slave wrecks project smithsonian national museum of african american history and culture june 2015
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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION MRC 509 PO Box 37012 Washington DC 20013-7012 Telephone 202.633.4751 Fax 202.633.8788
Media only: Fleur Paysour (202) 294-0666; [email protected]
Abigail Benson (202) 633-9495; [email protected]
Media website: http://newsdesk.si.edu
Fact Sheet
Slave Wrecks Project
What is the Slave Wrecks Project?
The Slave Wrecks Project (SWP) is a long-term collaboration between six core partners, including the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). The project
is designed to combine research, training and education to build new scholarship and knowledge about
the study of the global slave trade, particularly through the lens of slave shipwrecks. Core partners for
SWP include the George Washington University, Iziko Museums of South Africa, the South African
Heritage Resource Agency, the U.S. National Park Service, Diving With a Purpose and the African
Center for Heritage Activities.
What does SWP do?
● Conducts groundbreaking research on the historical African slave trade rooted in specific
regions, but with a global reach, that incorporates the disciplines of maritime and historical
archaeology, history and anthropology.
● Directly links research in innovative ways to the operations of museums, to public education,
to capacity-building and to diverse local and global community stakeholders.
● Documents, cares for and conserves precious historical materials, cultural heritage and
historical sites, and promotes programs that involve local and global stakeholders in this
mission.
● Trains and builds capacity for individuals and institutions, especially in Africa, across the
African diaspora and in developing-country contexts, particularly in maritime and historical
archaeology, archival and community-based historical and anthropological research, artifact
conservation and in a variety of other forms of professional and technical training.
● Educates diverse audiences and interprets both the history of the slave trade and the practice of
the project through interpretive platforms, venues and programs.
Why is this work important?
SWP catalyzes a new field of research—maritime archaeology—in the scholarship of slavery and
the slave trade, while generating an innovative model through which museums can relate research
to exhibits and public education, as well as meaningfully engage with the diverse communities of
local, national and international stakeholders. The project establishes a new model for international
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collaboration among museums and research institutions, and it links research to professional
training, institutional capacity building, heritage protection and fields of heritage tourism.
Perhaps the single greatest symbol of the trans-Atlantic slave trade is the ships that carried captive
Africans across the Atlantic never to return. As of yet, however, there has never been
archaeological documentation of a vessel that foundered and was lost while carrying a cargo of
enslaved persons. Locating, documenting and preserving this cultural heritage has the potential to
reshape understandings of the past, making unique and unprecedented contributions to the study of
the global slave trade. In addition, publicly displaying and interpreting this history through a
variety of platforms provides the opportunity for a worldwide public to experience and grapple
with authentic pieces of the past that played such a foundational role in shaping world history.
SWP Core Partners
SWP core partners bring together complementary strengths and capacities in their international
collaborative effort to investigate the slave trade from novel and multifaceted scholarly
perspectives to address the challenge of preserving and protecting this unique heritage, to provide
the training and build institutional capacities and to develop innovative interpretive and
dissemination platforms in museums, on the Web and through public programs that speak to both
the local significance of this heritage in specific locations across the globe and to the global
significance that this shared heritage represents.
Iziko Museums of South Africa
Iziko is an isiXhosa word meaning “a hearth.” Because the hearth of a typical African homestead
usually occupies the central space, Iziko symbolizes both a hub of cultural activity and a central place
for gathering together South Africa’s diverse heritage. Iziko Museums of South Africa is a declared
national heritage institution established as a flagship museum bringing together 11 museums under a
single governance and leadership structure. Iziko is governed by a council appointed by the minister of
arts and culture. Its core mission is to manage and promote Iziko’s unique combination of South
Africa’s heritage collections, sites and services for the benefit of present and future generations. Jaco
Jacqes Boshoff is a maritime archaeologist for Iziko and a co-founder of SWP and the principal
archaeological investigator on the São José shipwreck excavation (www.iziko.org.za/).
National Museum of African American History and Culture
The National Museum of African American History and Culture was established by an Act of
Congress in 2003 making it the 19th museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Scheduled for completion
in fall 2016, it is being built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on a five-acre tract adjacent to
the Washington Monument. For more information, visit nmaahc.si.edu or call (202) 633-1000. Paul
Gardullo is a historian and curator at the museum and its lead representative with SWP.
