Book Event with Rachel L. Swarns, Author of “The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church”

The Office of the President and Center for the Study of Slavery and Its Legacies invite you to a book event and conversation with Rachel L. Swarns, journalist, professor, and author of “The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church.” Rachel Swarns will discuss her work and book with Adam Rothman, Professor in the History Department and Director of Georgetown’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Its Legacies, followed by audience Q&A.

Reception and book signing to follow in Fisher Colloquium, Hariri Building, 4th Floor.

Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by September 28th by emailing PresOfficeEvents@Georgetown.edu. A good faith effort will be made to fulfill requests.

About Rachel L. Swarns
Rachel L. Swarns is a journalism professor at New York University and a contributing writer for The New York Times, where she served as a reporter and correspondent for 22 years. She is the author of The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church; American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama and a co-author of Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives. Her work has been recognized and supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, the Biographers International Organization, the Leon Levy Center for Biography, the MacDowell Artist Residency Program, and others. In 2023, she was elected to the Society of American Historians.