“The day passed, and the day closed in happiness and peace. It was quite the holiday — the people of colour aptly termed it Good Friday.” — Emancipation Day 1834One hundred and eighty years after the 1833 Act that abolished slavery in British dominions, the United Nations has declared that 25 March this year will be the “International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade”. Another 55 years would pass before the last country in the Americas, Brazil, emancipated its people of recent African descent, although some might argue that its Native American population exists in a state of near-slavery, facing cultural and literal extinction as beef cows inexorably chew their way, not so metaphorically, through the great world heritage of the rainforests. One wonders what focus at the United Nations may also be given to the victims of modern slavery, which apparently flourishes on the very continent from which Africans were taken in numbers exceeding 15 million during the many decades of the slave trade to the lands of the New World.To bring attention in Bermuda and other places in the Americas affected by that trade in human lives, the late David Allen when Minister of Tourism promoted the concept of the “African Diaspora Heritage Trail”, a progression that would connect countries and within such lands, the individual monuments of note that related to the African Slave Trade and its aftermath. Thus, for example, the Commissioner’s House at the National Museum is included on the ADHT itinerary as it contains the first permanent exhibition on slavery in Bermuda, using in particular objects from shipwrecks such as glass beads and copper “manilla” bracelets that were exchanged for slaves: trinkets for souls, you might think after viewing such artefacts.The concept has taken root in some of the former slave, or slave-affected, countries and a conference now takes place annually in one such place, with the impetus coming from Bermuda and the Directors of the African Diaspora Heritage Trail Foundation, presently chaired by Ms. Maxine Esdaille. Papers are presented at such conferences that are germane to the host country or the general subjects deriving from examinations of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its numerous ramifications for life, then and now.The ADHT progression in Bermuda ranges, of course, from St George’s to Dockyard and logs in a number of sites of significance to slavery in Bermuda, but also to the post-Emancipation achievements of Bermudians of colour. There is an overall list of such sites and secondarily a posting of sites and monuments that can be visited by the public. Part of Minister Allen’s concept included the idea that New World citizens of recent African descent would visit Bermuda and contribute to the local tourism economy, while enlightening themselves on the connections between Bermuda and the African continent in the last 400 years. Such is an admirable course of action and should be applied to other heritage periods for which we have outstanding monuments, such as the time of the American Civil War, monuments which relate to the African Diaspora, as well as other to other population groups.The United Nations theme for the anniversary date in 2013 is “Forever Free: Celebrating Emancipation” and an exhibition has been mounted at the New York headquarters that “is comprised of panels retracing the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, presenting heroes and activists, the fight for emancipation, and the legacy of slavery today”. As an adjunct of the concept, the Bermuda Government’s Department of Community and Cultural Affairs recently sponsored the launch of two important books on slavery in Bermuda, published by the National Museum. Issued as a set, one book is a new edition of the late Cyril Outerbridge Packwood’s seminal work, Chained on the Rock, and the other is a biography of the Reverend Edward Fraser, once a slave at Bermuda, but who was given his freedom to become an outstanding Methodist clergyman and missionary to the West Indies.While the ADH Trail across Bermuda concentrates on fixed monuments, there are other facets of live on the island that are more intangible, but as significant. Being an isolated island, Bermuda is forever chained to the surrounding seas of the Atlantic Ocean, over 600 miles from the nearest landfall. In this small place, coloured, white and black natives collectively developed the classic Bermuda Sloop (the fastest ship afloat in the eighteenth century), which was powered by the “Bermuda Rig”, invented by the local community that was involved in the seafaring trades of the island. The Bermuda Rig was, and remains, the greatest invention in sailing technology after that of the European Square Rig and that feature of local heritage is representing in every harbour around the world where modern yachts sail.Another item of great significance was the development of Bermuda vernacular architecture, which led to the presence in these islands of houses and buildings of great beauty, endemic to this place, but having offshoots in our former colony of the Turks Islands. Bermudians across the community were involved in that wonderful evolution, from the cutting of stone to the burning of lime and to the design and erection of the structures themselves. Thus every older home in Bermuda is a monument in part to the presence of peoples of recent African descent in this place and a tribute to their skills as craftsmen in the essential trade of “putting a roof over your head”.The African Diaspora Heritage Trail Foundation has plans for several events in the days around March 25 to mark Emancipation in Bermuda, which physically took place on August 1, 1834, the “Day of Jubilee” (see the website www.adht.bm). Of course, given the annual commemoration of “Cup Match”, Bermuda may claim to have the longest-standing Celebration of Emancipation in this hemisphere, not that it otherwise helps the sports-challenged to understand the intricacies of cricket, but it is a constant reminder to all Bermudians of our relationship, good or bad, to the extraordinary continent from which we all ultimately derive.Dr Edward Cecil Harris, MBE, JP, PHD, FSA is Director of the National Museum at Dockyard. Comments may be made to director@bmm.bm or 704-5480.