Georgetown co-hosted a conference for religious leaders and researchers on increasing access to Catholic archives to better understand the history of the Catholic Church and slavery in the U.S.
The conference was organized by the Catholic Religious Organizations Studying Slavery (CROSS), a nonprofit made up of diocesan leaders and members of religious organizations. The organization works to improve access to the records of enslaved people in Catholic archives to provide a more comprehensive account of enslavement within the Catholic Church.
From Nov. 13-14, diocesan leaders, archivists and researchers, college students, university faculty and members of the Descendant community discussed best practices to uncover and analyze historical records, study Catholic cemeteries and incorporate archival material into the classroom.
Staff from Georgetown’s Booth Family Center for Special Collections also contributed their expertise in researching Georgetown’s archives and shared tools that scholars, Descendants and the public can use to access these historical materials.
“We appreciate CROSS’s dedicated efforts to enhance access to and engagement with Catholic archives and their work to build a greater understanding of Catholic slaveholding and its legacies in the United States,” said Joseph Ferrara, senior vice president and chief of staff to the president at Georgetown, in welcoming conference attendees.
“And yet this work — to uncover the histories and connections of enslaved people within the history of the Catholic world — is unfinished, just as our nation’s response to this history remains unfinished and ongoing.”
Georgetown’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Its Legacies collaborated with CROSS on the conference. Its founding director, Adam Rothman, led a walking tour of sites on Georgetown’s campus that are part of the university’s historical ties to slavery.
“Understanding our history begins in the archives and continues into the classroom and in conversations with the broader community,” said Rothman. “To be able to bring together archivists, scholars and Descendants here at Georgetown for the CROSS conference is part of what reconciliation means.”
The conference took place on the 187th anniversary of the day the ship Katherine Jackson sailed from Alexandria to Louisiana carrying more than one hundred of the 272 children, women and men who had been enslaved on Jesuit plantations and were sold, the sale of which benefitted Georgetown.
A group of Descendants of the enslaved people held a moment of remembrance and gratitude for their ancestors, and attendees celebrated Mass together in Dahlgren Chapel.