The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church

Rachel Swarns She is a journalism professor at New York University and a contributing writer for The New York Times. Swarns has been a foreign correspondent for the Times while reporting from Cuba, Russia and southern Africa (where she was the Johannesburg bureau chief). Swarns wrote the book American Tapestry (2012) about the history of Michelle Obama's ancestors. Her new book is titled The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church.