Black History 365 x Routes In The Records: Reclaiming the archives
What can two documents, written just 14 years apart, tell us about empire, and whose voices do they carry?
In 1709, the Royal African Company published a pamphlet to Parliament setting out its commercial interests in the trade in enslaved Africans. In 1723, an enslaved person known as Secrett wrote a letter to the Bishop of London. Both are held in the collections of Lambeth Palace Library, and both are closely connected to the history of Fulham Palace.
Spend an afternoon exploring these two very different perspectives with historians and artists. Begin with a walk and talk tour of the Palace and its colonial connections, then join two creative workshops with Kwesi Ochosi, Dr Annabelle Gilmore and spoken word poet Adisa the Verbalizer. Working with reproductions of the original documents, you’ll respond through poetry, spoken word and zine-making, finding new words and meanings that give voice to people only partly visible in the historical record.
No experience of archives or creative writing is needed. Just bring your curiosity.
This event is a collaboration between Black History 365 and Routes in the Records, hosted at Fulham Palace.
Programme
- 12:00 Walk and talk tour of Fulham Palace with Charmaine Simpson
- 13:00 The Royal African Company archive: profit, power and resistance, with Kwesi Ochosi and Adisa the Verbalizer
- 15:00 Refreshment break
- 16:00 Giving voice to Secrett: reimagining the archive, with Dr Annabelle Gilmore and Adisa the Verbalizer
Event details
- This event is organised by Black History 365 and Routes in the Records.
- This is a free event.
- This event will be photographed.
- Booking is via the organizer’s Eventbrite page, link above