Since 2018,
Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade (Enslaved.org) has served the needs of scholars, genealogists, students, and members of the public interested in the people of the historical slave trade. Enslaved.org is a discovery hub that centers the lives of named enslaved and free[d] individuals who are made searchable and discoverable through a large and growing number of datasets and digital projects. Researchers can learn from linking data, visualizing larger relations and movements, and connecting the fragments of information about people’s lives from one dataset to the next.
Begin your search here.
The Stories section of Enslaved.org also provides richly detailed
narratives of the lives of enslaved people. The stories illustrate how a collection of data points assembled in spreadsheets can serve as the foundation for compelling life histories. Many that we have published are of people whose stories were previously untold.
We are also in the nascent phase of developing educational materials for Enslaved.org (
see For Educators). If you use Enslaved.org materials in the classroom, please
let us know about your work.
Enslaved.org endeavors to present information about enslavement in socially just and ethical ways, with respect for enslaved persons at the center of all the work (
see Statement of Ethics for more).
To find out more about how to contribute to the project and to learn more about how we review and vet information, see the
Journal for Slavery and Data Preservation.
In addition, Enslaved.org provides behind the scenes information that could be of interest to researchers, archivists, librarians, digital humanists, and project developers.
Finally, if you have a question, the best place to start may be the
Frequently Asked Questions. If you can’t find an answer there, contact us at
Enslaved.org@gmail.com.
Citing the Project
Chicago/Turabian (current version):
Hawthorne, Walter, Daryle Williams, and Dean Rehberger, dirs.
Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade (Enslaved.org), Version 2. Michigan State University: Matrix Center for Digital Humanities & Social Sciences, 2024.
https://enslaved.org/.
APA (American Psychological Association):
Hawthorne, Walter, Daryle Williams, and Dean Rehberger (Directors). (2023).
Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade (Enslaved.org), Version 2. [Digital Project]. Michigan State University: Matrix Center for Digital Humanities & Social Sciences.
https://enslaved.org/.
MLA (Modern Language Association):
Hawthorne, Walter, Daryle Williams, and Dean Rehberger, directors.
Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade (Enslaved.org), Version 2. Michigan State University: Matrix Center for Digital Humanities & Social Sciences. 2024.
https://enslaved.org/.
Citing digital history projects can be particularly vexing since there are few common best practices, and digital history projects are never “done.” Large digital history projects are complex and ongoing, made possible by a robust and ever-changing team. For a complete listing of all people who have worked on the project, see the project
Credits and
History pages. Over time, citations may change as new versions are published. Check back and see above.
We primarily use a modified version of the multimedia bibliographic citation of the
Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago is a highly flexible citation style often used by historians; however, the citations above offer more than enough information to satisfy any style guide, journal, or author needs.
To cite specific components of the project rather than the general website–such as Stories, articles in the
Journal of Slavery & Data Preservation, or PDF guides–see that specific component.
