Oral tradition has it that this cross was fabricated in southern Maryland around 1634 after the Ark and the Dove landed there with settlers from England. It was used in the chapel at St. Mary’s City until 1704 when it was moved to Bohemia Manor in Cecil County, Maryland. It came to Georgetown at the end of the nineteenth century. Information on its history can be found in the Archives Reference File on the cross which includes material relating to the use of the cross in Pope Francis’ first Mass in the U.S. in 2015 and its loan to the Smithsonian in 2017 for display in its Religion in Early American exhibition; request the file for use in the Booth Family Center via the Aeon request system.
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