WELCOME TO

Descendants Of The
St. Louis University Enslaved

With each discovery comes a new opportunity.

DSLUE is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization formed to honor and commemorate our Jesuit and Saint Louis University enslaved ancestors, to preserve our heritage and legacy, to repair historical harms, and to educate the broader public about this history now, and in the future.   

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Descendant Mama Safiyah Chauvin honored during BLACK DANCE USA- St. Louis American. CLICK PHOTO TO READ MORE

From Darkness to Light

A Timeline Revealing the History of Communities Enslaved By the Jesuits

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Contributor's Corner

Check out this month’s featured contributor, DAIL CHAMBERS.  She is an award- winning visual artist, creative consultant, and grower.

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Welcome to the Contributor’s Corner where related guest essays, articles, opinion pieces, video/audio works, and other creative and cultural media are showcased.  If you would like to submit your content, please reach out and tell us about it. Maybe it will be featured on the Contributor’s Corner!

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SEE YOU THROUGH US

The founders believe by being mission focused, not only will we honor, repair, and empower the DSLUE community, we also hope to provide other descendants of the enslaved in America, those who have yet to recover the names and locations of their Ancestors, a window into their past through what is revealed about ours.  As you learn, along with us, about our Jesuit enslaved Ancestors, we hope you’ll be inspired to take that sacred journey back to reclaim what was lost.  We believe – With each discovery comes a new opportunity.

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The Descendants of the St. Louis University Enslaved, Inc., is a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.

  • 11469 Olive Blvd., #164, St. Louis, MO. 63141
  • (314) 439-6272
  • info@dslue.org
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© 2023 Descendants Of The St. Louis University Enslaved, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Image of Founder, Robin Proudie

Robin A. Proudie

Founder/Executive Director

Robin A. Proudie a native St. Louisan, served seven years in the U. S. Navy, and seventeen years as a civil servant working alongside senior-level government and military officials, and foreign diplomats based in Washington, D.C.

For nine years, she held a top-secret/sci clearance as a member of the intelligence community at the Pentagon.  In this capacity, she was responsible for the special accreditation of the Corps of Military Attachés and Distinguished Foreign Visitors from over 95 nations.

Robin has held positions with the Department of Justice, serving as a special assistant to the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, and she supported mediation for communities in conflict as a specialist at the Community Relations Service.  She also served as a confidential assistant with the Department of Agriculture, and helped to facilitate specialized training, technology, administrative and program support services to federal judges serving in the Judiciary.

She credits the diversity of her experience with helping to hone the skills needed to accomplish what she describes as the most important mission of her life – to honor and commemorate the lives of her Ancestors enslaved by the Jesuits, to repair historical harms that impact descendants today, and to educate the broader public about this history now, and in the future.

To accomplish this mission, Robin organized known descendants and allies to form the Descendants of the St. Louis University Enslaved, or DSLUE.  DSLUE is a descendant-led 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization based in the St. Louis metro area.  

Robin is also a founding board member of the Maryland-based White Marsh Historical Society (WMHS).  The WMHS is a descendant-led 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to perpetuating the memory and heritage of the enslaved families that labored at the former Jesuit-run White Marsh plantation. In 2023, the WMHS became co-stewards of an abandoned African American burial site to ensure upwards of 500 graves of enslaved families and their descendants are properly restored, preserved, and memorialized.