The National Museum of Bermuda (NMB) is resuming its Bermuda in the Atlantic World lecture series with a free virtual lecture on Thursday, 28 April, 2022 at 5.30pm via Zoom. “Reckoning with the slave ship Enterprise in Bermuda, 1835” will be presented by professor Dr. Neil Kennedy and will share new research into the American slave ship Enterprise and its arrival in Bermuda.
In February 1835, seven months after Emancipation, the Enterprise, carrying 78 enslaved adults and children, was forced into Bermuda by bad weather. The unintended arrival of the Enterprise and the choice for freedom made by those onboard touched off an urgent discussion about the legal status of its human cargo. The lecture will explore the role that local Black Bermudian communication networks played in securing the freedom of those on board and the connections between the Enterprise and some of the most prominent slave traders and abolitionist families in the United States.
Mary Warfield was nine years old when she was kidnapped from the Warfield plantation and forced onto the “Enterprise”. Here she is photographed in Bermuda at the age of 62 with her grandson Brownlow Charles Williams
Dr. Neil Kennedy teaches and researches the history of the early modern Atlantic World in the Department of History, Memorial University, Canada. He started coming to Bermuda as an archaeological field school student in the early 1990s and has worked with the National Museum of Bermuda and the Bermuda National Trust on a variety of projects.
When asked about the lecture series, Executive Director Elena Strong shared, “The Bermuda and the Atlantic World free lecture series is one of many ways that the National Museum is providing opportunities to learn about Bermuda’s past. It explores the links and the forces throughout the Atlantic World that helped shape Bermuda as we know it today. I encourage everyone to register to learn more about the local and global impact of the Enterprise’s arrival in Bermuda.”
Previous lectures in the series include: “The Early Atlantic Age (1250-1609): Why and how did we get here?” and “Building a Maritime Community & Maritime State: Early Settlement & Economic Growth (1609-1800)” presented by Dr. Clarence Maxwell and “Pushing the Boundaries of Freedom presented by Dr. Kristy Warren. To watch previous lectures, visit www.nmb.bm/lecture.
To register for “Reckoning with the slave ship Enterprise in Bermuda, 1835”, visit: bit.ly/3Juv5qa
NMB’s Bermuda and the Atlantic World lecture series and education programmes are supported by The Future of History Campaign. NMB seeks to raise at least $8.5M to support education, expansion and institutional stability. Learn more: www.nmb.bm/campaign.
