1765 Charbonier Road

In 1823, Bishop Louis William Valentine Dubourg (1766–1833), the founding figure behind Saint Louis University (SLU) and the first bishop of the Louisiana and the Two Florida's diocese, requested that the Maryland Jesuits establish a new religious and educational outpost in Florissant, Missouri. His directive included a deeply troubling and now well-documented demand: that the Jesuits bring with them “at least four or five or six negroes to prepare and provide additional buildings, and to cultivate the land.”

These enslaved men, women, and children were forcibly brought from Maryland to Missouri and became an essential—though long-overlooked—labor force in the founding and early development of what would become Saint Louis University and other Jesuit institutions in the region. They were made to construct key structures at St. Stanislaus Seminary, including the Chapel, the Refectory, and the Rock House. Their unpaid, forced labor helped build the physical and financial foundation of one of Missouri’s premier Catholic universities.

The Jesuits who owned and trafficked these people included some of SLU’s earliest administrators and priests. These men operated under a system that both justified and exploited the institution of slavery, even as they preached Christian teachings of human dignity and salvation. The Jesuits often baptized and buried the enslaved, yet denied them basic human rights in life. The contradiction between Christian doctrine and the brutal reality of slaveholding remains one of the most painful legacies in the university’s history.

In recent years, this legacy has come under increasing scrutiny. In response to the uncovering of these facts, descendants of the enslaved have organized to demand accountability, recognition, and justice. The Descendants of St. Louis University Enslaved (DSLUE) is a grassroots organization formed by those who trace their ancestry to the enslaved people brought to Missouri by the Jesuits. DSLUE advocates for transparency, memorialization, educational reform, and reparative action from SLU and the Society of Jesus. Their efforts have led to important conversations about memory, racial justice, and the role of faith institutions in reckoning with their past.

Today, Saint Louis University has begun to acknowledge this history more openly through research initiatives, public programming, and partnerships with DSLUE. However, the call for tangible reparative justice continues. The story of the enslaved people who helped build SLU and St. Stanislaus is not just a footnote in the university’s past. It is a foundational truth that reshapes our understanding of what institutions owe to those they once oppressed, and to their descendants still seeking justice nearly two centuries later.