Status
Available
Publication
Random House (2023), 352 pages
Description
In 1838, a group of America's most prominent Catholic priests sold 272 enslaved people to save their largest mission project, what is now Georgetown University. In this account, Rachel L. Swarns follows one family through nearly two centuries of indentured servitude and enslavement to uncover the harrowing origin story of the Catholic Church in the United States. Through the saga of the Mahoney family, Swarns illustrates how the Church relied on slave labor and slave sales to sustain its operations and to help finance its expansion.
Awards
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Longlist — Nonfiction — 2024)
BookTube Prize (Octofinalist — Nonfiction — 2024)
PROSE Award (Winner — 2024)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2023)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2023)
Language
Original language
English
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