{"id":13886,"date":"2025-10-29T11:37:53","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=13886"},"modified":"2025-11-13T09:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T09:49:07","slug":"celebrating-equianos-cambridge-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/10\/29\/celebrating-equianos-cambridge-connections\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Equiano&#8217;s Cambridge connections"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>This Black History Month blog shares our recent work to explore and celebrate the Cambridge connections of Olaudah Equiano, Britain\u2019s most important Black Abolitionist.<\/h2>\n<p>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 there were to be significant, especially in terms of his personal life.<\/p>\n<h3>Olaudah Equiano and his Cambridge connections<\/h3>\n<p>I first became fascinated by the untold Cambridgeshire story of Olaudah Equiano, aka Gustavus Vassa, the African, when undertaking research in 2021 and 2022 for the <a href=\"https:\/\/museums.cam.ac.uk\/museums\/the-fitzwilliam-museum\">Fitzwilliam Museum<\/a>\u2019s first Legacies-themed exhibition, <a href=\"https:\/\/fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk\/plan-your-visit\/exhibitions\/black-atlantic-power-people-resistance\"><em>Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I was intrigued by the fact that Equiano had married a local white woman, Susannah Cullen. She was born and raised in Ely and then resident in nearby Soham. They married in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standrews-soham.org.uk\/\">parish church of St Andrew\u2019s<\/a> on Easter Saturday 1792.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13892\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13892\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13892 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-marriage-1024x510.jpg\" alt=\"Handwritten document showing the marriage registration of Gustavus Vassa (aka Olaudah Equiano) and Susannah Cullen at St Andrew\u2019s Parish Church, Soham, 7 April 1792.\" width=\"640\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-marriage-1024x510.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-marriage-300x149.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-marriage-768x383.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-marriage-1536x765.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-marriage.jpg 1576w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13892\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marriage registration of Gustavus Vassa (aka Olaudah Equiano) and Susannah Cullen at St Andrew\u2019s Parish Church, Soham, 7 April 1792. Cambridgeshire Archives, Ely: P142\/1\/11, \u2018Soham Register for Marriages MDCCLXXVII\u2019, fol. 74, entry no. 220.<br \/>Image Credit: Cambridgeshire Archives, Ely \/ Sue Martin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite having spent most of his adult life in London and leasing an elegant residence in Plaisterers\u2019 Hall in the City of London, Equiano raised his family in Soham. Both of his daughters were baptised in St Andrew\u2019s, Soham (Anna Maria was baptised on 30 January 1794 and Joanna on 29 April 1795), and Susannah was buried there on 21 February 1796.<\/p>\n<p>I was intrigued that Equiano, one of the most well-travelled men of his generation, chose two Cambridge residents to be his co-executors: the wealthy former wool-stapler and Independent lay preacher, John Audley, and Alderman, brewer and evangelical Anglican, Edward Ind.<\/p>\n<p>Even after Equiano\u2019s death in March 1797, his orphan daughters continued to have ties to Cambridge. Anna Maria died in Chesterton on 21 July 1797, shortly before her fourth birthday, and was buried in the parish churchyard of St Andrew\u2019s, Chesterton.<\/p>\n<h3>Joy Labinjo\u2019s group-portrait of Equiano and his family<\/h3>\n<p>In spring 2022, Habda Rashid, Curator of Contemporary and Modern British Art at the Fitzwilliam Museum, and I jointly championed the acquisition of &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk\/id\/object\/311590\">An Eighteenth-Century Family<\/a>&#8216; by British-Nigerian artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joylabinjo.com\/about\">Joy Labinjo<\/a> (born 1994) for the Museum\u2019s permanent collection.<\/p>\n<p>Joy\u2019s painting uses critical fabulation to imagine Equiano not as a leading Black British abolitionist but rather as a proud husband and father. He is relaxing at home in Soham with Susannah, Anna Maria (in yellow) and Joanna (in blue).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13891\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13891\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13891 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-1024x688.jpg\" alt=\"Joy Labinjo's 'An Eighteenth-Century Family, 2022' portrait of the Equiano family, two adults seated and two children standing next to them.\" width=\"640\" height=\"430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-1024x688.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-768x516.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-1536x1032.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-2048x1376.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13891\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joy Labinjo (born 1994), <em>An Eighteenth-Century Family<\/em>, 2022. