WASHINGTON (AP) – Georgetown University is set to rename two buildings on campus in honor of people who were sold as slaves in Maryland in 1838.
The renaming of the buildings is part of the university’s effort to atone for profiting from the slave sale, which was orchestrated by two Jesuit priests to pay off debts at the school. Georgetown is also giving preference in admissions to descendants of the 272 people who were sold.
One building will be renamed Isaac Hawkins Hall in honor of the first person listed in documents related to the sale. Another will bear the name of Anne Marie Becraft, a free woman of color who taught Catholic black girls in what was then the town of Georgetown.
The buildings will be dedicated on Tuesday.
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