The group of students and staff standing outside the Centre for Material Culture holding a large illustrated drawing of the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Supporting young people with SEND to discover museum jobs

Earlier this year, the University of Cambridge Museums (UCM) piloted a new programme of work experience for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Our current programme for young people with SEND offers a broad range of creative opportunities, but it has lacked progression for older participants, especially those transitioning into adulthood and employment. Looking to address these… Read full article

Celebrating Equiano’s Cambridge connections

This Black History Month blog shares our recent work to explore and celebrate the Cambridge connections of Olaudah Equiano, Britain’s most important Black Abolitionist. Within his 52-year lifespan, the time that Olaudah Equiano spent in Cambridgeshire might appear insignificant. His documented associations lasted less than seven years from summer 1789 until spring 1796. And yet the people whom Equiano met… Read full article

The recently rediscovered footstone marking the grave of Anna Maria Vassa, inscribed ‘A M V / 1797’ in St Andrew’s Churchyard, Chesterton.

Rediscovering Anna Maria Vassa’s Grave

We have always known that Anna Maria, the eldest daughter of Black British abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, died on 31 July 1797 and was buried in Chesterton. However, the exact site of her grave had long been forgotten. This Black History Month blog is the story of our rediscovery of Anna Maria’s grave. This discovery builds on research initially conducted by… Read full article