Beginning as early as the 15th century, slavers disrupted the lives of more than 12.5 million men, women, and children of African descent by forcing them into the trans-Atlantic slave trade, uprooting them from their homes, and bringing them against their wills to territories around the world, including the British Crown colonies and the colonies in the United States.

When these enslaved people arrived at former British Crown colonies in the Caribbean, territories including St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Dominica, and Grenada, their arrivals were often marked with entries into detailed registries that documented their first and last names, their ages, occupations, specific places of origin, and even familial connections to others enslaved on the same plantation or in the same household.

To capture the important details found in these registries, to both broaden our understanding of slavery, and explain the experiences of people who rarely had the opportunity to leave a record of their lives, Tessa Murphy, an associate professor of history in the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, collaborated with Michael Fudge, a professor of practice in the School of Information Studies, and student research assistants.

Read the full article about the database of enslaved people in St. Lucia by John Boccacino at Futurity.