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News

Remembering Dorset’s Slave Trade

A forgotten part of Dorset history is to be commemorated on Thursday 29 March at Rossmore Library and Learning Centre, with an event to highlight Dorset’s connection with the infamous slave trade.

Members of the public are invited to come along between 11am and 12 noon, for a series of free activities including story recordings, poems and music, marking the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Abolition Act.

At the event local poet and historian, Louisa Parker will introduce the Black History in Dorset Project, a research project run by local educational charity, Development Education in Dorset (DEED).

The aim of the project is to discover the lost history of black and ethnic minority people in Dorset.

Other activities at the event include short story recordings of local black and minority ethnic people talking about growing up in Dorset, complied by Ebi Sosseh, founder of the Dorset African-Caribbean Association.

There will also be a rendering of Amazing Grace, and a one minute silence commemorating black slaves and servants in Dorset.

Free copies of Andrea Levy’s Small Island will be given away to mark the end of a very successful mass reading project which has been running since January. Also available will be illustrated reader’s guides containing background on slavery and immigration, and material about the new film Amazing Grace, which tells the story of the abolitionist MP, William Wilberforce.

Dianne Chambers, Library Service Operations Manager, said: “We are thrilled to be holding such an important event at Rossmore Library and Learning Centre. This is a part of Dorset’s history that is so important and often overlooked. This event will bring it to the forefront and provide people with a better understanding and respect for this significant anniversary."

Lisa Gaskell, Communications, Borough of Poole, Tel: 01202 633060