“Unearthing Buried Narratives: Reconstructing the Experiences of Enslaved People Through Jesuit Records”

Recalling the Catholic enslaved experience reveals new patterns about enslavement within the Catholic Church and the instrumental ways enslaved people formed community, resisted their enslavement, and shaped their faith. Prize-winning scholar Kelly L. Schmidt, Ph.D., invites the audience to engage with records about enslaved people in Jesuit archives, cross-referencing them and reading against the grain to discover the limitations resulting from enslaved people being prevented from keeping records about their own lives.