THANK YOU FOR ENGAGING AND CONNECTING
We gather to connect and share our histories as our Ancestors envisioned. Uniting Communities of Descendants, particularly those whose ancestors were separated when they were enslaved on Jesuit plantations in Maryland
SOUTHERN MD GU272 - JESUIT DESCENDANT GATHERING
August 31, 2023 - September 3, 2023
Picture of SoMD GU272-Jesuit Enslaved Descendant Gathering. Photo taken by Photographer Shawn Walker after we acknowledged and honored our Ancestors on Saturday, September 2, 2023
Celebrating Faith, Family, and Unity
Above is the Opening Ceremony of the Gathering on Saturday, September 2, 2023, at St. Mary's College of Maryland. Left to right Julie Hawkins Ennis, Tom Kesicki, SJ, Dr. Francine Hawkins, Derrick Roderick, and Henrietta Pike.
Uniting Southern Maryland Communities of Descendants, particularly those whose ancestors were separated when they were forced to live and work on Jesuit plantations in Maryland
The SoMD Reclamation Project launched gatherings of the SoMD GU272 and Jesuit Enslaved Descendants over Labor Day Weekend 2023. The Reclamation Project’s gathering is a first-ever reunion in Southern Maryland designed to connect families fractured by the 1838 forceable sale and removal of 272 relatives enslaved by Maryland and Georgetown Jesuits on plantations in Maryland to privately owned plantations in Ascension, Iberville, and Terrebonne Parishes in Louisiana. Others were lost through additional domestic sales in other parts of Louisiana, Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri. The multi-day event–August 31 to September 3, 2023–was held at several locations in Southern Maryland and featured tours of former plantations and presentations from descendants, scholars, and genealogists.
Please email smddgathering@gmail.com with your questions.