‘Not nameless’: Bringing the lives of those enslaved to light

As with many of us, Robin Proudie’s daily routine includes checking her mailbox and sifting through the usual assortment of bills, advertising circulars, and requests from charitable organizations to find that rare missive that might be of special interest. She found one on a July morning in 2019. Ms. Proudie, who has since retired from a federal government position, was unfamiliar with the Slavery, History, Memory and Reconciliation Project, but she was familiar with the city from which the letter came – St. Louis – her childhood hometown. 

Once inside her Maryland home, she opened the envelope and read: 

I write today with information about people we believe to be your ancestors. Through the Slavery, History, Memory and Reconciliation [SHMR] Project, we are trying to learn more about the lives of the people who were held in slavery by the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, including your ancestors, in order to tell their stories and connect with their descendants in a meaningful