The 272: Jesuits, slavery, and the College of the Holy Cross

Rachel Swarns' The 272 follows the harrowing story of the people who were enslaved by the Jesuits and whose families were torn apart in 1838 when they were sold to help support the growth of the Catholic Church in the United States. United by Swarns’ reporting in 2016, their descendants have pressed these institutions to make amends and break new ground in the movement for reparations and reconciliation in America. Following a brief presentation about the book and the relationship of the sale of those enslaved families to the development of Holy Cross, President Vincent D. Rougeau, Board of Trustees Chair Helen W. Boucher, M.D. '86, and Jesuit Provincial Joseph M. O'Keefe, S.J., '76 join Swarns in a discussion about what this says about Holy Cross's mission and obligations today.
Rachel L. Swarns, associate professor of journalism at New York University, was a New York Times reporter and correspondent for 22 years. Her work on Jesuits and slavery touched off a national conversation about American universities and their ties to this painful period of history. The 272, published by Random House in June, was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Time Magazine and The Washington Post.
This lecture took place on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at the College of the Holy Cross.
Subscribe to our email list: eepurl.com/hcZKt5
Instagram: / hcmcfarland. .
Facebook: / mcfarlandcenter

[@PatrickHayes-zm2lx]

A small correction to the remarks of President Rougeau who stated (around 25:25) that all the religious orders in Louisiana owned slaves. That is not so. Redemptorists, for instance, had ministered in New Orleans since 1842. They never owned slaves, nor is there evidence that they were ever employed to work on their campus in the Irish Channel. The record of enslavement by other religious, however, cannot be denied.