RECORDS: JOHNS HOPKINS FOUNDER OWNED SLAVES

Johns Hopkins University announced on Wednesday that its founder owned slaves during the 19th century, a revelation for the Baltimore-based school that had taken pride in the man purportedly being a staunch abolitionist.

Researchers uncovered the information in government census records as part of an initiative exploring the university’s history. The long-held narrative of an abolitionist Hopkins whose father had freed the family’s slaves in 1807 came into question over the past several months.

“We now have government census records that state Mr. Hopkins was the owner of one enslaved person listed in his household in 1840 and four enslaved people listed in 1850,” President Ronald J. Daniels and other school officials wrote in a letter to the Johns Hopkins community. “By the 1860 census, there are no enslaved persons listed in the household.”

Maryland did not abolish slavery until 1864.

The officials said the school will continue researching Hopkins’ life in the coming months to “have a full picture,” as a complete biography of the university’s founder does not exist. They wrote they decided to share the development as part of the school’s effort “to deepen our historical understanding of the legacy of racism in our country, our city, and our institutions.”

Hopkins died in 1873 and left $7 million to open a university, orphanage and hospital. The donation at the time was considered to be the largest philanthropic gift made in the U.S.

Today, the school has about 27,000 students and its researchers have earned 29 Nobel laureates.