In the spirit of the Year of Reconciliation, Georgetown Prep has opened an exhibit, "Georgetown Prep and Slavery: Endowment of Tears, Hope for Reconciliation," through June 13 in the Robert Southwell, S.J., Library in Boland Hall.
The exhibit, based on documents and illustrations from the Booth Family Center for Special Collections at Georgetown University, the on-line Georgetown Slavery Archive, and the Georgetown Preparatory School Archives, explores the central role that slavery played in establishing, maintaining, and, through the sale of 272 enslaved persons on farms owned by the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus in 1838, rescuing Georgetown College and its largest constituent element, the Preparatory Department. The exhibit focuses on enslaved persons of the same age as current Prep students. It challenges the viewer to consider how best to seek reconciliation with the memory of the enslaved – the coerced benefactors of Georgetown Prep – and with their descendants. A final segment of the exhibit highlights Prep's first African-American students who played a trailblazing role in creating a more open, welcoming, and diverse Prep community.
The exhibit will be open to Alumni and Parents (past and present) on Thursday, May 17 and Thursday, May 31 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The exhibit will be open to the public on Saturday, June 2, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The exhibit is free charge.
To arrange an individual or group visit on another date, please contact Dr. Stephen J. Ochs.
The photo is a copy of an original piece by Tony Liao '18.