Johns Hopkins, Long Believed An Abolitionist, Actually Owned Slaves, University Says
Thursday, December 10, 2020
The founder of Johns Hopkins University was discovered to be a slaveowner in contradiction to the long-held narrative that the philanthropist was an abolitionist.
Rob Carr / Getty Images
Historians for Johns Hopkins University discovered that the founder of the Baltimore-based school owned slaves, contrary to the long-held belief that the wealthy philanthropist was a staunch abolitionist.
Researchers Martha S. Jones and Allison Seyler made the discovery after delving into previously undiscovered government census records as part of a university-led project on the school s history.
The findings complicate the understanding the Johns Hopkins community has toward its founder, wrote University President Ronald J. Daniels and other school officials in an open letter Wednesday.
Johns Hopkins, Long Believed An Abolitionist, Actually Owned Slaves, University Says
at 3:49 am NPR
Historians for Johns Hopkins University discovered that the founder of the Baltimore-based school owned slaves, contrary to the long-held belief that the wealthy philanthropist was a staunch abolitionist.
Researchers Martha S. Jones and Allison Seyler made the discovery after delving into previously undiscovered government census records as part of a university-led project on the school s history.
The findings complicate the understanding the Johns Hopkins community has toward its founder, wrote University President Ronald J. Daniels and other school officials in an open letter Wednesday. It calls to mind not only the darkest chapters in the history of our country and our city but also the complex history of our institutions since then, and the legacies of racism and inequity we are working together to confront, the officials wrote.
Researchers found census records showing the entrepreneur and philanthropist owned slaves as late as 1850, contrary to the long-held belief that his family freed all slaves when he was a boy.
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