Welcome to the blog for the Wilberforce Institute at the University of Hull. Well known for our work on historical and contemporary slavery, we are also developing our research interests in the area of children’s exploitation. We hope to use this virtual platform to share with you our ideas, our activities, and our outputs as they develop. If you would like to know more, please contact Dr Judith Spicksley on , or subscribe below.
You will find details of what’s coming up shortly on the ‘Events’ tab above, and a list of all our events for this academic year on the ‘Lecture Programme’ tab.
Latest from the Blog

Wilberforce Institute Webinar: Indigenous Slavery in the Atlantic World
On Thursday March 31 we will welcome four speakers to talk about Indigenous slavery in the Atlantic world. The webinar will consider a number of aspects of Indigenous enslavement in the Atlantic world, from a digital database project known as the North Fork People of Color, 1641-1827, to Indigenous freedom suits, to the unfree labor of Indigenous children, and the case of ‘Polly Indian’, who attempted to obtain freedom for both herself and her enslaved daughters on the basis of Native maternal ancestry. (…)

Enjoying a month as a virtual Folger Fellow
Today Dr Judith Spicksley reflects on an enjoyable month in January this year as a virtual Folger fellow. (…)

Recovering enslaved lives in nineteenth-century British Guiana: reading sources ‘below the waterline’
Today one of our newest PhD students, Fred Bricknell, talks about his research which focuses on the relationship between plantation slavery, indentured labour and water – both salt and fresh – in nineteenth-century British Guiana. (…)