The Georgetown Slavery Archive is a project that was created in 2016 to address the connection between Maryland Jesuits, Georgetown University, and slavery. This was created in relation to Georgetown University’s Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation initiative. This site uses different forms of historical sources, such as ads, photographs, maps, and other written documents and makes them digitally available. The photographs, maps, and texts are photographed and posted up on the site. Some of the texts are typed out. Each source has a page with pertinent information typed out at the top, such as titles, subjects, and dates. Sources with similar content are grouped together in digital collections and galleries. Additionally, there is an interactive map that places several sources in context to their location within the US. Another way of digital presentation on the site are the podcasts and videos on these topics created by undergraduate students at Georgetown University who were enrolled in an American Studies course and a Film Studies course.
The goal of all these sources of presentation is to make the historical items more accessible to the public, in addition to sharing the stories of those who were owned by Maryland Jesuits. There is specifically a page on the website that asks descendants of those who were owned by Maryland Jesuits to reach out to the Archive and share the stories about their families. In addition to the connection to the field of history, there is also a connection to genealogical research as the website makes original documents accessible to researchers. Additionally, it invites those who are trying to trace their ancestry to the Maryland Province slave community to contact those in connection to the archive. This website is publicly available, furthermore the website has a page for teachers who want to plan lessons in connection to these topics. This page has lesson plans and corresponding powerpoints to help high school teachers educate their students on slavery. After looking through the project, a question that arises is why did they decide to put an image of the campus of Georgetown with no references to slavery as the main image on the home page?
Interesting post, I wonder how the descendants are taking this project. Do they think that a good job is being done?