Acclaimed journalist, author and professor Rachel Swarns will deliver the Benjamin C. Bradlee Distinguished Lecture in Journalism on the topic of her critically acclaimed book: "The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church," on Thursday, Feb.19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Nancy R. & Norton T. Dodge Performing Arts Center on the College’s campus. Presented by the Center for the Study of Democracy, a joint initiative of St. Mary's College of Maryland, Historic St. Mary's City and The Patuxent Partnership, this event is free of charge and open to the public.
The Bradlee Lecture Series is a signature event of the Center for the Study of Democracy and supports the Center’s mission to explore issues of democracy, liberty and justice.
Swarn’s book emerged from her reporting at the New York Times and focuses on Georgetown and the Catholic Church and their roots in slavery. In 2023, a group of descendants of “The 272” visited the Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland, SMCM’s award-winning tribute to the enslaved that was inspired by the discovery of archaeological evidence of slave quarters on the College’s campus in 2016.
Established by former Washington Post executive editor and College trustee Benjamin Bradlee, this lecture series has brought many notable journalists to St. Mary's College. Bradlee established this series to bring leading journalists to campus who carry on his legacy of commitment to a free press in a democratic society.
Swarns served as a full-time reporter and correspondent at the Times for 22 years and currently writes about race and history as a contributing writer.
At the New York Times, Swarns has reported from Russia, Cuba, Guatemala and southern Africa, where she served as the Times’ Johannesburg bureau chief. She has covered immigration, presidential politics and Michelle Obama and her role in the Obama White House. She also served as a Metro columnist in New York City. As a senior writer for the paper, she helped to lead and innovate on coverage of issues of race and ethnicity.
In 2018, Swarns joined New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, where she is a tenured professor whose research focuses on American slavery and its legacies. At the Institute, she serves as the director of undergraduate studies and the director of “Hidden Legacies: Slavery, Race and the Making of 21st Century America,” a research initiative that seeks to deepen Americans’ understanding of the connections between slavery and contemporary institutions.
The “272” was one of the notable books of 2023 by The New York Times Book Review, the New Yorker, Time magazine, The Washington Post, the Chicago Public Library and Kirkus Reviews. It also won a 2024 American Book Award and a 2024 PROSE Award from the Association of American Publishers and was longlisted for the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. St. Mary’s College, the National Public Honors College, is ranked as the #5 public liberal arts college in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report. Approximately 1,600 students attend the college, nestled on the St. Mary’s River in Southern Maryland.
