Durham Record Office held an exhibition of its original documents relating to slavery, the slave trade and abolition. These include reports, maps, and a number of letters, from, for example, Sir John Shaw Lefevre (Under Secretary for the Colonies in 1833), the abolitionist James Stephen and the prominent Quaker activist Josiah Forster. The exhibition was displayed in the Record Office and toured several venues in the region. It was also used for inspiration by members of Jackass Youth Theatre, who produced the play Sharp Practice after visiting the Record Office and consulting some of the original documents on display.

Southwark Pensioners Centre Black History Group led a project to explore the life of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. Born in Yorubaland, Nigeria, kidnapped and sold into slavery, Crowther became the Anglican church's first African-born bishop and an influential missionary in West Africa. The Crowther's Journey project involved weekly research and discussion sessions and visits to places of significance, such as the church of St Mary in Islington, where Crowther was ordained. This booklet focuses on the responses and reflections of members of the group on Crowther, his life and his legacy.

Samuel Ajayi Crowther was Britain's first Black Anglican Bishop. He was born in Yorubaland, part of modern South Western Nigeria. After being enslaved, he was rescued at sea by the Royal Navy and began his missionary education in Sierra Leone. Crowther studied in Islington on two separate occasions: first, at St Mary’s Parochial School, and later, at the Church Missionary Society College on Upper Street. He was ordained at St Mary's Church in Upper Street before returning to Africa to begin his missionary work. His ordination as Bishop was in recognition of the success of his missionary efforts in the Niger region. His life, and connections to the London Borough of Islington, were the subject of this exhibition at Islington Local History Centre.