Controversial Commemorations: How Institutions Are Interpreting Sites of Enslavement

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Universities and museums have been called upon to reevaluate the necessity of memorials to figures who profited from slavery. In many cases, institutions benefitted from these profits, which were earned through the exploitation of enslaved people, thanks to the charitable donations of their benefactors. One such benefactor, Christopher Codrington III inherited land and power in the late 17th-century Lesser Antilles and became the patriarch of a family with political and economic connections across the UK, Barbados, Antigua, and Barbuda. The Codrington legacy still exists at Oxford University, Betty’s Hope Estate - Antigua, Codrington College - Barbados, and Codrington Village - Barbuda. This paper examines the existing interpretations of these memorials and how these institutions are in dialogue with the heritage sector, advocacy groups, descendent communities, and academia to tell a story of shared heritage and history from new perspectives.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Inhabited Islandscapes and Historical Ecosystem Dynamics: Power and Land in Barbuda   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow