Project Details
Project Description
The unique, celebrated, legacy of an African slave, Josefa, offers exceptional potential to inform both a major historical debate about slave cultures and understanding of the legacies of slavery. Captured and shipped to Cuba
for sale in the 1840s, Josefa kept alive the initiation rites to her Sierra Leonean family’s society. How and why she managed to do this demands exploration through both archival research and filmed oral interviews. Moreover, since the same society existed in Sierra Leone until the 1990s and continued to defend against the mass enslavement of girls in the civil war, this project offers unparalleled insight into defences against slavery, and legacies of the slave trade, in one small community over two centuries.
for sale in the 1840s, Josefa kept alive the initiation rites to her Sierra Leonean family’s society. How and why she managed to do this demands exploration through both archival research and filmed oral interviews. Moreover, since the same society existed in Sierra Leone until the 1990s and continued to defend against the mass enslavement of girls in the civil war, this project offers unparalleled insight into defences against slavery, and legacies of the slave trade, in one small community over two centuries.
| Status | Finished |
|---|---|
| Effective start/end date | 15/05/17 → 15/01/18 |