Documenting and Digitizing with Dignity: Ethical Considerations and the West African Frontier Force Personnel Records

This article explores considerations arising from the digitization of the personnel records from the West African Frontier Force held at the Sierra Leone Public Archives. These records reflect a knowable and living past and contain sensitive and confidential information including medical and personal details not normally disclosed to the public. Best practice and ethics must be taken into account to protect the privacy of these subjects, but this approach applies beyond these records to all those concerning the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Digital best practice emphasizes the human dignity of what might otherwise be regarded as data alone. We begin by exploring the archive itself as an abstract and then a physical concept, as in many cases archives are the homes of documents which are vital to our research, but these documents may be in precarious condition. By reflecting on the archive as an object, our concern for best practice extends to respecting both the provenance of the primary sources and the people who preserve them. The second topic we explore is a methodological and ethical one: the organization, anonymization, and standardization of data and metadata. This portion of our article is intended to serve as a guide for other, similar research projects, offering a method of efficiently organizing complex systems of documents, particularly those where the original file structure should be maintained as closely as possible to preserve meaning. We finally consider the challenge of placing soldiers’ origins onto a mapped topography, which leads us to analyze the considerable issues around colonial mapping as a whole, and to develop a way of navigating this hurdle. Our article illuminates various challenges as we digitize and trace individual lives within complex archival data. In each case we have described the challenge we found, analyzed it, and developed ways of addressing or solving problems which we believe will stand as best practice when applied beyond our project.Cet article examine certaines des conséquences de la numérisation des dossiers du personnel de la West African Frontier Force conservés dans les archives publiques de la Sierre Leone. Ces dossiers rendent possible l’accès à une image d’un passé encore vif, puisqu’ils contiennent des informations délicates et confidentielles, telles que des détails médicaux et personnels, qui ne sont pas normalement révélés au public. Il faut tenir compte des bonnes pratiques et de l’éthique pour protéger la vie privée des sujets, et cela doit s’appliquer à toutes les archives liées à la traite des esclaves transatlantique. Les bonnes pratiques numériques valorisent la dignité humaine des personnes qui risqueraient autrement d’être traitées comme des données. Dans cet article, nous commençons d’abord à explorer l’archive sous ses aspects fragmentaires ainsi que physiques : dans certains cas, les archives abritent des documents essentiels à nos recherches, mais cela dans des conditions très précaires. Nos réflexions sur la matérialité de l’archive nous ont menés à de bonnes pratiques qui respectent aussi bien la provenance des sources primaires que les personnes qui les conservent. Nous passons ensuite à des considérations méthodologiques et éthiques : comment organiser, anonymiser et standardiser les données et les métadonnées. Nous espérons que cette section servira de guide à d’autres projets de recherche semblables en proposant une méthode efficace pour organiser des systèmes complexes de documents, surtout pour ceux où il faudrait respecter le plus possible la structure d’origine des fichiers pour en respecter la signification. Enfin, nous abordons les problèmes que pose la localisation des origines des soldats sur les cartes topographiques ; cela nous a amenés à analyser les divers problèmes de la cartographie coloniale dans sa globalité, et ainsi à trouver des solutions adéquates. Notre article éclaire les défis de la recherche et de la numérisation de vies individuelles à travers des données d’archives complexes : dans chaque cas, nous avons décrit et analysé les obstacles auxquels nous avons été confrontés et les moyens trouvés pour les affronter ou les résoudre, avec la conviction qu’ils pouvaient constituer de bonnes pratiques qui pouvaient être appliquées à d’autres projets.Este articulo examina algunas consecuencias de la digitalización de los expedientes del personal de la West African Frontier Force conservados en los archivos públicos de Sierra Leone. Estos expedientes ofrecen la imagen de un pasado accesible a nuestro conocimiento y aún vivo, ya que conservan informaciones delicadas y confidenciales, tales como detalles médicos y personales, que no se entregan habitualmente al público. Es necesario tomar en cuenta las buenas prácticas y la ética para proteger la vida privada de los sujetos, y el mismo método puede aplicarse a todos los archivos vinculados con la trata transatlántica de esclavos. Las buenas prácticas en el ámbito de la digitalización enfatizan la dignidad humana de personas que, de otra manera, correrían peligro de ser tratadas como datos. Consideramos, primero, el archivo tanto en sus aspectos abstractos como físicos: en ciertos casos, los archivos conservan documentos esenciales para nuestras investigaciones, pero en condiciones precarias. Nuestras reflexiones sobre la materialidad del archivo nos han llevado a buenas prácticas que respetan tanto el origen de las fuentes primarias como las personas que las conservan. Luego pasamos a consideraciones metodológicas y éticas: cómo organizar, anonimizar y estandarizar los datos y los metadatos, esperando servir de guía a otros proyectos de investigación parecidos, proponiendo una metodología eficaz para organizar sistemas complejos de documentos, sobre todo en los casos en que habría que respetar lo más posible la estructura de origen de los archivos para que no se pierda su significado. Por último, abordamos los problemas que plantea la localización de los orígenes de los soldados en las cartas topográficas, lo que nos ha llevado a analizar los diversos aspectos problemáticos de la cartografía colonial, y a encontrar soluciones adecuadas. Nuestro artículo aclara los desafíos de la investigación y de la digitalización de vidas individuales a través de los datos de archivos complejos: en cada caso, hemos descrito y analizado los obstáculos y encontrado maneras de sortearlos, con la convicción de que nuestras soluciones podrán ser aplicadas en otros proyectos.Este artigo examina algumas consequências da digitalização dos registos do pessoal da West African Frontier Force, guardados nos arquivos públicos da Sierra Leone. Estes registos deixam a imagem de um passado acessível ao nosso conhecimento e ainda vivo, ao conter informações sensíveis e confidenciais, como pormenores médicos e pessoais, que não seriam normalmente revelados ao público. Importa considerar as boas práticas e a ética para proteger a vida privada dos indivíduos, e o mesmo método pode ser aplicado a todos os arquivos ligados ao trato transatlântico de escravos. As boas práticas digitais realçam a dignidade humana das pessoas que de outra maneira riscariam ser tratadas como dados. Consideramos primeiro o arquivo no seu aspecto abstrato mas também físico: em alguns casos, os arquivos conservam documentos essenciais para as nossas pesquisas, mas em condições muito precárias. As nossas reflexões sobre a materialidade do arquivo levaram-nos a considerar boas práticas que respeitam tanto a procedência das fontes primárias quanto as pessoas que as conservam. Passamos a seguir à considerações metodológicas e éticas: como organizar, anonimizar e uniformizar os dados e os metadados, esperando assim guiar outros projetos de investigação similares, ao propor um método eficiente para organizar sistemas complexos de documentos, sobretudo nos casos em que seria necessário respeitar quanto possível a estrutura original dos ficheiros para não perder sua significação. Por fim, abordamos os problemas que coloca a localização das origens dos soldados nos mapas topográficos, o que nos levou a analizar os diferentes aspectos problemáticos da cartografia colonial, e assim encontrar soluções apropriadas. O nosso artigo esclarece os desafios da pesquisa e da digitalização de vidas individuais através de dados de arquivo complexos: em cada caso, descrevemos e analisamos as dificuldades e os meios para contorná-las, com a convicção que estas soluções poderão ser aplicadas em outros projetos

