History of Slavery

2M0FXCW Sir Geoff Palmer, leader of Edinburgh's Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Group, stands alongside a plaque commemorating the historic Scottish slavery case, Knight v Wedderburn, during an installation ceremony at the Court of Session at Parliament House in Edinburgh, to mark the case's contribution to tackling slavery. Picture date: Tuesday December 6, 2022.

Joseph Knight v. John Wedderburn: A Defining Moment in Scotland’s Struggle with Slavery

The story of Joseph Knight isn’t simply the story of a man seeking his freedom in an 18th-century…


Jacques Callot, The Slave Market, 1629. Picture: National Gallery of Art / CC0 - Credit: National Gallery of Art / CC0

The last slave owners of Islington

Islington in the 1830s was transforming from rural outskirts into a genteel suburb. Like today, bricks and mortar…


View of island Goree with fort and Dakar city visible in the background. Gorée Island. Dakar, Senegal. Africa. Île de Gorée.

Slave Trade Routes

Countless local and regional slave trades in Europe, Africa, and the Americas combined to create the transatlantic slave…


The Slave Hunt” depicts soldiers from Sokoto raiding a village to capture slaves. [Harper’s Weekly (Sept. 12, 1857), p. 581]

The Slave Hunt – Capture and Captives

For three and a half centuries, European slavers carried African captives across the Atlantic in slave ships originating…


Slaves for Sale in New Orleans in April 1861. In urban New Orleans, some slaves were skilled servants, drivers, and cooks for the well to do. April 1861.

Economics and the Slave Trade

The number of European and American merchants, shipbuilders, and investors directly involved in the transatlantic slave trade over…


Williams Pantycelyn was a pioneer in publishing slave narratives in Welsh

The Welsh abolitionists

The abolitionists were up against some formidable economic interests – and some of them even ended up getting…


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Black History Month

2025 LISTINGS

Leeds 20 May–24 May 2025

Kinky Boots

The Broadway and West End phenomenon, Kinky Boots The Musical, is strutting into Leeds Grand Theatre in a brand…

Photo © Lewis Ronald
Cambridge Thursday 22 May

Museum Late: Future Legacies

Join us after-hours at the Museum for a lively evening of art, music, conversation and engaging workshops inspired…

Lambeth Friday 23 May

Mix & Move: Hip-Hop Grooves

Showcasing dance styles and dancers from across the globe, Mix & Move is our monthly programme of accessible dance workshops…

Westminster Saturday 24 May

Black History River Cruise

3 hour cruise along the Thames from Temple to Greenwich and back showing the thousands of years of…

Jahnavi Inniss, Representation: Black British History Quilt, 2020-2024. © Jahnavi Inniss
Cambridge Saturday 24 May

Quilting workshop: Jahnavi Inniss

Immerse yourself in our patchwork and quilting workshop led by exhibition artist Jahnavi Inniss, award-winning textile-based graphic designer…