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge: PD.74-2022. Bought with the Simms Fund. \u00a9 Joy Labinjo. Courtesy of the Artist and Tiwani Contemporary. Image Credit: Photo \u00a9 The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Labinjo\u2019s painting was chosen as the lead promotional image of the Museum\u2019s second Legacies-themed exhibition <a href=\"https:\/\/fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk\/plan-your-visit\/exhibitions\/rise-up\"><em>Rise Up: Resistance, Revolution and Abolition<\/em><\/a>. It formed the opening moment for the exhibition and the image for the front cover of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/uk\/rise-up-9781781301357\/\"><em>Rise Up<\/em> catalogue<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13893\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13893\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13893 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"Joy Labinjo smiles next to the display of the Rise Up catalogue featuring her portrait in the Fitzwilliam Museum shop.\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5.jpeg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13893\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joy Labinjo in the Fitz (FME) shop alongside the <em>Rise Up<\/em> exhibition catalogue display prior to presenting her work at a \u2018Meet the Artist\u2019 lunchtime lecture for the <em>Rise Up<\/em> public programme, Fitzwilliam Museum, 6 May 2025.<br \/>Image credit: Victoria Avery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After the exhibition, Labinjo\u2019s portrait returned to its prior position in Gallery 3, the most prestigious of the five original upper floor Founder\u2019s Galleries. It is the first object seen by visitors when entering from the Founder\u2019s Landing. An iconic object for an iconic location. It formed a key part of the new hang in these galleries, opened in spring 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Museum Director Luke Syson explained this was, \u2018designed to explore a larger, more complex and inclusive story of art that helps us think about who we are today\u2019.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13894\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13894\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13894 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Seen from a distance Joy Labinjo\u2019s An Eighteenth-Century Family in the centre of the dark-walled Gallery 3 in the Fitzwilliam Museum.\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6-1.jpg 1838w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13894\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joy Labinjo\u2019s <em>An Eighteenth-Century Family<\/em> hanging in pride of place in the spring 2024 rehang of Gallery 3, Fitzwilliam Museum, 25 March 2024.<br \/>Image credit: Rosie Powell.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>New research into Equiano and his Cambridgeshire family<\/h3>\n<p>The decision was made in late 2023 to split the <em>Black Atlantic<\/em> exhibition into two halves, with the story of abolitionism reserved for the second show, <em>Rise Up. <\/em>This enabled me to undertake further research into Equiano and his Cambridge connections in collaboration with Dawnanna Kreeger, a Cambridge-based independent historian and incredible archive sleuth.<\/p>\n<p>We are grateful to all the archivists and librarians who so kindly assisted us with our research enquiries, including those in Cambridge (Cambridge Central Library; Cambridge University Library; and the archives and libraries of Magdalene College, St John\u2019s College and Trinity College) as well as the Cambridgeshire Archives, Ely; Essex Record Office, Chelmsford; Lambeth Palace Library, London; Suffolk Archives, Bury St Edmunds; and The National Archives, Kew.<\/p>\n<p>Our research enabled us to include in <em>Rise Up<\/em> several little-known archival documents from Cambridge-based collections. These related to Equiano\u2019s July 1797 book tour visit to Cambridge, which may be when he first met Susannah Cullen.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13896\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13896\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13896 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/auto-letter-1024x672.jpg\" alt=\"Two handwritten letters in a display case with corresponding labels, both of which share Equiano\u2019s imminent arrival in Cambridge.\" width=\"640\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/auto-letter-1024x672.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/auto-letter-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/auto-letter-768x504.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/auto-letter.jpg 1136w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13896\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An autograph letter written by Thomas Clarkson. This informs an abolitionist Fellow of Trinity College of Equiano\u2019s imminent arrival in Cambridge (St John\u2019s College archives) on display in <em>Rise Up<\/em>. Next to this is an autograph letter from Olaudah Equiano to Peter Peckard, Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, requesting a meeting (Magdalene College archives). Image credit: Thomas Adank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We examined a wide range of under-studied primary source material, ranging from newspaper advertisements to unpublished documentary material. This allowed us to reconstruct key aspects of the biographies of Equiano\u2019s wife and daughters.