Slavery
Subject
Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Found in 43 Collections and/or Records:
1. Records of the Provincial, 1805-1981
Series
Scope and Contents
Series 1, the Records of the Provincial, documents the formation of missions, Houses of Jesuit formation, colleges, and houses for the entire Maryland Province under its various iterations. The Provincial derives his authority from the Superior General In Rome and ensures that members and individual communities comply with the rules of the Society of Jesus and the directives of diocesan leaders. During its existence between 1805 and 2020, the Province included the mid-Atlantic states of...
Dates:
1805-1981
2. Records of the Procurator, 1633-1968
Series
Scope and Contents
Series 2, the Records of the Procurator, includes financial and legal documents related to the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, and covers the years 1633-1968. The Procurator - effectively the treasurer of the province - had oversight of finances, and the records in this series reveal the emergence of a tobacco-centered economy in the mid-Atlantic region in the seventeenth century, its diversification beginning in the late eighteenth century, and the decline of agriculture in...
Dates:
1633-1968
3. Records of the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen, 1694-1956
Series
Scope and Contents
Series 3, the Records of the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen, documents the activity of the legal entity established in 1792 to protect Jesuit property interests in the Maryland region. The series includes minutes proceedings, by-laws, and Trustee lists from the meetings of the Corporation (1793-1956); legislative acts, property transfers, power of attorney documents, some Trustee correspondence, and the charter establishing the CRCC (1789-1918); and the wills of both Jesuits and...
Dates:
1694-1956
4. Records of the Houses, 1730-1982
Series
Scope and Contents
Series 4, the Records of the Houses, documents the development of parish life and the ministry of the Maryland Province among disparate communities in the mid-Atlantic region from the eighteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. The material in this series focuses primarily on Houses and their activities in the Washington, D.C. area, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Additional materials reflect House activity in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and West Virginia. This series also...
Dates:
1730-1982
5. Papers of the Maryland Mission, 1638 - 1958
Series
Scope and Contents
This subseries consists of correspondence and other documents created during or pertaining to the Jesuits’ initial mission in colonial Maryland (1634-1773). Materials include correspondence of the mission’s Superiors; mission rules and agreements, including some compiled retrospectively; the applications of prospective missionaries; missionary letters and reports; obituaries and eulogies; legal and documents related to colonial Maryland; narrative histories; and spiritual writings. Materials...
Dates:
1638 - 1958
6. Papers of the Suppression and Restoration, 1713 - 1955
Series
Scope and Contents
Series 6, the Papers of the Suppression and Restoration, document the period of time in which the Society of Jesus was suppressed (by order of Pope Clement XIV in Rome in 1773) and then restored (by Pope Pius VII in 1814). These papers include the Proceedings of the General Chapter and Southern District of the Select Body of the Clergy, which include discussions related to the former Jesuits’ plantations and to slavery; letters from former Jesuits challenging the decisions of the Select Body...
Dates:
1713 - 1955
7. Papers of Individual Priests of the Maryland Province, 1790 - 2003
Series
Scope and Contents
This series consists of the fragmentary personal papers of selected Jesuit priests who were members of the Maryland Province. The Maryland Province had a longstanding practice of retaining the personal papers of its members for its Archives. In the early twentieth century, archivists selected from among these personal papers the materials they deemed of highest interest for retention within the Maryland Province Archives (because of the individuals involved in the creation of the materials,...
Dates:
1790 - 2003
8. Papers of Catholic Families, 1630 - 1907
Series
Scope and Contents
Series 8, Papers of Catholic Families, contains select records created by or pertaining to several prominent Catholic families in the mid-Atlantic region (the Brents, Brookes, Brownes, Carrolls, Fenwicks, Griffins, Neales, and Sewalls). These families were significant land and property owners, often operating their own plantations and interacting in different capacities with the Maryland Province, including bequeathing property to the Province. Several families, including the Carrols,...
Dates:
1630 - 1907
10. Legacy Finding Aids, Catalogs, and Guides, 1905 - 1996
Series
Scope and Contents
Series 10 contains the previous finding aids, box lists, research guides, and card catalogs that archives staff have used to orient researchers to the Maryland Province Archives. In addition to these materials, there is also some correspondence regarding the establishment of the collection and exhibition catalogs pertaining to Jesuit materials that have been on display in the past at Georgetown University. Among the materials in this series is an item-level card catalog created...
Dates:
1905 - 1996
1.1 Correspondence, Chronological, 1805-1883
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
Subseries 1.1 is comprised of correspondence of the Superiors of the Mission of the American Federation (1805-1833) and Provincials of the Province of Maryland (1833-1877). Most letters in the subseries are addressed to the Provincials themselves, but the subseries also contains letters received by their advisees, including the Socius, Consultors, Procurators, and Board Members of the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen. Written primarily by members of the Society of Jesus, this...
