Lincoln Hayes
Dr. Ewington
Hum 104
10 March 2024
Pledged
In January I attended Kelly Goldberg’s lecture entitled “Connecting the Diaspora: Archaeology, Memory, and Transnationalism in the 19th Century Transatlantic World”. The lecture took place in the Belk Visual Arts Center in room 117, a mid-sized lecture-oriented room with a large wall for projected slides. The demographic of the attendees was mostly older people, with a few students interspersed and a couple of scholars. Goldberg presented detailed maps and photographs of archeological finds she had excavated on the wall throughout the presentation, taking the time to answer questions about her work. The contents of the lecture primarily focused on the transatlantic slave trade throughout the 19th century.
Goldberg’s goals were aimed at the recollection and education of a neglected historical narrative. Her exploration into the history of the slave trade after its prohibition in the US and other Western nations played a large part in her historical recollection. An especially interesting find of hers was a large stone dock on the coast in Guinea that the local community claimed used to be used by fishermen. Goldman determined that it had most likely been used for docking large ships that transported enslaved people across the Atlantic throughout the 19th century after the slave trade had been banned. She emphasized how the history of the slave trade after its banning is often misrepresented as if the trade had ceased after its ban, even by the people who still lived in the area where the trade took place. Her work also extended to the stories of free African women who played crucial roles in their communities as well as Western ones. Goldberg explained how these women were able to use their transnational identities to gain influence on both sides of the Atlantic, acting as early diplomats. Goldberg’s unique findings led her to create a cohesive narrative of the history of the people interacting with the Western world, a narrative that is left almost untold.
She was objectively successful in her goals because of what she was able to bring to light through her archeological discoveries as well as her work towards education on the subject. Her discoveries relating to the 19th-century slave trade combined with the history of transnational women directly aligned with her goals of finding out about this unexplored part of history. She has also put in the work towards education on her findings. She is working with the public heritage lab to create models of some of her archeological finds that can be exhibited in classrooms or displayed in museums. In addition to her education in the US, when she was in Guinea she also taught the local communities how to do the kind of archeological work she was doing, as well as making a conscious effort to listen to the community and their history rather than being a passive archeologist who ignores them and desecrates their history. Her work in displaying her findings and making these archeological techniques available to all is a testament to her ability to accomplish her goals of education on the neglected history of enslaved peoples and their descendants.
Goldberg’s efforts to bring to light the stories of people who suffered at the benefit of western slave traders taught me about things I thought I knew the truth about. I was unaware of the extent at which the slave trade carried on after it was made illegal. I was especially surprised by the findings Goldberg made when speaking with Guineans about their personal experiences with slavery. Some said that their own fathers or grandfathers had been enslaved by British head taxes on families that essentially forces families to volunteer members to join the Biritish military. Goldbergs’s detailed and comprehensive presentation shined a light on a large gap in knowledge I have about the African Diaspora and the slave trade. My preexisting knowledge was shown to be quite small on the subject. In my case, her educational goals were absolutely met, as I have learned and gained further curiosity on her subject of research. Through her work, I hope to expand my perspective on the topic and be more skeptical of my knowledge, becoming quicker to guess what I think I know.
