In 1807 Britain legally abolished the slave trade, although it continued to participate in and profit from the institution of slavery. In 2007 the British government committed public funds to mark the bicentenary of the Slave Trade Act. The Remembering 1807 project has collected and archived material relating to the many events and activities that took place during 2007. These records help us to locate and understand the place of slavery, the slave trade and its abolition in the UK’s public history, commemorative traditions and popular memory. Background to the collection...
Bristol was major trading port for the transatlantic slave trade in the 18th century. The city of Bristol marked the bicentenary of the Abolition Act with more than 100 events across the city - exhibitions, plays, debates, talks, concerts - under the umbrella organisation Abolition 200. In January…
Penrhyn Castle on the outskirts of Bangor in Wales is owned by the National Trust. In 2007, the bicentenary was marked with a special exhibition and accompanying events exploring the connections between the Castle and the fortune of its former owners, the Pennant family, built on Jamaican sugar from…
Soham Village College partnered with Soham Action 4 Youth (SA4Y) and Soham Museum in a project to record Soham at the Time of the Abolition, to commemorate the bicentenary and celebrate the life of Olaudah Equiano. Equiano, otherwise known as Gustavus Vassa, was the former slave who became an…
Part of the Equiano Project led by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the Culture Clubs were a series of outreach projects enabling contributions by local schools and community groups to the way Equiano’s story is told and the issues surrounding how his experience is represented. The four groups -…
The National Maritime Museum marked the bicentenary with a range of initiatives and events including a new exhibition, a film season, poetry, music, debates, and new publications. A new permanent gallery opened at the museum in winter 2007 exploring Britain's Atlantic empire. A catalogue of…
Easton Lodge is a historic estate in Essex, with gardens open to the public. The Gardens of Easton Lodge Preservation Trust led two projects to mark the bicentenary. Liberation Song involved three local schools working with Grand Union Orchestra to explore the roots of musical instruments and…
Breaking the Chains was a community youth-based project by DM Training and Education Services to explore the contributions made to British heritage by people of African and Caribbean descent. Themes covered in the workshops included: Windrush (1945-1950s), Back to my Roots (1960s), Social Uprising…