Dates:
1805-1883
1.2 Correspondence, Superior General, 1759-1935
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
This subseries consists of letters sent by the Jesuit Superior General in Rome to the Maryland Province, and spans the years 1759 to 1935. The Superior General, the leader of the Society of Jesus elected by its General Congregation, wrote regularly to the Maryland Province to clarify the rules and regulations of the Society, interpret Papal decrees, authorize the establishment of new missions, mediate relations among Provinces, and announce the appointments of Rectors, Superiors, and...
Dates:
1759-1935
1.9 Missouri Mission, 1823 - 1859
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
This subseries consists of the records of the Missouri Mission, from its establishment within the Maryland Province in 1823 until Missouri was designated a Vice-Province in 1840. Materials consist of letters addressing the transfer of Houses, churches, and schools by the diocese of New Orleans to the Society, as well as administrative documentation and financial reports. Slavery is discussed throughout the letters, as the Missouri Mission derived income from plantations near Florissant,...
Dates:
1823 - 1859
2.1 Subject Files, 1633 - 1968
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
Subseries 2.1 is comprised of Subject Files related to the Province’s finances, dating from the seventeenth through twentieth centuries. These records were organized by the Provincial Procurator (treasurer) out of loose collections of financial correspondence, deeds and land surveys, invoices, receipts, statements, and contracts. The Subject Files subseries also contains many of the key legal and financial documents related to the Maryland Province’s sale of 272 enslaved individuals in...
Dates:
1633 - 1968
2.2 Correspondence, 1833 - 1967
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
This subseries consists of correspondence related to the Province’s property, finances, and the office of the Provincial Procurator. While the Province generally retained few of the letters sent by the Provincial Procurator himself, those letters that do survive, located in this subseries, provide insight into the Province’s handling of financial and property-related matters, including the purchase, treatment, and sale of enslaved people. These letters are, therefore, especially important...
Dates:
1833 - 1967
2.3 Monthly and Annual Statements, 1802 - 1939
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
This subseries is comprised of monthly and annual statements related to Provincial finances. These statements pertain to select Houses, high schools, and colleges, as well as mission activity in Jamaica, New England, and New York. The subseries also includes reports prepared by the Provincial Procurator for the Society’s Procurator General in Rome. Statements were compiled retrospectively (in the early 20th century) by Procurator Joseph Zwingé for the years 1802 to 1893, in an account book...
Dates:
1802 - 1939
2.5 Estate Accounts, 1734 - 1926
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
Subseries 2.5 contains financial records pertaining to estate properties in southern Maryland and Pennsylvania held by the Jesuits of the Maryland Province. These records document the management of plantations that depended upon enslaved labor, and of lands leased to tenant farmers. The Province’s Procurators maintained financial records of the estates detailing day-to-day expenses; accounts with overseers, vendors, and trading partners; the costs of provisions for enslaved laborers; the...
Dates:
1734 - 1926
3.1 Minutes and Proceedings, 1793 - 1956
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
Subseries 3.1, Minutes and Proceedings, contains the records of meetings held by the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen (CRCC), and dates from 1793 to 1956. Materials record decisions about the transfer of assets, the election of Board members, and changes in by-laws. These records also document actual and potential sales of enslaved people held by the Province. Between 1793 and 1820, the CRCC continually deliberated the need to reduce the number of enslaved laborers on the...
Dates:
1793 - 1956
3.2 Legal Documents, 1789 - 1918
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
Subseries 3.2 contains legal documents created or retained by the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen (CRCC), the legal entity established in 1792 that protected Jesuit property interests. The correspondence in this subseries concerns property titles, transfers, and legislation, including the transfer of Maryland Mission properties by Fathers James Walton and Robert Molyneux (1794) and the possibility of manumitting enslaved people at Bohemia (letter to Francis Neale, S.J.,...
Dates:
1789 - 1918
3.4 Non-Jesuit Wills, 1694 - 1917
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
The charter granted to the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen authorized it to accept gifts and donations from people outside of the Jesuit community. This series contains wills, related documents, and correspondence pertaining to such bequests, including bequests from members of prominent Catholic families such as the Carrolls, Fenwicks, Sewalls, and Duvalls. Particularly relevant is a copy of James Carroll’s 1728 will, which conferred the White Marsh plantation and to the Maryland...
Dates:
1694 - 1917
4.1 Alexandria, Georgetown, Washington, 1806 - 1960
Sub-Series
Scope and Contents
This subseries contains the records of Jesuit Houses located in Alexandria, Georgetown, and Washington, D.C. Materials include official House records such as the Litterae Annuae (annual letters), Historia Domus (House histories), and diaries, financial records, publications, newsclippings, and correspondence. The Jesuits residing in these Houses ministered to several disparate groups comprised of both the...
Dates:
1806 - 1960