<\/p>\n<p>Part of our new research was published in my essay \u2018Equiano and Cambridge\u2019 in the Rise Up catalogue. To celebrate Black History Month 2025, a much expanded article has now been published in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/09612025.2025.2571321\">Women\u2019s History Review<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Cambridge Black History Colouring Book<\/h3>\n<p>Thanks to Arts Council England (ACE) and University Legacies funding, two Cambridge-based emerging artists were awarded early career internships. In spring 2023, Selena Scott and Jade Pollard-Crowe worked on a University of Cambridge Museums <a href=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2023\/04\/14\/meet-our-celebrating-black-history-in-cambridge-interns\/\">Celebrating Black History in Cambridge Project<\/a>. The project brief was to create a visual resource for the public that would highlight stories about Black people in Cambridge that have been lost, hidden or buried over time.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13897\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13897\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13897 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/8-1-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Selena Scott stands smiling in a white dress holding a copy of her colouring book next to a bookcase in the Black Atlantic Reflection Space.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/8-1-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/8-1-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/8-1.jpeg 1125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13897\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Selena Scott with her Cambridge Black History Colouring Book in the <em>Black Atlantic<\/em> Reflection Space, 13 September 2023. Image credit: Selena Scott.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Selena created an educational colouring book designed for young people featuring 12 historic and contemporary Black people with Cambridge connections. Each spread contained a line portrait and a short biography.<\/p>\n<p>Starting with Equiano, it included her own grandfather Sidney Scott (1927\u20132011), a leading Jamaican educationalist. Selena explains, he \u2018pushed for better education and funding for students in the Caribbean, allowing children from poorer backgrounds to have a bright future. [\u2026] He spent his later years in Cambridge and is buried in St Andrew\u2019s Church in Girton.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Selena\u2019s work was transformed into her <a href=\"https:\/\/curatingcambridge.co.uk\/products\/cambridge-black-history-colouring-book?srsltid=AfmBOooJAunxYMKSIkJhHyX1BegunZvTc9PHjs5ARisGl9a_1YmjWkVt\">Cambridge Black History Colouring Book<\/a>, now on sale in UCM shops. The book was also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66796124\">included as a resource in the <em>Black Atlantic<\/em> Reflection Space<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Olaudah Equiano: A Cambridgeshire History Zine<\/h3>\n<p>Meanwhile, Jade decided to focus exclusively on Equiano given his numerous personal links to Cambridge and the surrounding area. She created a zine replete with conceptual reflections that engage with historic and contemporary race inequality.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13901\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13901\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13901 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/jade-300x280.jpg\" alt=\"Jade Pollard-Crowe sits reading from their \u2018Olaudah Equiano: A Cambridgeshire History Zine\u2019 in front of others during their Zine-making Workshop in the Rise Up Reflection Space.\" width=\"300\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/jade-300x280.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/jade.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13901\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jade Pollard-Crowe reading from \u2018Olaudah Equiano: A Cambridgeshire History Zine\u2019 during their Zine-making Workshop in the <em>Rise Up<\/em> Reflection Space, 19 April 2025.<br \/>Image credit: Jade Pollard-Crowe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Published as \u2018Olaudah Equiano: A Cambridgeshire History Zine\u2019 (2024), it was distributed as a free resource to Cambridgeshire libraries and made available in the <em>Rise Up<\/em> Reflection Space. It was also the inspiration for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/events\/zine-making-workshop-jade-pollard-crowe\">Jade\u2019s zine-making workshop<\/a> on 19 April 2025, a crucial part of the <em>Rise Up<\/em> public programme.<\/p>\n<p>Jade also participated in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk\/museum-late-future-legacies\">Museum Late: Future Legacies<\/a> on 22 May 2025, an after-hours event at the Fitz. The event was inspired by <em>Rise Up<\/em> to showcase <a href=\"https:\/\/futurelegacies.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk\/stories\/future-power\/\">Future Legacies<\/a>, an ongoing Museum-commissioned online platform bringing together a community of Black artists, thinkers and creatives.<\/p>\n<p>Through film screenings, conversations, musical performances and creative workshops, the evening explored the \u2018<em>Black Atlantic<\/em>\u2019: Black cultural identity, expression and resistance in response to legacies of empire, colonialism and the trade of enslaved people. Jade led a collage-making workshop to creatively re-imagine the oceans and green spaces of our future.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13900\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13900\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13900 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10-1024x630.jpg\" alt=\"A Fitzwilliam Museum gallery full of people, with three sat around a table in the foreground taking part in craft activities.