Title: Georgetown Reconciliation Fund Awards $200,000 to Support Descendant Communities

Georgetown has awarded $200,000 to seven community-based projects across the U.S. that aim to impact the Descendants of enslaved men, women and children with ties to Jesuit plantations. 

The grants are part of the university’s Reconciliation Fund. Launched in 2022, the Reconciliation Fund sets aside $400,000 per year to projects that engage communities of Descendants whose ancestors were enslaved on Jesuit plantations. This second round of grants follows the first round of grants announced last April. 

These seven projects have a variety of goals and communities they’ll reach, which include seeking to preserve and honor the history of enslaved ancestors on Jesuit plantations, reconnecting families torn apart by slavery, and inspiring, informing and supporting future generations. 

Robin Proudie, a Reconciliation Fund grant recipient whose project honors the lives and legacies of her ancestors who were enslaved in Missouri, said the grant represents “a step towards reconciliation and healing.”

“For the communities we serve, it means greater recognition of their history and contributions, tangible support for the younger generation, and the ability to honor and preserve the legacy of our ancestors,” she said.

Several of the projects use the arts and education as a way to connect history and the present, including a documentary about one of the earliest African American families in Maryland and their quest to petition the courts for freedom from enslavement; a new curriculum that invites students to explore their personal stories through the arts; and a school leadership institute that trains and equips the next generation of female leaders.  

For Malachi Robinson, who led a documentary project, the grant is deeply personal. 

“This grant means the opportunity to shed light on the story of my seventh great-grandmother, Mary Queen, and her descendants, fostering a deeper understanding of their legacy and struggles,” he said.

Other projects emphasize genealogy and family reunification through events, oral histories, online genealogy tools, film screenings and the preservation of gravestones. 

“We are honored to recognize these recipients. These projects represent a range of creative and impactful responses to questions of remembrance and reconciliation,” said Joseph Ferrara, vice president and chief of staff at Georgetown. “We can express our commitment to reconciliation and healing through ongoing engagement with the Descendant community and in supporting efforts that promote healing, memory and a brighter future.”

This year’s recipients of the Reconciliation Fund were selected based on recommendations by the Fund’s Student Awards Committee, with input from members of the Descendant Advisory Committee. The application for the next grant cycle will launch this fall.

Learn more about each of the recipients of the Reconciliation Fund and how they are making a difference in the communities they serve, from the arts and genealogical research to empowering and supporting the next generation.

The Project: Three Descendants who are artists will be partnering with middle schools in Maryland to teach students about the histories of enslaved peoples in the area through an engagement with arts. The artists will partner with teachers to develop history lessons through an artistic lens. Students will be invited to select a creative project to tell their personal or family story that can then be shared with future generations. Students will work with the teaching artists to use the arts to tell their stories.

What They’ll Do: The funding will support the creation of arts-integrated history lessons and workshops for three to four schools and offer an opportunity for the three Descendants to creatively honor their ancestors’ stories.

What This Project Means: The project will increase awareness about Descendant families and their histories and may even help some students reconnect with their Descendant relatives and tell their ancestors’ stories, said Abigail Jefferson, a teaching artist and Descendant. “The arts, creative expression, and outreach in schools can play a crucial role in not only educating adults about this history but also getting youth onboard in understanding and recognizing the role of history and its place in their present-day lives,” she said.

Documenting the Reunion of Families Torn Apart by Slavery

The Project: The documentary, Finding Us, features the stories of four Descendants who are seeking to reconnect with family members after their enslaved ancestors were sold and forcibly moved across the South by the Maryland Province of the Jesuits in 1838. The project will create a screening series for the film at three parishes in Louisiana to connect the Descendant community, identify more Descendants and share their stories and history with a wider audience.

What They’ll Do: The grant will fund three screenings of Finding Us, which originally premiered at the Annapolis Film Festival in 2023. It will also enable the documentary team to offer DNA tests to select attendees to help identify more Descendants of the men, women and children enslaved by the Jesuits. 

What This Project Means: Karran Harper Royal, a producer of the documentary and president and co-founder of the Descendants of Jesuit Enslavement Historical and Genealogical Society, has been helping families torn apart by slavery reconnect for the past four years. “The grant allows us to continue the work of the ancestors as they sought to find their family members who were sold during slavery, with resources to expand the pool of descendants and knowledge about the history of Jesuit enslavement,” Royal said. 

A Live Performance Event and Documentary About the Fight for Freedom

The Project: Malachi Robinson’s documentary about his ancestor, Mary Queen, tells the story of her and her descendants’ petitions for freedom from their slaveholders in U.S. courts, starting in the 1700s. Featuring interviews with genealogists, archeologists and historians like Georgetown Professor Adam Rothman, The Poppaw Queen aims to inspire viewers about Mary Queen’s fight for freedom and spark dialogue about historical injustice and healing. 

