The Georgetown Slavery Archives is an ongoing initiative that records, stores, and publishes information regarding Georgetown University’s role in the sale of slaves in the U.S. Their archive is a vast collection of maps, photographs, videos, documents and letters. All of the items that are included in the archive contribute to our current understanding of slavery and the salve trade in America’s early history.
This ongoing collection of data and research contribute to the field of American history, encompassing both broad and specific subjects and entities. The connections from the archive open the door to discussions about many topics such as the study of slavery, slavery’s connections to eventual black liberation, the long term effects of white Americans owning slaves and their generational wealth, and religious studies about the Jesuits and how they justified their participation in the slave trade as well as the long lasting effects in American society in terms of race and religion, and the ethics of religion. One project, has blossomed into a completely vast and intriguing topic of research.
I think the beauty in this project is that there is not a particular argument or thesis to it. From what I understand, it is simply an investigation in the history of an institution and how it relates that same institution in contemporary times, and it accomplishes this in a free and open access method. This allows for a continuous and dynamic dialogue that all can learn from and participate in.
