The Society of Jesus relied on the labor of enslaved people globally, almost from their founding. In colonial North America, and, over time, in the United States, their involuntary labor helped establish, expand, and sustain Jesuit missionary efforts and educational institutions until the abolition of slavery in 1865.
Jesuits in the colonial period held people in bondage in what are now Maryland and Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Canada and the Great Lakes region. In the nineteenth century, the labor of enslaved people supported Jesuit missions, churches, and schools in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Illinois, and Kansas. Georgetown University, Saint Louis University, and Spring Hill College relied directly upon enslaved labor, as did colleges in Kentucky and Louisiana that are now closed.
We, the Jesuits, deeply regret our participation in this evil institution. No one today can reconcile these actions with the current teaching of the Church or with our commitments as Jesuits, but they are an undeniable part of our history. We are called now to an intentional response: one that foregrounds the lived experiences of enslaved people, acknowledges the legacies of Jesuit slaveholding, and is made in collaboration with Descendants and those in our communities who continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery.
Working in close partnership with descendant communities will enable us to address the persistent vestiges of Jesuit slaveholding that manifest in our schools, universities, and parishes. We are committed to a cross-institutional approach that includes and invites contributions from multiple stakeholders, including Descendants and Descendant communities, community members, scholars, Jesuits, and Jesuit schools, ministries, and parishes.
FamilySearch Center at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati, OH)
Family History Centers from FamilySearch, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (Washington D.C.)
Midwest Genealogy Center (Independence, MO)
Genealogy Research Sessions at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Washington D.C.)
Jesuit Archives & Research Center (JARC)
JARC can assist with specific documentary requests for information on ancestors or other defined research.
Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
“African American Genealogy”
American Ancestors by New England Historic Genealogical Society
African American Online Genealogy Records
FamilySearch, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project
SHMR was an initiative of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States that ran from 2016-2021. The project’s offices were in St. Louis and this website contains many resources developed from that project. As the Jesuits in the United States learned more and dialogued with Descendants, the Jesuit Conference re-allocated resources to support genealogical study and partnership with Descendants.
The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation
The DTRF is an established 501(c)(3) nonprofit partnership that works to mitigate the dehumanizing impact of racism on our human family.
Society of Jesus Apologizes for the Sins of Jesuit Slaveholding at Georgetown University Liturgy
Coming to the Table
Organization that provides resources and a supportive environment for those wishing to address the injustices that stem from slavery.
Equal Justice Initiative
Organization dedicated to ending mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality.
Live Free, a campaign of Faith in Action
Network of congregations working to end gun violence and mass incarceration, which disproportionately affect people of color.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Civil rights organization working to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of people of color.
National Urban League
Civil rights organization that advocates for social justice and economic equality for African Americans.
Showing Up for Racial Justice
Organization working to undermine white supremacy and promote racial justice.
W.K. Kellogg Foundation Racial Equity Resource Guide
Comprehensive list of grassroots, academic, and other organizations working within the field of racial equity.
“African American Catholics and the quest for racial justice”
Fr. Bryan Massingale writes in U.S. Catholic about how the Catholic faith demands a commitment to racial justice.
“Let’s be a church where Black lives matter”
Fr. Bryan Massingale writes in U.S. Catholic about how Catholics can confront racism in the United States.
Jesuit Social Research Institute
A collaboration of Loyola University New Orleans and the Society of Jesus dedicated to research and action on issues of poverty, race, and migration in the Gulf Coast.
“Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and Racism”
Fred Kammer, S.J., discusses Catholic teachings on racism.
Ignatian Solidarity Network Racial Justice Resources
A list of articles, exercises, toolkits, books, etc. addressing issues of racial justices from a Catholic, Jesuit perspective.
“Raids Across the Color Line”
Christopher Pramuk, blog by author on race relations in society and the Catholic Church.
“Black History Month: Confronting the Mixed History of the Jesuits”
Ken Homan, S.J., writes in The Jesuit Post about the history of Jesuits and race.
Antiracist Research and Policy Center (American University)
Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice (Brown University)
Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity (Ohio State University)
#BlackCatholic Syllabus
A collection of resources on Black Catholics in the United States compiled by Dr. Tia Noelle Pratt.
Center for Racial Justice in Education
Organization dedicated to dismantling injustice and prejudice in America’s schools.
Courageous Conversations: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools
Book by Glenn Singleton explores how race impacts students’ lives and provides tools and strategies to facilitate discussions of race and racism.
Teaching Tolerance
Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center that provides free resources for educators to reduce prejudice and support children of color in America’s schools.
“Let’s Talk! Discussing Race, Racism and Other Difficult Topics with Students”
Teaching Tolerance guide designed to facilitate open dialogue on racism and inequality.
The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice, by Fania E. Davis
The Little Book of Racial Healing, by Thomas Norman DeWolfe and Jodie Geddes
So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo.
Book offers an approach to having honest conversations about race and racism in contemporary U.S. life.
“How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race”
TEDx Talk by Jay Smooth.
Discussion of the difficulty of talking about race and strategies to create opportunities to talk openly.
Code Switch
NPR podcast about race and identity.
Life and Labor under Slavery: the Jesuit Plantation Project
By Dr. Sharon M. Leon
Jesuit Slaveholding in Maryland, 1717-1838
By Thomas Murphy, SJ
Jesuits’ Enslaved Communities
Enslaved community and kinship network visualizations by Kelly L. Schmidt
“272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. What Does It Owe Their Descendants?”
New York Times, by Rachel Swarns
Report of the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation to the President of Georgetown University
Working Group on Xavier’s Connection with Slavery
Xavier University, Cincinnati
John Carroll University Working Group on Slavery – Legacy and Reconciliation
Report to the President of the College of Holy Cross, The Mulledy/Healy Legacy Committee
“Southern veils: the sisters of Loretto in early national Kentucky”
Master’s thesis by Hannah O’Daniel
“The Nuns Who Bought and Sold Human Beings” By Rachel Swarns, New York Times.
“Religious orders owning slaves isn’t new – black Catholics have emphasized this history for years”
By Dr. Shannen Dee Williams, America Magazine.
“Facing an Uncomfortable Truth”
Kentucky Educational Television (KET) program on African Americans and the Catholic Church in Kentucky, from the role of enslaved people in the early Church to Black Catholics in Kentucky today.
The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth
“Recognizing those who helped build the Church”
“Black History Month: ‘Now we know their names’”
“Sisters of Charity Nazareth confront own history of slavery”
The Society of the Sacred Heart
“Slavery, Accountability, Reconciliation Past and Present: Confronting our Racism”
“Descendants gather in memory and honor of enslaved ancestors”
“Honoring the oppressed: Sisters begin reparations with descendants of enslaved people”
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School
“The History of Enslaved People at Visitation”
Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities
By Craig Steven Wilder
Slavery and the University: History and Legacies
Leslie Harris, James Campbell, and Alfred Brophy, editors
Universities Studying Slavery Consortium
Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice
President’s Commission on Slavery and the University, University of Virginia
The Lemon Project, The College of William and Mary
Scarlet and Black Project, Rutgers University
Initiative on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery, Harvard University
“A Brief History of Slavery You Didn’t Learn in School,” New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project
“The History of American Slavery,” podcast episode hosted by Jamelle Bouie and Rebecca Onion, conversations with historians and writers.
Enslavement and the Underground Railroad, PBS Black History and Culture Connection.
Digital Library on American Slavery, University of North Carolina-Greensboro
Black Abolitionist Archive, University of Detroit Mercy
Slave Voyages
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, Intra-American Slave Trade Database, and African Names Database