\" width=\"640\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10-1024x630.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10-768x473.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13900\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jade Pollard-Crowe\u2019s Collage-making Workshop in full swing as part of the Museum Late: Future Legacies, Fitzwilliam Museum, 22 May 2025.<br \/>Image credit: Jade Pollard-Crowe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jade and Selena also joined the Fitz\u2019s <em>Black Atlantic<\/em> Community Group. The group helped to shape design aspects and interactive elements included in <em>Rise Up<\/em>. As a result of discussions around the exhibition\u2019s in-gallery sound content, Jade and Selena volunteered to be the voices on the audio recordings for the exhibition spaces, together with Dr Carol Brown-Leonardi (see below).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13899\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13899\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13899 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/11-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"Four people sit talking at a table in the third Black Atlantic Community Group workshop. On the table are papers, pens, mugs and documents.\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/11-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/11-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/11-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/11-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/11.jpeg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13899\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Participants in the third <em>Black Atlantic<\/em> Community Group workshop including Selena Scott (far left), Jade Pollard-Crowe (second from right) and Carol Brown-Leonardi (far right), Fitzwilliam Museum, 18 September 2024. Image credit: Victoria Avery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Soham Village College, FUTURE\/POWER and the @tlantic Xplorers<\/h3>\n<p>Thanks to ACE and Museum Association funding, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sohamvc.org\/\">Soham Village College<\/a> joined forces with the Fitz and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themuseumx.com\/\">Museum X<\/a> to set up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.museumsassociation.org\/funding\/mindsets-and-missions\/written-case-studies\/fitzwilliam-museum\/\">FUTURE\/POWER<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This piloted an in-school youth collective aptly named the @tlantic Xplorers. The group examined local history through a Black history lens, creative research processes and engagement with the <em>Black Atlantic<\/em> exhibition.<\/p>\n<p>The project focused on fostering co-research and youth voices within the Museum. The Soham students had opportunities to work with a range of artists, curators, and creatives to explore themes of belonging, identity, and place. This led the @tlantic Xplorers to centre their project around the life story of Equiano, given his personal ties to Soham.<\/p>\n<p>The @tlantic Xplorers worked with anti-racist practitioner Jenny Williams of <a href=\"https:\/\/takethespace.com\/\">Take the Space<\/a> to create guidelines to underpin the project. They discussed concepts of racism, diversity, \u2018the other\u2019 and tolerance before agreeing on the language they would use, guided by principles of listening, respect, empathy and care.<\/p>\n<p>The collective\u2019s members (12 pupils from years 9 and 10) participated in weekly artist-led workshops over two terms to explore Soham\u2019s colonial legacies. They worked closely with Jemilea Wisdom-Baako of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.writerznscribez.org\/\">WriterznScribez<\/a> and Kenny Wing Tao Ho of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.geckotheatre.com\/\">Gecko Theatre<\/a> to create a powerful promenade performance. This blended poetry, imagery and movement across diverse galleries at the Fitzwilliam Museum.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13904\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13904\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13904 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Five young performers stand stretching a piece of dark fabric over their heads during a performance at the Fitzwilliam Museum.\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance.jpg 1359w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13904\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">@tlantic Xplorers Youth Collective promenade theatre performance, Fitzwilliam Museum, 8 May 2024.<br \/>Image credit: My Linh Le.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>They showcased their creative research material and responses through an exhibition and a short film. You can learn more in this <a href=\"https:\/\/futurelegacies.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk\/stories\/future-power\/\">FUTURE\/POWER project summary<\/a> and this <a href=\"https:\/\/futurelegacies.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Future-Power_Corrected_EPub_Final_160625_compressed-1.pdf\">@tlantic Xplorers\u2019 e-publication<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The @tlantic Xplorers subsequently co-designed the Reflection Space for the <em>Rise Up<\/em> exhibition. They worked with the <a href=\"https:\/\/poorcollective.com\/\">POoR Collective<\/a>, a design studio whose remit is to develop communities and spaces while empowering and upskilling young people. