Sydney Van Morgan: Unraveling a Maryland Mystery—Johns Hopkins, Clifton Mansion and the 1850 Census

Johns Hopkins University International Studies Program Director, Sydney Van Morgan, explores the life and Quaker heritage of Johns Hopkins, the founder of Johns Hopkins University and Hospital. Dr. Van Morgan focuses on the family relationship to slavery and abolitionism and confronts the recently sensationalized question of whether Johns Hopkins himself was a slaveholder. What does the historical evidence actually show and how did a single document come to reshape a long-standing narrative? Dr. Van Morgan presents her thoughtful, research-based conclusion in an effort to resolve this matter once and for all.