GU272 & the Louisiana Connection (2020)
Newsmakers

Details
Collection:LPB
Genre: Panel
Place Covered: Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority
Date Issued: 2020-02-5
Duration: 00:37:40
Subjects: Genealogy | History | Slaves | African Americans | Filmed panel discussions
Contributors:
- Williams, Natasha Moderator
- Royal, Karran Panelist
- Laatsch, David Panelist
- Riffel, Judy Panelist
- White, Valerie Speaker
- Branche, Cheryllyn Speaker
- Prater, Rochell Sanders Speaker
Description
Natasha Williams moderates a panel discussion at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library on February 5, 2020, on the GU272, the enslaved people sold by the Jesuit priests at Georgetown University in 1838 to plantation owners in Louisiana. The panelists are: Karran Royal, the executive director of the GU272 Descendants Association; David Laatsch, a genealogy librarian at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library; and Judy Riffel, a genealogist working on the Georgetown Memory Project. They discuss: the history of the GU272; the work of the Georgetown Memory Project in tracing 9,000 descendants of the GU272; the role of the GU272 Descendants Association in bringing together the families of the GU272; the genealogical resources available at the library; and the Finding Your Roots African American Museum in Houma. During the discussion, three descendants in the audience also share their stories, Valerie White, Cheryllyn Branche, and Rochell Sanders Prater.