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindsetmatters.uk\/\">Mindset Matters UK<\/a> helped the young people to carefully consider the long-lasting impact of the legacies of enslavement and its impact on wellbeing.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13905\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13905\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13905 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rise-up-reflection-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"The Rise Up Reflection Space featuring seating booths, beanbags, books and soft lighting from lamps.\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rise-up-reflection-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rise-up-reflection-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rise-up-reflection-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rise-up-reflection-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rise-up-reflection.jpg 1576w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13905\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Rise Up<\/em> Reflection Space curated by the @tlantic Xplorers from Soham Village College in collaboration with the POoR Collective, at the Fitzwilliam Museum, spring 2025.<br \/>Image credit: Thomas Adank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Collaboration with Cambridge United FC and Romsey Mill<\/h3>\n<p>The most recent project inspired by Equiano was a collaboration between the Fitzwilliam Museum, youth charity <a href=\"https:\/\/www.romseymill.org\/\">Romsey Mill<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridgeunited.com\/\">Cambridge United Football Club<\/a> (CUFC). Together they created a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridgeunited.com\/news\/cambridge-united-collab-fitzwilliam-museum-and-romsey-mill-launch-fourth-shirt\">special edition fourth strip shirt<\/a> for CUFC in celebration of Black History Month 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the Romsey Mill Youth Club (CUFC\u2019s Charity Partner of the Year) worked with digital artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hellocatfood.com\/\">Antonio Roberts<\/a> in weekly creative workshops over several months to develop patterns and motifs inspired by Labinjo\u2019s painting. These were brought together into the final shirt design, modelled by players at the Fitz on 8 September 2025.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13906\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13906\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13906 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CUFC-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"A group of six Cambridge United FC players wearing the new Equiano-inspired shirts on the front steps of the Fitzwilliam Museum.\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CUFC-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CUFC-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CUFC-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CUFC.jpg 1151w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13906\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cambridge United FC players wearing the new Equiano-inspired shirts on the front steps of the Fitzwilliam Museum, 8 September 2025.<br \/>Image credit: Cambridge United FC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Michael Corley, Interim Deputy Director of Learning and Public Programmes at the Fitzwilliam Museum, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;This project is about more than designing a kit. It\u2019s about these three key organisations coming together to celebrate the extraordinary ambitions of people both past and present. Young people across the city, continue to be driven to make a positive difference where they live and further afield. By connecting their current aspirations with stories of those who made change in the past, and by showing real career opportunities along the way, we aim to demonstrate that the city is behind them.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A <a href=\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?t=125&amp;v=eh9XekWfuOs&amp;feature=youtu.be\">special launch film<\/a> was created to announce the project. Sullay Kaikai tells his story as a Black-British footballer of Sierra Leonean heritage and what the shirt means to him. He says it is \u2018honouring the past, celebrating the present and shaping our future\u2019.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13907\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13907\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13907 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Cambridge United FC player Sullay KaiKai stands wearing the new shirt in front of Joy Labinjo\u2019s An Eighteenth-Century Family which inspired the design. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13907\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cambridge United FC player Sullay KaiKai sporting the new shirt in front of Joy Labinjo\u2019s <em>An Eighteenth-Century Family<\/em> which inspired the design, Fitzwilliam Museum, 8 September 2025.<br \/>Image credit: Cambridge United FC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The strip made its on-pitch debut when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridgeunited.com\/news\/report-cambridge-united-2-1-bromley\">CUFC played Bromley at the Cledara Abbey Stadium on 18 October 2025<\/a>. They won the match 2-1 with goals from Shayne Lavery and Kylian Kouassi. Following the game, the match-worn shirts were signed and auctioned off in aid of Romsey Mill. A limited number of replica shirts are available now from <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.cambridgeunited.com\/\">shop.cambridgeunited.