William McSherry

William McSherry.
William McSherry (1799–1839) was a Catholic priest, a prominent leader of the Jesuits in the United States, and a president of Georgetown College in Washington, D.C. Born in western Virginia, McSherry studied at Georgetown and was educated for the priesthood in Rome, where he discovered significant, forgotten holdings in the Jesuit archives about the early European settling of Maryland and the language of Native American tribes. McSherry served as the first provincial superior of the Jesuit Maryland Province from 1833 to 1837 and laid the groundwork for the sale of 272 of its slaves. He then became President of Georgetown College, exchanging positions with Thomas Mulledy, who executed the sale as provincial. Upon Mulledy's suspension in 1839 over the slave sale scandal, McSherry again became provincial. Near to death, his term lasted just several months. In 2015, due to his and Mulledy's involvement in the slave sale, Georgetown University renamed McSherry Hall.