The Enugu Archival Project on Slavery and Slave Trade

• Project Directors: Mr. U. O. Esse, Chief, Nigerian Archives, Enugu, Dr. Carolyn A. Brown, Dr. Paul Lovejoy, and Anayo Enechukwu.
• Project Coordinator: Anayo Enechukwu, Director of Africana l Research Centre.
• Sponsors: Rutgers Center for African Studies, Rutgers, Department of History, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, UNESCO/York University Nigerian Hinterland Project and Africana Research Centre.
  

This is a project that is locating documents on internal slavery and the slave trade in the Nigerian National Archives, Enugu. To facilitate their use by researchers these documents are photocopied, scanned and burned on CD-ROMs for distribution to sponsoring organizations. The project’s goals are twofold:

1. To facilitate the exchange of information and to make these public documents accessible to researchers in Nigeria and throughout the world;
2. To assist the National Archives, Enugu and the Africana Research Centre in developing research capacity.

The National Archives, Enugu are currently listed on a web site at www2.hu-berlin.de/inside/orient/nae/index.htm

Current Status:

• Phase I [January 2000 - July 2001] - Scanning of 1000 pages of documents on slavery and the slave trade, Enugu Archives. Copies of these documents have been distributed to sponsoring organizations.
• Phase II [current] - Nigerian Hinterland Project is putting the documents on CD-ROMs
• Phase III [awaiting funding] - The project coordinator has identified some 8500 additional files for collection at the National Archives, Enugu. These will also be photocopied and distributed. To enable Nigerian scholars to use the CD-ROMs, we will seek funding to purchase several computers for use in Africana Research Centre, Enugu, Nigeria.