An entry in 1847 in an original ledger from Missouri Jesuits shows a “colored servant” named Matilda could buy her freedom for the price of $300 − “to be appropriated to” St. Francis Xavier Church. The record was photographed on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, at the Jesuit Archives and Research Center. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS 鈥 In 2019, the Jesuits, a Roman Catholic religious order that has guided 狐狸视频 University since its founding, reached out to descendants of people they enslaved in the region between 1823 and 1865.
Robin Proudie, of Creve Coeur, was one of them.
She says early efforts to reconcile and hear descendant voices have since fallen away. On Thursday, trying to reinvigorate dialogue, she, extended family and supporters held a press conference and 鈥渢each-in鈥 event in the heart of the private university.
About 75 people attended. Few of them were college students.
鈥淥ur ancestors deserve to be taken from the darkness and brought to light on this campus,鈥 Proudie, 58, told the crowd gathered at a Busch Student Center banquet hall. 鈥淲here are you? We want to collaborate with 狐狸视频 University to get this work done.鈥
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Proudie helped form the organization Descendants of the 狐狸视频 University Enslaved.
鈥淲e are not asking for a handout,鈥 she added. 鈥淲e are asking for the debt to be paid.鈥
A local partnership between the Jesuits and 狐狸视频 University to research their history of slaveholding, including finding and reconciling with descendants, was quietly downsized in recent years.
Verhaegen Hall is named after an early leader of 狐狸视频 University. He was also a slaveholder.聽
The Jesuit order, which works around the globe, previously said it is still committed to the mission of the Slavery, History, Memory and Reconciliation Project, but the project has been folded into a broader effort being developed that鈥檚 more unified and eliminates overlap.
Jesuit pioneers like Pierre-Jean De Smet first brought six slaves with them in 1823 from White Marsh Plantation, in Maryland, to establish a mission in Missouri. By 1865, they had enslaved at least 74 people in the 狐狸视频 region. They were mainly forced to work at the university, its church and St. Stanislaus Seminary, which initially operated as a farm in the Florissant area.
A chart of names of those enslaved by the Jesuits and other Roman Catholic organizations stands outside of a press conference and 鈥渢each-in鈥 event held by descendants and their supporters Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, at 狐狸视频 University.聽聽
Proudie and about 200 of her relatives are descendants of Henrietta Mills-Chauvin. They recently retained civil rights attorney Areva Martin to represent them.
鈥淲e say justice for these families is long overdue,鈥 Martin, a 狐狸视频 native who lives in Los Angeles, said at the press conference. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always the right time to do the right thing.鈥
The value of labor for 70 enslaved people in the 狐狸视频 region ranges anywhere from $365 million to $70 billion in today鈥檚 dollars, depending on the interest rate, said Julianne Malveaux, a Washington, D.C.-based economist and former president of Bennett College. She told the crowd that her calculation was based on getting paid 5 cents an hour.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 account for pain and suffering,鈥 she said.
In an interview, Martin said her clients didn鈥檛 expect the university to 鈥渄isgorge鈥 a huge check. She wants it to be 鈥渁 starting point for negotiations.鈥
鈥淲e want the valuation of the wages to be a part of the conversations,鈥 she said.
She said university officials weren鈥檛 at the on-campus event Thursday but agreed to meet on Friday.
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