About Us

This website is a joint initiative between the 1807 Commemorated project, based at the University of York and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

The 1807 Commemorated project has worked with seven partner museums and over sixty institutions in total to complete nearly 1500 interviews with visitors and over a 100 interviews with heritage practitioners, community representatives and consultants. The project has also recorded approximately 180 permanent, temporary and touring exhibitions which were set in place to mark the bicentenary.

From this work, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council contracted the 1807 Commemorated project to provide a series of regional workshops for practitioners and a website resource.

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council promotes best practice in museums, libraries and archives, to inspire innovative, integrated and sustainable services for all.

Aims

The central aims of the 1807 Commemorated project was to both map and analyse public debate and activity regarding the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade. We were concerned with identifying and understanding how 1807 was being marked by different agencies and communities in Britain and the consequences of this for the expression of national, local and community identity, and for the development of a range of social debates addressing multiculturalism and social inclusion.

Project Team

Principal Investigator - Dr. Laurajane Smith, Archaeology Department, University of York
Co-Investigator - Dr. Geoff Cubitt, History Department, University of York
Research Assistant - Dr. Kalliopi Fouseki, Archaeology Department, University of York
Research Assistant - Dr. Ross Wilson, History Department, University of York

Partner Museums

The 1807 Commemorated project worked with a number of museums to collect visitor interviews and to discuss experiences with practitioners. These museums were:

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery - Equiano Exhibition
British Empire and Commonwealth Museum - Breaking the Chains
British Museum - Inhuman Traffic
Wilberforce House, Hull City Council
International Slavery Museum, National Museums Liverpool
Museum in Docklands - London, Sugar and Slavery
National Maritime Museum - Atlantic Worlds

MLA Workshops

The 1807 Commemorated project was contracted by the MLA to deliver a series of workshops to disseminate the results of the project, to discuss future practice and to provide a website resource for practitioners. The workshops were held for the nine regions covered by the MLA from November 2008 to May 2009.

11th November 2008 - North East Workshop, Newcastle
18th November 2008 - North West Workshop, Manchester
7th January 2009 - West Midlands Workshop, Birmingham
25th February 2009 - London and South East Workshop, London
3rd April 2009 - East Midlands and East of England Workshop, Nottingham
9th April 2009 - South West Workshop, Bristol
15th May 2009 - Yorkshire Workshop, York