Implementation
Historical Research
The Historical Research Group
Archeology will form a critical component of project activities over its first three years, working to locate the burial sites of enslaved persons who worked on the Codrington estates with a view to memorializing those forgotten persons who worked the Codrington estate and connect them with kinship and family groups.
The workgroup will engage with an international community of archeologists to facilitate project work, including UWI and the Universities of Glasgow, Winchester, Leiden, Germany and City University New York. Locally, is expected to provide working unique specialized working opportunities and training for local students. This work will connect closely to the project workstream for Family Research, which seeks to discover potential living descendants of the enslaved to connect them to their ancestors. As most all Caribbean people are descended from the enslaved, great care will be taken to both involve and consult the broader Caribbean community on each step of the process.
To guide this work, the project team will work to implement the guidelines of of the ICCROM Toolkit for Engaging Descendant Communities in the Interpretation of Slavery at Museums and Historic Sites.
Impact & Vision
Ultimately, this workstream will see the project team establish a Research Centre from w which interpretation of findings for both a visiting and travelling public may be engaged. This will include the creation of interpretive exhibits, website, and multimedia content for the public. Such an interpretive centre may also engage in the housing and conservation of both artifacts and documentary objects. It will also hope to stimulate the production of cooperative symposia, seminars, workshops, and conferences to discuss and highlight its academic and social justice programming.
Where family research will focus on the histories of the persons enslaved on the Codrington estate, historical research seeks to establish the full story the Estate itself – tracing the management, activities and finances of the SPG plantations from the point of Codrington’s bequest in 1711 through to emancipation. The early history of the Codrington family and its plantations, as well as the history of the Estate and Codrington College will form secondary points of interest. The group will involve partnership and collaboration with a range of institutions internationally, including UWI, the University of Leeds and All Souls College, Oxford.
It will see the establishment of a research committee to oversee the academic and public dissemination of such research into the management practices, revenue derived, and its investments and undertakings derived from The Codrington Estate by the USPG. This includes the provision of scholarships, fellowships, and as necessary creation of a consortium to execute and fund such research.
A key legacy of the project’s historical research Programme will involve empowering local students in Barbados and the wider Caribbean to study their own history and develop their research skills through a series of scholarships through which the core historical outputs of the project will be produced. The publication of research in academic journals and books will generate international interest in the history of Codrington estate, furthering the development of Barbados’ cultural and academic research sectors.
Upcoming Activities
Autumn 2024: Codrington History Podcasts
The executive group plans to retain Dr. Henderson Carter at UWI to produce a series of podcasts covering the history of the Codrington estate via his segment on local Barbadian Radio as well as a parallel podcast series to run on a UK broadcasting channel later in the year.
Autumn 2024 - Spring 2025: UWI/Leeds Strategic Planning
The executive group plans to formally engage a group including colleagues Dr. Tara Inniss and Dr. Henderson Carter at UWI as well as Dr. Jo Sadgrove at USPG / The University of Leeds to plan and structure the project’s historical research programmed, to be delivered via a series of research scholarships primarily directed towards students in the Caribbean. This retainer is also expected to involve the production of initial historical research reports to guide the structuring of these offerings.
Autumn 2025 – Renewal & Reconciliation Research Symposium
The Executive group plans to host an annual symposium at Codrington College to present initial findings and bring together the cutting-edge academics and thinkers working on issues relating to the project objectives, including those relating to archaeology and family research methods.
