and enslaved once they got to America. . At Georgetown, slavery and scholarship were inextricably linked. The articles of agreement listed each of the slaves by name to be sold. And she would like to see Corneliuss name, and those of his parents and children, inscribed on a memorial on campus. This sale was overseen by Provincial Superior William McSherry and Friar Thomas Mulledy. 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). 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. 2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. The two women drove on the narrow roads that line the green, rippling sugar cane fields in Iberville Parish.