Untold Truths brings together scholars, students, staff, and descendants to explore Loyola University
Maryland’s historical connections to slavery, Jim Crow, and racial injustice. They
do so through a variety of forms, including historical narratives, analysis of newly
uncovered primary documents, and creative works inspired by this history. Privileging
the voices, perspectives, and research of descendants of the men, women, and children
Jesuits had enslaved, sold, and trafficked in 1838, this collection of essays explores
Loyola’s connections to that sale and its ongoing reverberations for the institution
and all those connected to it. This diverse and rich volume contributes to ongoing
efforts to gain a fuller understanding of Loyola’s past in hopes of finding pathways
towards racial justice and inclusion on its campus—and on all campuses that seek to
address historical injustices.
The task force report documents Loyola’s historic ties to slavery, particularly evidence of a direct financial connection between Loyola’s founding and the proceeds of the GU272 sale. From July 1855 through December 1860, Loyola Jesuits also rented laborers who were likely enslaved, and Loyola likely benefited from the labor of an unidentified woman listed in an 1860 census as enslaved by the Order of the Jesuits in Baltimore.
The task force also documented examples of Loyola support for the Confederacy and the Lost Cause including naming a building and donor society for George Carrell Jenkins, a Confederate soldier and advocate of the Lost Cause.
In addition to documenting the repair work underway at Loyola, the report also makes ten recommendations for continuing the campus’ march toward anti-racism and social justice.
View Digital Flipbook of Report Download Report (PDF)
This article is the fourth of a four-part series investigating Loyola’s connections to slavery. Over the course of two years, publishers, authors, and editors have been cultivating “Untold Truths: Exposing Slavery and Its Legacies at Loyola...
After investigative research over the course of two years, Loyola explored the school’s affiliation with slavery and the repercussions through several channels of investigation. However, Loyola is not the only school involved in the journey to...
As of 2024, over 8,000 descendants of the Georgetown University sale of 272 enslaved people have been located across the country and notified of their status through the genealogical work of Ancestry.com.
Would Loyola University Maryland even exist today without the sale of 272 enslaved persons through the Maryland Province of Jesuits? The answer is likely no, based on the research Loyola students and faculty have compiled during an investigation...
Loyola University Maryland officially acknowledged its historical ties to slavery with the release of a comprehensive 27-page report detailing the Baltimore university’s connections to the slave trade.
Loyola University Maryland presented a 27-page report Wednesday detailing how the Catholic Jesuit school in Baltimore benefited from slave trade. A task force of undergraduate students, faculty and staff, as well as descendants of slaves sold by...
Loyola University Maryland officially acknowledged its historical ties to slavery with the Jan. 17 release of a comprehensive 27-page report detailing the Baltimore university’s connections to the slave trade. The report notes that the...
Loyola University Maryland said it had ties to an 1838 sale of enslaved people orchestrated by Jesuit priests. Money from the sale was also used to pay off debt at Georgetown University.
The president of Loyola University Maryland has formally acknowledged the university’s historical connections to slavery, according to a university spokesman.Terrence M. Sawyer made the announcement Wednesday at a private event on Loyola's campus...