Legacies of Enslavement

A collaborative community exploring the University’s historical links to slavery, supporting and promoting research into histories of enslavement, colonialism and its afterlives, and bringing together researchers, students, and practitioners to share knowledge, foster dialogue and inspire action.

Thomas Malton the Younger, 1748–1804, King's Parade, Cambridge, between 1798 and 1799, Oil on canvas painting
Understanding our past

Find out more about the creation of this initiative and our research-led report into the University's links to the history of enslavement

 Students looking at whiteboard with handwritten notes and ideas
Research projects and activities

Discover the initiatives across our community delivering research, teaching, and public programmes on the legacies of enslavement

 Two University staff members shaking hands
Join the network

Find out how you can get involved in our activities and join our mailing list to keep up to date

News

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9 Feb 2026

A woman artist and plantation slavery in the Royal Collection

A cocoa tree with pods on its trunk stands beside a small hut where cocoa is dried and processed.

5 Jan 2026

To be Black and Argentine

Historic illustration of a bustling marketplace in Buenos Aires around 1820, showing people trading goods, horse-drawn carts, and a prominent white colonial building with arches and a flag flying above.

18 Nov 2025

Book launch & discussion – The University of Cambridge in the Age of Atlantic Slavery

Nicolas Bell-Romero and Pedro Ramos Pinto seated on a small stage in discussion

29 Oct 2025

Celebrating Equiano’s Cambridge connections

Painting: Joy Labinjo (born 1994), An Eighteenth-Century Family, 2022. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

29 Oct 2025

Rediscovering Anna Maria Vassa’s grave

Close-up of Anna Maria Vassa’s gravestone in Chesterton churchyard, showing its weathered inscription.

15 Oct 2025

Cambridge United collaboration with the Fitzwilliam Museum celebrates Black history in football kit

A young man wearing the Black History Month Cambridge United shirt