Introduction

The history of Aberdeen and North-East Scotland is closely entangled with the history of transatlantic slavery. Many people in the North-East of Scotland promoted and profited from it, while others campaigned to end it. It is both world history and our local history.

This exhibition was originally created to mark the 200th anniversary of Britain's abolition of the African slave trade in 1807. The Bicentenary Committee was chaired by Dr Philip Muinde OBE, and included representatives from Aberdeenshire Council, Aberdeen City Council, the University of Aberdeen, the Robert Gordon University and the African and African-Caribbean communities. The Committee gratefully acknowledges the support received from the Heritage Lottery Fund and from the stakeholders whose staff provided the expertise and enthusiasm without which this exhibition would not have been possible. The Committee would particularly like to thank Aberdeenshire Council for managing the project, Katherine Prior (research and writing), Studio SP (exhibition design), Basestation (website design), David Atherton (logo design), John Alston (maps), Donald Morrison (education support) and Eric Crockart (film direction).