In partnership with faculty and students, Lauinger Library has developed several exhibitions and written blog posts that explore individual documents, artifacts, rare books, photographs, works of art, and other primary source materials. The interpretations of these items can suggest ways of using these primary sources in student presentation and research.
Most of these online exhibitions and blog posts have been presented as exhibitions in the galleries of Lauinger Library. They are presented here in the order of their debut on the Lauinger website. The exhibitions curated by Lauinger Library and blog posts by the staff of the Booth Family Center for Special Collections (BFCSC) are continuously updated.
Glimpses of Slavery at Georgetown College (January 13, 2017)
Curated by History Professor Adam Rothman, this exhibition presented some of the key documents of the 1838 sale, the role of enslaved people at Georgetown College, and the Black Catholics (both enslaved and free) of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown.
Women on the Margin in the Maryland Province Archives (June 12, 2020)
Cassandra Berman, Archivist for the Maryland Province Archives (MPA), explores how the records within the MPA intersect with her historical studies on maternity by examining the records of the Montevue Asylum, which Jesuits stationed at Frederick regularly visited between 1889 and 1897. Their notes indicate that they routinely questioned the fitness of vulnerable white and Black women for motherhood.
Hail Columbia: Contesting Slavery in the Maryland Province Archives (February 25, 2021)
Cassandra Berman reflects upon an eyewitness accounts of slave coffles passing by the Capitol and the response of one Congressman to sing “Hail Columbia” in protest of the slave trade. This scene was described in a journal entry written by Stephen Dubuisson, S.J., on January 29, 1832.
Liddy and Lucy Butler (March 19, 2021)
In celebration of Women’s History month, Mary Beth Corrigan explores how two recently freed Black women strengthened the community of Black Catholics within Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
Celebrating Juneteenth with the Library’s Special Collections (June 2021)
BFCSC staff exhibited materials within their collections that highlighted the vibrancy of Black literature, art, and community life. This exhibition was refreshed to mark Juneteenth in 2022.
D.C. Emancipation Day 2022 (April 13, 2022)
Composed to mark the 160th anniversary of the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862, this exhibition explored the significance of that act at Georgetown College.
From Mission to Social Justice: Four Centuries of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus (November 7, 2022)
The Society of Jesus established missions in British North America and then the United States that were financed by plantations that exploited enslaved labor. This exhibition examines the legacy of this dependence, their attempts to convert enslaved people to Catholicism, and the impact of social justice thought upon race relations.
Black History Month: The Mason Family of Maryland (February 1, 2023)
This exhibition honors Louisa Mahoney Mason and her descendants who served the Jesuits and the Catholic Church with loyalty, despite their enslavement of the family and segregation within their parishes.
Slavery, Archives, and Accessibility: Reorganizing the Maryland Province Archives (February 16, 2023)
Cassandra Berman, Archivist for the Maryland Province Archives (MPA), reflected upon her application of the principles of reparative description as she created a new finding aid for MPA. The new finding aid improved access to the collection for researchers interested in slavery, regional history, and genealogy.
Visions of Anti-Racist Futures (May 9, 2023)
This exhibition displayed the artifacts – AI art, collages, lenticular wall art, and zines – created by students who participated in a fall 2022 class, “Critical Speculative Design for Anti-Racism in Higher Education,” taught by Professor Ijeoma Njaka, Senior Designer for Equity in the Red House and Adjunct Professor in Learning, Design, and Technology.
Facing Georgetown’s History through Objects (April 11, 2023)
This exhibition presents facsimiles of archaeological objects excavated at the sites of Jesuit missions and plantation in Southern Maryland that demonstrate their impact on the cultures of indigenous people, enslaved and free people of African descent, indentured servants, and tenant farmers through the twentieth century. Jane Beeler (SFS ‘25) used 3D printers in the Maker Hub in Lauinger Library to create these reproductions for Professor Adam Rothman’s History 099 class.
Facing Georgetown’s History through Art (April 11, 2023)
This exhibition presents artwork by undergraduate students in Professor Adam Rothman’s History 099 classes “Facing Georgetown’s History” from 2021 and 2023. The students used archival materials in imaginative ways to humanize the subject matter of the class.
“President Lincoln Entering Richmond”: The Public Memory of Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation (June 19, 2024)
In 2019, BFCSC acquired “President Lincoln Entering Richmond – April 4, 1865,” a Thomas Nast print that appeared in Harper’s Weekly on February 24, 1866. Mary Beth Corrigan explored the circumstances that led to the creation of this image and its role in shaping the public memory of emancipation.