Georgetown College (Washington, District of Columbia)

Name: Georgetown College (Washington, District of Columbia)
Alternate Name: Georgetown University; Georgetown
Latitude: 38.907608
Longitude: -77.072258
City: Washington, District of Columbia
County or Parish: Washington, District of Columbia
State or Province: Washington, District of Columbia
Country: United States of America
Description: Georgetown College originated in 1785 with a proposal by John Carroll to the General Chapter and Southern District of a Select Body of the Clergy which met at White Marsh (Bowie, Maryland). This body comprised of former Jesuits who were planters, enslavers, and missionaries before the American Revolution united to oversee the six plantations established by the Jesuits to financially support their missions. John Carroll's had proposed the foundation of an academy to educate boys in the Arts and Humanities. By 1787, fundraising had begun for an academy at Georgetown, a small and rising city in Maryland that was located on the Potomac River. (The Residence Act of 1790 included Georgetown in the territory designated for the District of Columbia). In 1789, land was purchased for Georgetown College.

The income from these plantations -- derived from the forced labor of enslaved people -- provided crucial support to the operations of Georgetown College. It depended upon slavery in other ways: administrators accepted enslaved laborers as payment for tuition, and enslaved laborers worked on the campus. In 1836, the Jesuits of the newly-formed Maryland Province secured permission from the Jesuit General in Rome to sell the people enslaved by the Province to finance the expansion of the Province in the northeastern United States. With Thomas Mulledy, S.J., the rector of Georgetown College and Maryland Provincial at its lead, more than 272 people were sold to Henry Johnson and Jesse Batey of Louisiana in 1838. Father Mulledy used the down payment from that sale to eliminate the debts of Georgetown College and ensure its survival. After the 1838 sale, Georgetown College continued to use enslaved labor, principally by hiring out laborers from enslavers who lived in Washington, D.C.

The name Georgetown College stems from its origins as a College of Arts and Humanities that included elementary and preparatory schools. By 1820, Georgetown provided graduate studies; in 1850, Georgetown added a medical school; in 1870, Georgetown added a law school and shortly thereafter dropped elementary education. By the 1870s, Georgetown was commonly referred to as a university. In 1919, Georgetown Preparatory School established a separate campus in Rockville, Maryland. Georgetown did not change the name on its charter to Georgetown University until 1966.

Georgetown University now has six undergraduate schools: College of Arts and Sciences, the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service, School of Nursing, School of Health, McCourt School of Public Policy, and McDonough School of Business. In addition, Georgetown includes the following professional and graduate schools: Georgetown Law, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Biomedical Graduate Education, School of Continuing Studies, School of Medicine. Georgetown University Qatar is an international program that offers a four-year undergraduate program.
Place Type: College or university
Region: Washington Metropolitan Area
Same As: Georgetown University (Wikidata); Georgetown University (Official Website); Georgetown University (Wikipedia); Georgetown University (LCNAF)
Bibliographic Citation: Curran, Robert Emmett. A History of Georgetown University. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press, 2010.; Curran, Robert Emmett. The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press, 1993.
Source Resource: http://onthesegrounds.georgetown.domains/omeka/api/items/7224
Source Site: http://onthesegrounds.georgetown.domains/omeka/s/otg-georgetown-test-site/page/about