What They’ll Do: The project plans to showcase the film through a live performance event in 2025, featuring poetry, movement art, live music and storytelling, as well as panel discussions with the filmmakers, historians and Descendants. The project will also produce supplementary content online, including interviews that couldn’t be featured in the film, to help continue the conversation post-event.

What This Project Means: The grant will help Descendants connect with their heritage, gain a deeper understanding of their history and continue conversations about healing, justice and reconciliation to spark change, says Robinson. 

“I want to make sure that this project is able to bring not only Descendants together, but also the people who can make decisions, whether in government, Congress, state or local officials who can help us push the conversation forward and create change,” he said. “I know what [the message of the movie] does to me internally. I can only hope this does the same thing for other individuals to stand up for what they believe in and create some real change.”

The Project: The Descendants of the Saint Louis University Enslaved (DSLUE) Legacy Initiatives honors and educates the St. Louis community about the legacy of its team members’ enslaved ancestors and supports their Descendants. The project does so in three ways: They provide headstones and grave markers for ancestors buried in unmarked graves; they document the lives and contributions of their enslaved ancestors through a film project; and they mentor young Descendants and honor their elders at an annual event.

What They’ll Do: The project will purchase and place headstones and grave markers in unmarked graves in the St. Louis metro area. It will support the production of the Heritage Trail Film Project, which documents historic locations in Missouri before and after emancipation, and it will provide mentorship opportunities and support the annual appreciation dinner and ceremony that honors elders’ contributions. 

What This Project Means: The grant will help the initiative continue and expand its work, said Robin Proudie, founder and executive director of Descendants of the St. Louis University Enslaved, Inc. “For the communities we serve, it means greater recognition of their history and contributions, tangible support for the younger generation, and the ability to honor and preserve the legacy of our ancestors,” she said. “It represents a step towards reconciliation and healing.” 

Helping Families Connect With and Build on Their History

The Project: The White Marsh Historical Society is a nonprofit that researches, preserves and memorializes the Black Americans who were enslaved at the Jesuit-owned White Marsh plantation in Maryland, as well as other plantations in the state. The nonprofit’s project is to build a website that archives family’s stories, traditions and genealogies and reconnects families who were forcibly separated. 

What They’ll Do: The funding will support the build of a new website, which will feature articles, photos and videos about Descendants and their history. Additionally, the nonprofit will collect oral histories from Descendants, members of related communities and young people. The funding will support audio and video equipment as well as travel to collect and document these stories.

What This Project Means: Descendants often research their family roots. This website seeks to provide resources to help them do so, said Kevin Porter, president of the White Marsh Historical Society. “Oral histories and a robust website can play a pivotal role in connecting descendants with their heritage and history. In turn, fostering a sense of identity and community among descendants while also educating the broader public about the significance of their shared history.”

Training Future Female Leaders

The Project: St. Mary’s Academy, a 156-year-old Catholic girls’ school in New Orleans, hosts an annual community service day and youth leadership institute in honor of its founder, Venerable Henriette DeLille. DeLille, who is in the process of being canonized, established the second Black religious order in the U.S., the Sisters of the Holy Family. The school’s annual day of service and leadership institute for young women aims to train purpose-driven leaders throughout the region and beyond in honor of their founder.

What They’ll Do: The funding will help more young women participate in the Henriette DeLille Leadership Institute, which was developed and implemented by students. It will help the school purchase a bus so volunteers can access more parts of New Orleans on its service day. The project will also continue to develop its Young Visionaries of Henriette DeLille, a group that empowers young people to become spokespeople for DeLille’s mission, as well as the Henriette DeLille Symposium, which will connect youth and community leaders to address pressing local needs.

What This Project Means: “Through this grant St. Mary’s Academy will have the unique opportunity to continue our work of developing youth leaders and serve as change agents for the community,” said Pamela Rogers, president of St. Mary’s. “St. Mary’s Academy and Georgetown University share the common vision of producing exemplary youth leaders destined to change the world.” 

Preserving Stories and Connecting Family Members

The Project: The project will conduct research and collect the oral histories of Descendants, particularly those connected to Henrietta Hill-Jones and other ancestors who lived in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. The project will also restore and clean the gravestones of Descendants buried in Ascension Parish in Louisiana, and create a community gathering for Hill-Jones’ descendants to connect. 

What They’ll Do: The funding will support the project’s historical research, restoration and cleaning efforts, and a community gathering to foster a sense of connection and belonging among Descendants. 

Why It Matters: Much is still unknown about Hill-Jones and her family history, said her great-great granddaughter, Javonna Jones. “This grant is pivotal as it signifies recognition and support for our mission to preserve and honor the history of Henrietta Hill-Jones and her descendants. For the communities we serve, it means fostering a deeper understanding of their ancestry, providing a platform for sharing stories and creating a lasting tribute to their heritage.”