Browse Items (128 total)

In 1843, Georgetown College hired Frank Butler, an enslaved man owned by Doctor N.W. Worthington. The following letter from 1846 records the treasurer's authorization to give Frank "the highest hire we give to our hired servants, of much more…

This remarkable letter from 1820 narrates the case of Becca, an enslaved woman who approached Fr. John Baptist Cary at Georgetown College after fleeing from her owner, a man who is described in the letter as "very hard & has no religion at all."…

This entry in the Procurator ledgers of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus indicates that the Jesuits' general fund financed the hire of "servants" for Georgetown College in 1804. The reference to "servants" most likely refers to enslaved…

On May 4, 1818 Benedict Fenwick, a former President of Georgetown University recorded in the city of Washington the manumission of an enslaved woman named Jane Smith.

The document describes Smith as "formerly of Virginia," and "between five and…

Playbill for a blackface minstrel show at Georgetown dated December 17, 1861.By December 1861, the word "contraband" had come to refer to enslaved people who had escaped to the Union Army.For more information on the Georgetown "Contrabands", see…

In this rich letter from 1817, Fr. Francis Neale, the pastor of Holy Trinity Church at Georgetown College, writes to Fr. Joseph Marshall at St. Inigoes to inform him of the impending arrival of Ned, an elderly man who will be sent from Georgetown.The…

An advertisement for Michael published in the Daily National Intelligencer on June 13, 1822. He had escaped in late April, and the subscriber, Notley Maddox, was offering a $50 reward for his capture. The ad reveals that Michael had been hired out to…

Holy Trinity Church recorded the death and burial of Susanna Becraft in the College Ground on November 12, 1834. A 15-year-old postulant from the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Becraft died after battling consumption. According to historian Diane…