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Local community celebrations of Equiano<\/h3>\n<p>The importance of Cambridgeshire to Equiano and of Equiano to Cambridgeshire is starting to be better understood and celebrated. As a result, many other local community initiatives have taken place over the past few years.<\/p>\n<h3>\u2018Breaking the Silence\u2019 performances in Soham and Chesterton<\/h3>\n<p>In 2021 and 2024, 1,300 school children from five local schools attended performances of \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.essex.ac.uk\/news\/2021\/09\/27\/bringing-untold-stories-from-black-british-history-to-life\">Breaking the Silence of the British Slave Trade<\/a>\u2019 at\u00a0St Andrew\u2019s Soham. This theatrical production by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.collisionstheatre.co.uk\/breaking-the-silence-tour\">Collisions Theatre Company<\/a> was funded by ACE and Unity Trust. <a href=\"https:\/\/standrews-chesterton.org\/2024\/06\/thats-a-wrap\/\">Two performances<\/a> were also staged in St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton in June 2024.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13920\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13920\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13920\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/16-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"The St Andrew\u2019s Soham church building with queue of schoolchildren entering.\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/16-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/16.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13920\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Soham school pupils arriving at St Andrew\u2019s Soham, to attend a performance of \u2018Breaking the Silence of the British Slave Trade\u2019 by Collisions Theatre Company in 2021.<br \/>Image credit: Rev\u2019d Eleanor Walley \/ St Andrew\u2019s Soham.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018Breaking the Silence\u2019 is a unique theatrical production that uses immersive and embodied sensorial experience to bring to life the stories of both Black and white abolitionists in the fight to end British slavery at the end of the eighteenth century. Their individual voices are heard through testimony, story and song crafted from their own words drawn from historic documents.<\/p>\n<p>Staged across the UK in historic churches with connections to abolition and the slave trade, this awareness-raising production was developed through a collaboration between Professor Holly Maples (University of Essex) and Dr Inge Dornan (Brunel University) and fed into Holly\u2019s ongoing performance-based research into decolonising heritage sites.<\/p>\n<p>Each performance incorporated site-specific alterations relevant to the particular locations. Equiano and his white allies in Cambridge, including Thomas Clarkson, figured large in the Soham and Chesterton performances.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13922\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13922\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13922 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-1-1024x580.jpg\" alt=\"Eight performers in historical dress perform in St Andrew's.\" width=\"640\" height=\"363\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-1-1024x580.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-1-300x170.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-1-768x435.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-1.jpg 1045w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13922\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8216;Breaking the Silence\u2019 performance by the Collisions Theatre Company, St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton, 7 June 2024.<br \/>Image credit: \u00a9 <a href=\"https:\/\/paul-ashley.format.com\/navigation\">Paul Ashley<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13921\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13921\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13921\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-2.jpg\" alt=\"A close up of actor performing as Equiano.\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-2.jpg 886w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/performance-2-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13921\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8216;Breaking the Silence\u2019 performance by the Collisions Theatre Company, St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton, 7 June 2024.<br \/>Image credit: \u00a9 <a href=\"https:\/\/paul-ashley.format.com\/navigation\">Paul Ashley<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During performance week in 2021, Dr Inge Dornan gave St Andrew\u2019s Church Soham\u2019s inaugural lecture for Black History Month. Initiated by Rev\u2019d Eleanor Whalley, vicar of St Andrew\u2019s, this is now an annual event. Dawnanna Kreeger, Carol Brown-Leonardi and I were invited to deliver the 2025 lecture on 8 October, when we spoke about \u2018Olaudah Equiano\u2019s Cambridgeshire Family\u2019.<\/p>\n<h3>The Equiano Bridge project<\/h3>\n<p>In 2022, the unnamed modern pedestrian and cycle bridge linking Cambridge\u2019s Riverside to Chesterton (previously unofficially called the &#8216;white&#8217; or &#8216;Tesco&#8217; bridge) was officially named \u2018Equiano Bridge\u2019, to honour Equiano and to celebrate his family\u2019s links with Chesterton.