The George Washington University (GWU) and Capitol Archaeological Institute (CAI)
GWU is private research university located in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an
Act of Congress in 1821 as the Columbian College in the nation’s capital. It is the largest institution of
higher education in the District of Columbia (http://www.gwu.edu/). Based at GWU, CAI aims to
protect and preserve cultural heritage through advocacy programs and initiatives by using the
multitude of diplomatic and governmental resources in the Washington, D.C., area. Stephen
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Lubkemann, associate professor of anthropology, Africana studies and international affairs at GWU, is
co-founder of SWP and serves as its international coordinator. He is also the co-principal investigator
on the São José project.
South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA)
SAHRA is the national heritage agency in South Africa and is one of the founding partners of SWP. A
statutory organization established under the National Heritage Resources Act, No. 25 of 1999,
SAHRA is the national administrative body responsible for the protection of South Africa’s cultural
heritage. John Gribble is the manager of the Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit at
SAHRA and is the principal liaison with SWP (www.sahra.org.za/).
U.S. National Park Service—Submerged Resources Center (SRC) and the Southeastern
Archaeological Center (SEAC)
The U.S. National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people so that all may
experience their heritage. It cares for 401 national parks and helps communities preserve their historic
places and open spaces.
SRC supports stewardship for the protection, preservation, public access and interpretation of
submerged resources (www.nps.gov/submerged/).
Since 2009, the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center has been a principal contributor
to SWP for technical capacity, training, remote sensing survey—and has provided training
opportunities for African and American researchers in the United States. David Conlin is SRC’s chief
at the National Park Service and the SRC’s principal representative to SWP.
SEAC performs archaeological research, promotes education and outreach and offers technical support
for U.S. national park units in the southeast region of the United States. It has been a core collaborator
in SWP research and training efforts undertaken in Florida (since 2010) and in the developing efforts
in the U.S. Virgin Islands (since 2014). David Morgan is SEAC’s director and SWP’s prime liaison.
Diving With a Purpose (DWP)
A registered not-for-profit organization, DWP is a subsidiary of the National Association of Black
Scuba Divers (NABS) (http://www.nabsdivers.org/homepage.html). Founded in 1991, NABS is an
international membership organization with a mission to create a network of people and resources that
provide educational experiences that enhance and promote an appreciation of diving and an awareness
of the aquatic environment. DWP provides a specialization within that broader mission, focusing
particularly on underwater archaeology education. DWP and SWP are strategic partners in underwater
archaeology surveys. Jose Jones is a co-founder of NABS, a director of DWP and the DWP
representative and co-chair of SWP’s advisory board.
African Centre for Heritage Activities (ACHA)
ACHA is a South African-based not-for-profit organization that does development and capacity
building work across Africa. ACHA also carries out excavations, undertakes heritage and
archaeological impact assessments and acts as a center for researchers and research into all things
heritage. It helps researchers access funding and international networks of experts and coordinates
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global projects aimed at developing heritage, capacity and economies. Jonathan Sharfman is its
director and a maritime archaeologist working in sub-Saharan Africa. Sharfman has been associated
with SWP since 2005.
Brief History of SWP
Launched in 2008 as the Southern African Slave Wrecks and Diasporan Heritage Routes Project with
a seed grant from the Ford Foundation, the project initially focused on Southern Africa and launched
its first research efforts in the republic of South Africa. From its inception the project has sought to
assist developing-country partners in the advancement of cultural resource management programs that
can preserve and protect irreplaceable heritage related to the historical slave trade and Africa’s global
diaspora, while also fostering a unique niche for regional cultural tourism with tangible economic
benefits and promoting capacity-building for educational, heritage and scientific institutions in
partnering countries.
Now in its second phase (2012–2017), SWP has expanded the geographic scope of the project to
reflect the global reach and impact of the African slave trade. While the project continues to pursue
and expand its activities in South Africa, the current phase also features the development of activities
in other regions as well, with an added focus on sites in the Americas. Work is currently in progress
and partnerships are under development in North and South America, in the Caribbean, in West Africa
and in the East Africa/Indian Ocean regions.
Links and Resources
For more information on issues surrounding maritime archaeology and the trans-Atlantic slave trade,
visit: Society for Historical Archaeology-Underwater Archaeology News
(http://www.sha.org/underwater/underwater_news.cfm)
Nautical Archaeology Society (http://www.nauticalarchaeologysociety.org/)
Naval History and Heritage Command (http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/nhcorg12.htm)
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (slavevoyages.org)
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