Join us at 6.50pm on Wed 22nd March at The Deep End on Nithsdale St for the first of our 2023 #SouthGlasgowHeritageNights events – a presentation from guest speaker Dr. Stuart Nisbet, followed by Q&A.

Places are limited – BOOK HERE

Over the past year, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee have revealed buildings, streets and memorials linked to transatlantic slavery. How do we find out more? Come along and find out, through an illustrated talk by Dr. Stuart Nisbet.

Based on a personal journey to uncover the truth about Scotland and Slavery, the event will also include discussion of Dr. Nisbet’s first novel The Book of Here and There, which he will be signing after his presentation.

Dr. Stuart Nisbet is well known in the area for his local history publications. For more than 20 years, he has also been one of the leading researchers on Scotland and slavery. In 2015 Stuart had a chapter in the first detailed book on Scotland and slavery: Tom Devine’s Recovering Scotland’s Slavery Past.

He notes, ‘Black lives not only matter in Scottish history, they had a huge impact in the development of the Scotland that we live in today. Unlike other cities and countries, Glasgow and Scotland have barely begun to come to terms with the human cost of chattel slavery. Indeed, we are still at the stage of counting numbers. Hopefully, in the process, we can begin to hear the voices. For, without them, the numbers are meaningless.’

Signed copies of Stuart Nisbet’s book ‘The Book of Here and There’ will be available to purchase at the event for £10 (cash payment only).

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Book your tickets here on Eventbrite

TIMINGS:

6.50pm – Doors Open / Registration
7pm – Presentation from Dr. Stuart Nisbet followed by Q&A and book signings
8.15pm – Ends

More #SouthGlasgowHeritageNights coming soon

The post #HeritageNights talk: Uncovering Slavery ‘From Glasgow to the Caribbean’ appeared first on SGHET.

The Gallery at Pollok House celebrates Maud Sulter

15 October–4 December 2022 and 6 January–15 January 2023

A new exhibition of the work of the internationally renowned Glaswegian-Ghanaian artist Maud Sulter is now open at The Gallery at Pollok House.

Commenting on this landmark exhibition, the Estate of Maud Sulter said, “It’s such a pleasure to see Maud Sulter’s work centre stage in her hometown of Glasgow.  We’re delighted that this beautiful and historical institution is showcasing her art, so new audiences will be able to connect with the engaging themes of her photography, including Memories of Childhood.”

The exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to experience Sulter’s recollections of growing up as a child of Ghanaian heritage in 1960s Scotland through Memories of Childhood, a photographic series and suite of poems.  It also features a range of works spanning her career, including selections from her series Zabat and Hysteria, featuring photography, collage, and literature.

Maud Sulter (1960-2008) was born and raised in the Gorbals and was an award-winning artist and writer, cultural historian, and curator of Ghanaian and Scottish heritage.  Her work is held in museum collections around the world, including the V&A and Tate.

Throughout her career and across different media, Sulter interrogated the representation of black women in the histories of art, the media, and photography, exploring the many connections between Africa and Europe, the often-hidden lives of black people, and the complex experiences of the African diaspora in European history and culture.

Inspiration for the exhibition comes from the National Trust for Scotland’s Facing our Past project, which investigates connections between the places and properties in its care and the wide diversity and identity of individuals involved throughout their histories, including through links to slavery.  Both the heritage of Pollok House and its family history have multi-generational links to West Indian plantations and so provide an appropriate context within which to explore and understand themes expressed in Sulter’s work.

Titled Maud Sulter: Memory and Identity, the exhibition will pause for the holidays after Sunday 4^th December but will reopen in the new year from 6^th January to 15^th January. 

During the exhibition hiatus, Pollok House will still be open and offering a drop-in collaging activity for visitors of all ages from 6^th December to 8^th December, engaging participants in Sulter’s techniques and methods.  The activity is included in the price of admission and is free for NTS members.

For more information on visiting The Gallery at Pollok House, please go to www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/pollok-house or https://www.facebook.com/PollokHouseNTS

Follow The Maud Sulter Estate on Instagram: @maudsulterestate

The post The Gallery at Pollok House celebrates Maud Sulter appeared first on SGHET.

As our research accumulated, alongside a series of articles on our website and a guest article in Greater Govanhill Magazine, we also gave talks at three events, for the Scottish Civic Trust 2020 conference, Govanhill International Festival 2021, and Black History Month Scotland 2021.

Now we are delighted to announce that our lead researchers in the project – Dr Saskia McCracken and Mark McGregor – have had a jointly-authored five-page article published in the January / February 2022 issue of History Scotland Magazine.

It has been our intent to begin to assemble a more honest picture of our current and past landscape, and we’ve achieved a lot in two and a half years but more could be done.

If you have ideas or suggestions for our project, want to write for it or get involved in other ways, please contact us on our social media channels or by emailing info@sghet.com and check out the resources below.

Purchase a copy of the History Scotland Jan/Feb 2022 issue here:

https://www.historyscotland.com/store/back-issues/history-scotland/history-scotland-vol22issue1-janfeb22-issue-123/

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More #SouthsideSlaveryLegacies info:

Read our Southside Slavery Legacies posts here:

The Tobacco Lords: James Ritchie of Craigton & Daniel Campbell of Shawfield

The Stevens and Bellahouston Park

The Maxwells of Pollok
[see sections on: Sir James Maxwell 6th Baronet (1762-1785) & William Stirling of Keir]

Maxwell Park, Pollokshields Burgh Hall & Henry Edward Clifford

Sugar, Enslavement, and Glasgow’s Southside [Greater Govanhill Magazine]

Watch our presentation at the Scottish Civic Trust 2020 ‘Race & Heritage in Scotland’ conference:
https://www.scottishcivictrust.org.uk/race-and-heritage-in-scotland-conference/

Subscribe to our Southside Slavery Legacies mailing list

Follow the #SouthsideSlaveryLegacies hashtag on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Follow SGHET on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Image sources:

Craigton House, 1870 [blog post header photo] – photo courtesy of Glasgow City Archives, Virtual Mitchell website (brightness adjustments by SGHET)

History Scotland Jan / Feb 2022 cover – cropped and full versions courtesy of History Scotland magazine

History Scotland ‘Meet the contributors’ and ‘Contents’ snippets – photos by Deirdre Molloy

The post Slavery Legacies in Glasgow’s Southside – History Scotland article by SGHET appeared first on SGHET.

This talk will cover some key people and historical sites south of the Clyde, including the Stirling Maxwells of Pollok.

The talk is from 6pm-7.15pm Monday 25th October on Zoom, including time for Q&A.

BOOK HERE (free but registration required): https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transatlantic-slavery-and-south-glasgows-heritage-tickets-171750890537

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We’re grateful to CRER / @crer_scotland for inviting us to participate in their annual month-long programme of events. See the full Black History Month Scotland 2021 event listings here: https://www.blackhistorymonthscotland.org/

#SouthsideSlaveryLegacies Project

This talk is part of our ongoing #SouthsideSlaveryLegacies research project begun during summer 2020 in response to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. See the hashtag on Twitter and Facebook & sign-up to the project Newsletter.

If you would like to write for or contribute information to the project, email info@sghet.com

Photo Credits:

Slavery Made Glasgow handkerchief on the lockdown 2020 community washing lines in Maxwell Park – by Annika / @museumofjoy

Black Lives Matter banners on Camphill Gate in Shawlands in June 2020 – by Deirdre Molloy

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