The growing interest in slave History has led to many researchers investigating this subject. Various national and international Projects are encouraging a greater interpretation of the Trans Atlantic African slave trade, and to the re-evaluation of existing data. One of these Projects was launched in 2000: the UNESCO/WTO joint Caribbean Programme of Cultural Tourism On the Slave Route Project.
This project requested the involvement of all Caribbean nations, including Bahamas, Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands who are not geographically in the Caribbean Sea but fall within the economic and socio-political development of the region.
In the Turks and Caicos Islands this became linked with a growing demand for knowledge not only from the students at the local community college but also the wider audience following the National Trust of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ work on the plantations of Cheshire Hall and Wades Green.
However, the Museum has had some difficulty whilst carrying out the research and this papers looks at the information that has so far been uncovered and the problems it has identified. It should also be noted that this is a work in progress and as such will have some shortcomings: there are many leads that still need to be followed up which will add light to the existing research. This paper is the starting point and will hopefully encourage debate and interest amongst the Turks and Caicos citizens. Future research, the discovery of new data, and re interpretation of existing data will build up a comprehensive understanding of the slave History of these Islands, and their place within the overall slave story.
Contents of this story:
Turks and Caicos National Museum
Nigel Sadler
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