Rachel L. Swarns

The 272 journeys to slavery’s heart of darkness. But it is also the moving human story of some of the people who endured and survived this ordeal, and who have long awaited rediscovery.—The New York Times Book Review

Rachel L. Swarns is an acclaimed journalist, author, and NYU professor who investigates the history of American slavery, examining how we live with this history and how it shapes who we are today. Through her critically acclaimed books and inspiring talks, she challenges us to work to overcome the legacy of racial injustice in our churches, schools, and communities. At a time when powerful politicians are working to prevent us from teaching and learning these stories, her work has never been more urgent.

Rachel’s most recent book, The 272, won the American Book Award for “outstanding literary achievement.” It tells the story of the nearly 300 enslaved people who were sold by a group of America’s most prominent Catholic priests in order to fund what would become Georgetown University. Rachel follows one family through almost two centuries of enslavement, uncovering not only the stories of these forgotten people, but also how the legacy of the slave trade still shapes our institutions—from banks to universities—today. She was interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross for her vital work, and the book has met with critical acclaim from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The New Yorker—landing on The New York Times 100 Notable Books, TIME 100 Must-Read Books, Kirkus 100 Best Nonfiction, and Washington Post 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction. The Washington Post writes that “The 272 succeeds not only in its telling of a tragic story. Rachel Swarns centers the experiences of enslaved people owned by the Jesuits for nearly two centuries who remained largely unnamed and unknown until now.”

Rachel is also the author of American Tapestry, which chronicles the history of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Black, white, and multiracial ancestors, who journeyed from slavery to the White House in five generations. It was ranked as one of 100 Notable Books of 2012 by The New York Times, and as one of the year’s best biographies by Booklist. She also co-authored Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives.

A longtime reporter and correspondent for The New York Times—and now a contributing writer for that same publication—Rachel has reported from Russia, Cuba, Guatemala, and southern Africa, where she became The Times’s first Black Johannesburg bureau chief four years after the end of apartheid. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024. She is currently an associate professor of journalism at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, where she focuses on American slavery and its contemporary legacies.

Her work has been recognized and supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, the Leon Levy Center for Biography, the Biographers International Organization, the MacDowell artist residency program, and others. In 2023, she was elected to the Society of American Historians. She has appeared on numerous national programs, including NPR, PBS NewsHour, CNN, and CBS This Morning.