We honor the memory of Dr. Jonathan C. Smith, co-founder and co-director of the Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation (SHMR) Project on behalf of Saint Louis University (SLU).

Jonathan believed it was the responsibility of the university to acknowledge its history of holding people in bondage, and that before developing institutional responses, we needed to understand the institution’s history more fully to know better what we were responding to and what the most appropriate reparative efforts would be. He believed the historical narratives that emerged from the project should not merely recount “the sins of the Fathers,” that is, the Jesuit enslavers at Saint Louis University. Instead, they should center the stories of the lived experiences of the people SLU and the Jesuits enslaved in all their complexity, their sorrows, suffering, and exploitation as well as joys, agency, and resistance. Their accomplishments must be woven into campus life: in institutional histories, in student education, in interpretive signage, memorials, and artwork on campus.

Importantly, Jonathan believed that present-day responses to the history of enslavement and its legacies at SLU should be descendant-led. Jonathan envisioned descendant communities in conversation with SLU and the Jesuits paving the path forward. By descendant communities, Jonathan meant that both direct descendants of the people enslaved to SLU and the Jesuits as well as Black community members, faculty, staff, and students who represent descendants of American slavery more broadly and are affected by the legacies of slavery and racism at SLU, should be at the table. Valuing descendant communities matters because they and their ancestors have been historically and systemically denied from having voice and agency over what happens to them. Jonathan pushed us to center descendant communities in our work, because we can never fully know every person who was held in bondage by the Jesuits since their lives were often not deemed worthy of documentation. Despite this, their lives, and those of many other descendants of enslaved people whose journeys intertwined with SLU continue to be impacted by SLU and other Jesuit institutions’ historical involvement in slavery, and thus they must have a seat at the table.  

In the year before his untimely death, Jonathan had formed a working group consisting of direct descendants, representatives of the descendant community at SLU and in St. Louis, Jesuits and other faculty and students affiliated with Saint Louis University, and members of the SHMR project to move that vision forward. He emphasized that it was not up to the representatives of enslaving institutions to anticipate outcomes or what transformative efforts descendants might seek. Jonathan declared that the possibilities this working group could create were endless, and that we should dream of efforts to address this history from a boundless blank slate, rather than confining our imaginations to limitations we might perceive from the university, from society, or from finances. Only by freeing ourselves of these confines, thinking expansively, and taking risks could we cultivate the most effective solutions, which we could then propose institutionally and work out arrangements from there.

Relationship-building was at the heart of everything Jonathan did; he cared for us as colleagues and friends. Ayan recalls emailing Jonathan as an undergraduate after learning about the SHMR project; he carved out time in his extremely busy schedule to meet with her, a random student at a different institution, and discuss not only how she might work with the project, but also her broader career aspirations and interests. This story is just one example of Jonathan’s unique ability to connect deeply with almost anyone and instill in them the courage and confidence to take on this difficult work. Jonathan’s care and encouragement for each of us brought us together and enabled us to see how dedicated he was to work toward repairing slavery’s damaging legacies together. He cultivated trust and made each of us feel we were uniquely special and reminded us of how capable and empowered we were to envision and implement transformative change to create a more racially just society.

The passion with which he approached this work was apparent in our daily interactions, wherein he constantly pushed us to think imaginatively while also holding our ethical values central in our research and community engagement. Jonathan also brought so much light and joy to our everyday experiences. SHMR team members recall our weekly meetings with him fondly; he brightened our early Tuesday mornings with a smile, encouragement, and sometimes even a visit from a member of his furry family. One time, we wrote a document with his dog Rowdy sitting in our laps. Jonathan texted us out of the blue when he saw something he thought would interest us or that continued a conversation we had. We loved having a pandemic brunch over Zoom together and sharing about ourselves while cooking in our kitchens. Kelly was touched that Jonathan took time out of his busy schedule as a SLU administrator during commencement week in 2021 to hood her at an intimate makeshift ceremony on SLU’s campus in celebration of earning her doctorate when the ceremony at her own alma mater was canceled. That special day was the last time she saw Jonathan in person, and she will forever treasure the big bear hug he gave her. Now the space near where that ceremony took place bears Jonathan’s name in his memory.

We were camping together when we learned of Jonathan’s unexpected death. We couldn’t fathom him being gone from our world, and what our lives would be like without the man whose generosity, goodness, and encouragement filled our days. But we were grateful to have been with one another as we remembered him in our grief because we understood what Jonathan meant to each other.

The celebration of Jonathan’s life exemplifies how he lived: joyously, spiritually, full of love and laughter, and centered around community and family. More than a mourning of loss, it was a celebration of life that invoked us to carry on his legacy. It was astounding to see just how many lives he had touched, people from all different walks of life and communities; his funeral was held at SLU’s Chaifetz Arena to accommodate the hundreds of people who came to celebrate his legacy. Though his care extended to many, he took the time to make each feel close to him, many describing him as a mentor and a father figure. Even when he was in the hospital, he was making calls to let us know how much he cared about us. His love knew no bounds.

We endeavor to honor our mentor in the transformative work we do and the communities we build.