<\/p>\n<p>This was the result of diverse communities working together towards a common goal in a way that Equiano would have found pleasing. <a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeafricannetwork.org.uk\/\">Cambridge African Network<\/a> (CAN), led by its Chair and local community organiser Isaac Ayamba, and Cambridge Circles of Change, with input from Dr Carol Brown-Leonardi (founder of the African Caribbean Research Group) and support from <a href=\"https:\/\/equiano.uk\/the-equiano-society\/\">The Equiano Society<\/a>, undertook extensive local community consultation. Discussion with the <a href=\"https:\/\/windrushfoundation.com\/\">Windrush Foundation<\/a>, Cambridge City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council secured the success of this inspirational grassroots campaign.<\/p>\n<p>As part of local Black History Month celebrations, a plaque officially naming the bridge was unveiled on 31 October 2022. Having a key bridge in Cambridge named after Equiano is incredibly apt given that he spent his life building metaphorical bridges to bring Black and white people together.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13923\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13923\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13923 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/19-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Soham primary school pupils, members of Cambridge African Network and Circles of Change, and local Chesterton residents at stand smiling on the Equiano Bridge at the launch.\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/19-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/19-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/19-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/19.jpg 1333w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13923\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Soham primary school pupils, members of Cambridge African Network and Circles of Change, and local Chesterton residents at the Equiano Bridge launch, 31 October 2022. Image credit: Cambridge News.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I subsequently invited Isaac Ayamba to write a reflection piece, \u2018Equiano and his account of the transatlantic sea voyage\u2019, in the <em>Black Atlantic<\/em> catalogue. In this, Isaac reflected:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It is fitting that Cambridge has finally recognised its own Black freedom-fighter by renaming a bridge, located in the vicinity of the resting place of his beloved eldest daughter, in his honour. Equiano Bridge has become a symbol of hope, integration and diversity, and a source of inspiration for the African and Black heritage community in the city and beyond.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Moreover, Carol Brown-Leonardi was invited to participate in both exhibition\u00a0programmes, delivering lectures on diverse topics relating to historic enslavement and resistance. Both Isaac and Carol also became members of the Fitz\u2019s <em>Black Atlantic<\/em> Community Group, which advised on aspects of the design of <em>Rise Up<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3>Celebrating Equiano at St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton: Vassa Day<\/h3>\n<p>Since 1997, the bicentenary of the death of both Olaudah Equiano and his eldest daughter, Anna Maria Vassa, the congregation of St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton has celebrated its links to the family by holding a service of remembrance on the Sunday that falls closes to 21 July, the date of Anna Maria&#8217;s death in 1797.<\/p>\n<p>The original idea for this annual Vassa Day service came from Bishop Graham Kings, then Honorary Curate at St Andrew\u2019s Church and the Henry Martyn Lecturer in Mission Studies in the Cambridge Theological Federation. Graham had noticed the large stone epitaph to Anna Maria on the church\u2019s exterior north wall soon after starting serving at St Andrew\u2019s in 1996. On 19 July 1997, the day before the first commemoration, he presented a programme on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grahamkings.org\/chapter\/bbc-radio-4-talk-on-olaudah-equiano\/\">BBC Radio 4 on Equiano and Anna Maria<\/a>. This included Igbo-heritage Ike Achebe (son of the famous novelist, Chinua Achebe, and at the time a PhD student at Trinity College, Cambridge) reading extracts from Equiano\u2019s autobiography and the words from Anna Maria\u2019s epitaph.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13924\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13924\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13924\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Anna Maria Vassa\u2019s stone epitaph on the church wall surrounded by a white wreath of roses and other tributes by local schoolchildren.\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20.jpeg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13924\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anna Maria Vassa\u2019s epitaph honoured with a white wreath of roses and other tributes by local schoolchildren on Vassa Day 2019, St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton, 21 July 2019.<br \/>Image credit: St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Every year since 1997, Vassa Day has been held at St Andrew\u2019s to reflect on how the story of Equiano and his family connects to our present experiences. In 2021, Rev\u2019d Canon Nick Moir undertook further research for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standrews-chesterton.