Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation at Lauinger Library

Archives of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus

Dates:  1630-1985

Extent: 142.75 lin. ft.

Finding aids: Archives of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus

The Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus originated in 1633 as a small mission to minister primarily among English and Irish Catholic gentry who colonized Maryland to secure freedom of worship and ownership of property without civil restraint. Like other Jesuit missions, the Maryland community financed its operations by establishing large plantations that produced a staple crop for export and exploited the labor of enslaved men, women, and children. At the site of each of these plantations, they also established a house that served as a residence for Jesuit missionaries, the site of a church, and the center of the broader Catholic community. 

Commonly referred to as the Maryland Province Archives (MPA), this collection holds the administrative and financial records of the Province that document the acquisition of real estate, the settlement of tobacco plantations, ownership of enslaved people, the lease arrangements with tenant farmers and sharecroppers, profits and losses, and the distribution of earnings to Jesuit institutions, including Georgetown College. These records also document controversies over slavery within the Society, most notably over potential slave sales including the twenty-year long debate that ultimately led to the 1838 decision that led to the sale of 314 people to pay off the debts of Georgetown College and finance the Province's expansion.

Although not comprehensive, the house records include sacramental records that document the participation of enslaved people, free Black people, and freed people who were formerly enslaved. The house diaries maintained by the priests at each residence describe organizational efforts, including the formation of schools, sodalities and beneficial societies among Black people that were typically racially segregated after emancipation.

Listed below are some of the most significant documents related to the Province's involvement with slavery and its racist legacy. These documents are arranged roughly in chronological order, by historical period. They are linked to their description in the published finding aid.

Colonial British America

• "Relatio Itineris in Marylandiam," by Andrew White, S.J. 1638 ("Narrative of a Voyage to Maryland," available in English and Latin)
• Old Records Book compiled by George Thorold, S.J.; Peter Attwood, S.J.; and George Hunter, S.J., 1632-1815, consisting of copies of letters and deeds as well as financial accounts; mission rules and regulations that address Sabbath dispensations for enslaved people; descriptions of real estate properties; and a list of enslaved children born at Port Tobacco between 1755-1777
• Records Book by James Walton, S.J., 1765-1794, a volume created during his management of Newtown and St. Inigoes consisting of financial records that include entries documenting the work and hiring out of enslaved people and records of baptisms, marriages, and burials of white and enslaved people
• Record of Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, and Confessions at St. Joseph's Church and Newtown, 1760-1802, created by Joseph Mosley, S.J., and John Bolton, S.J., including sacramental records administered to enslaved people 
• Daybook and Memoranda by George Hunter, S.J., 1769-1786, a record of expenses of the plantation at St. Thomas Manor and a list of enslaved people.

Early National and Antebellum Periods

• Bohemia Records Book, 1790-1882, including a list of enslaved people living at Bohemia; another list of people purchased and sold by the Jesuits; records of slaves' provisions, crop and timber sales; and a plantation diary
• Newtown Register of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1819-1835
• St. Thomas Manor Register of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1827-1832
• Letter by Thomas Brown, an enslaved person who was transferred to St. Louis, complaining of abuse and requesting his freedom from William McSherry, S.J., October 21, 1833
• Proposal by Thomas Erkead, agent of the Maryland Colonization Society, recommending that the Jesuits free the people enslaved by them and transport them to Liberia, October 17, 1834
• Census listing 272 people at four plantations (White Marsh, Newtown, St. Thomas Manor, and St. Inigoes) whom the Jesuits planned to sell in 1838

Reconstruction and Jim Crow

• St. Inigoes House Diary, September 29, 1874-May 31,1881, maintained by Livy Vigilante, S.J., with his observations in October 1875 on poverty and slavery
• St. Inigoes/Ridge House Diary, 1915-1932, including entries written by Abraham Emerick, S.J., and John LaFarge, S.J., that document the activities of Black parishioners, including their demands for their own Catholic high school which led to the foundation of the Cardinal Gibbons Institute