In 1838, Jesuit priests from one of the nation’s most elite Catholic universities sold 272 men, women, and children to slave owners in Louisiana, all in the name of preventing its demise. Today, Georgetown University has an endowment of more than $1 billion. It also has a historical credit for its involvement in the legacy of slavery.

The descendants of those slaves, along with scholars and a professional genealogist met during “A Gathering of Descendants” at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church Center in a small Louisiana town called Manringouin, approximately forty minutes from Baton Rouge. The meeting was organized by Delores Johnson, Katherine Jackson, and Mary Williams-Wagner, three alliance members of GU272, a group dedicated to honoring and preserving the history of the 272 slaves sold to work on Louisiana plantations in Iberville and Ascension parishes.

Katherine Jackson, a native of the New Orleans area, said planning for the event began last December when she and two other organizers shared a conference call with a group of GU272 descendants. She said the call “aimed at identifying the concerns and expectations of the descendants as related to Georgetown University’s role in the sale of their ancestors.”