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/July-2021.pdf\">Chesterton Chimes<\/a>, which revealed that the epitaph had been written by Edward Ind, one of Equiano\u2019s two executors, and co-guardian of Anna Maria and Joanna. Nick also suggested that the orphaned Vassa girls were fostered by Edward Ind\u2019s brother, Thomas, who was living in Chesterton at the time with his wife Mary and two young sons, Thomas Jr and Robert.<\/p>\n<h3>The Equiano Family Project at St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton<\/h3>\n<p>In summer 2024, Dr Carol Brown-Leonardi initiated <a href=\"https:\/\/standrews-chesterton.org\/the-equiano-family-project-at-st-andrews\/\">The Equiano Family Project<\/a> with Rev\u2019d Dr Philip Lockley, vicar of St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton. This cultural initiative is designed to promote awareness of and reflection on the Equiano family story within the Chesterton community. Carol and Philip explained:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We believe there is so much in the Equiano family story to inspire thought, reflection and discussion in our community. This is a hopeful story of faith confronting injustice. It is a challenging story reminding us of horrifying wrongs in our history. It is a story involving tragedy and loss, but also courage and triumph in the face of adversity. The story of Olaudah, Susannah, Anna Maria and Joanna further speaks of companionship and familial bonds bridging cultures \u2013 a lived experience many want to recognise and celebrate in our society today.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>At its heart lies the commission for a new stained glass window for St Andrew\u2019s. The artist brief explained this \u2018will commemorate the Equiano family and seek to express through visual art a range of themes inspired by their story: Christian faith, lamented history, the bonds of family, English and African heritages and more.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>After a rigorous appointment process \u2013 including artist interviews and a community survey \u2013 St Andrew\u2019s church council has recently awarded the commission to local artist Selena Scott. Given the fact that Selena was born in Cambridge and was involved in both <em>Black Atlantic<\/em> and <em>Rise Up<\/em> (as discussed above), the choice of artist could not be more appropriate. Subject to securing the necessary funding and permissions, it is hoped that The Equiano Window will be installed in 2026.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13876\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13876\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13876 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"A draft illustrated design of three tall thin windows showing the Equiano family.\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10-768x1025.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10-1151x1536.jpeg 1151w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10-1535x2048.jpeg 1535w, https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/10-scaled.jpeg 1919w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13876\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Selena Scott\u2019s recently selected revised draft design for the interior view of the proposed new Equiano Family Window, St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton.<br \/>Image credit: \u00a9 Selena Scott 2025 \/ St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Anna Maria Vassa Event at St Andrew\u2019s Chesterton<\/h3>\n<p>On Saturday 18 October 2025, Rev\u2019d Dr Philip Lockley, organised an Anna Maria Vassa Event. He updated the local community on the Equiano Window and announced artist Selena Scott&#8217;s design had been selected.<\/p>\n<p>Although Selena could not be present (she is currently living in the States), she sent a video explaining the meanings behind her images, and her parents, Sandra and David Scott, attended in her stead.<\/p>\n<p>The event also included an impromptu presentation by Dawnanna Kreeger and myself on our serendipitous rediscovery of Anna Maria Vassa\u2019s grave two weeks earlier. You can read about this in my related blog: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/10\/29\/rediscovering-anna-maria-vassas-grave\/\">Rediscovering Anna Maria Vassa\u2019s Grave<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>To find out more about the Equiano Family Project, and how you can support it, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/standrews-chesterton.org\/the-equiano-family-project-at-st-andrews\/\">St Andrew&#8217;s Chesterton website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Black History Month blog shares our recent work to explore and celebrate the Cambridge connections of Olaudah Equiano, Britain\u2019s 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&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/10\/29\/celebrating-equianos-cambridge-connections\/\" class=\"excerpt-more hide-for-medium\">Read full article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":13936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[428,165,369,156],"tags":[442],"coauthors":[283],"class_list":["post-13886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collections","category-engagement","category-museum-life","category-the-fitzwilliam-museum","tag-black-history-month"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13886"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13956,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13886\/revisions\/13956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13886"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=13886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}