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By Faith Karimi, CNN Linda Johnson-Thomas’ grandfather worked at the Virginia Theological Seminary for more than a decade, first as a farm laborer before moving up to head janitor. Her grandparents lived in a little white house on campus with their four children, including her mother. But until two years ago, she had no idea that her grandfather, John Samuel Thomas Jr., had been enslaved at the school in Alexandria, just outside of Washington, D.C. “All I knew was that he grew up on the seminary,” said Johnson-Thomas, 65, who lives in Mitchellville, Maryland. “We knew there were slav...

Their ancestors were enslaved workers. Now they're among the first to get cash reparations CNN 5 hrs ago © Virginia Theological Seminary The campus of the Virginia Theological Seminary outside Washington, D.C. Linda Johnson-Thomas' grandfather worked at the Virginia Theological Seminary for more than a decade, first as a farm laborer before moving up to head janitor. Her grandparents lived in a little white house on campus with their four children, including her mother. But until two years ago, she had no idea that her grandfather, John Samuel Thomas Jr., had been enslaved at the school ...

Seminary Built on Slavery and Jim Crow Labor Has Begun Paying Reparations The Virginia Theological Seminary, in Alexandria, Va., in February began handing out cash payments to the descendants of Black Americans who labored there during the time of slavery and Jim Crow.Credit...Kenny Holston for The New York Times [ Race affects our lives in countless ways. To read more stories on race from The New York Times, .] One night in 1858, Carter Dowling, an enslaved Black man forced to work without pay at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Northern Virginia, made the brave decision to escape. He m...

Seminary built on slavery and Jim Crow labour has begun paying reparations

[ Race affects our lives in countless ways. To read more stories on race from The New York Times, .] One night in 1858, Carter Dowling, an enslaved Black man forced to work without pay at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Northern Virginia, made the brave decision to escape. He made it to Philadelphia, where he met the famed abolitionist William Still. He then continued north to Canada and, after the Civil War, returned to Washington, D.C., where he was able to open a bank account for his children. He eventually went on to work as a labor organizer in Buffalo. To this day, Mr. Dowling’s...