Mission Education in Early Sierra Leone, 1793-1820

Mission education helped to transform the small colony at Freetown and mission outposts at Rio Pongo, the Bullom Shore and elsewhere on the upper Guinea coast into a center of regional development. Freetown was a focal point of migration from North America, England and various parts of Africa that provided an early model of a multicultural society in a colonial context. The activities of the various Christian missions enhanced the educational opportunities for the nascent British colony, especially with the arrival of people taken off slave ships by the British navy after 1808. People in the area of Sierra Leone already had access to education before the establishment of the British colony in 1808. Muslims attended Quranic school wherever Muslims formed communities, and Islamic education was especially associated with Fuuta Jalon in the interior. Moreover, the Poro and Sande secret societies provided initiation training that amounted to an educational system. Finally, the children of prominent coastal traders and local officials sometimes were educated in Europe, and in this period, especially in Britain. The schools opened by the Christian missionaries, especially the Church Missionary Society (CMS) intensified the access to education. The efforts of the CMS missions introduced a new approach to instruction that was revolutionary for the region. Importantly, these early CMS missionaries were German-speaking Lutherans. As a result of their work, Freetown became a center of culturally diverse learning. This thesis examines mission records for the period 1808-1820 in order to analyze the cultural diversity of the Freetown population. Children came from a variety of backgrounds which reflect early settlement and the arrival of the first wave of Liberated Africans. It is argued here that mission education was well established during this period, which was before the arrival of large numbers of Yoruba and other Africans after 1820. The subsequent activities of the children who studied in the mission schools make it clear that the impact of mission education was dramatic, since many of the children became missionaries, teachers or merchants who provided leadership in the consolidation of Freetown as a center of education and cultural plurality before the landscape of the colony was altered after 1820

4-13 Reframing Digital Humanities Partnerships: Historical Narratives

Chair: Kartika Chadha, University of McGill ([email protected]) Katrina H Keefer, Trent University ([email protected]) Eric Lehman, Trent University ([email protected]) Michael McGill, Trent University ([email protected]) Meeting ID: 995 1938 531

Inscrire l’esclavage dans les humanités numériques

Ce dossier s’insère dans le vaste courant numérique appliqué à l’histoire des esclavages à l’époque moderne. Il propose, sur le plan heuristique, un ensemble de chemins menant vers des modes d’intelligibilité propres à un « plissement numérique du monde » – c’est-à-dire la mise en relief, grâce aux humanités numériques, de ce qui est traditionnellement aplani par les sources – que nous jugeons prometteur car il peut rapprocher publics et chercheurs du monde des esclaves. This issue belongs to this digital wave that is sweeping over the history of slaveries in modern times and proposes, at a heuristic level, pathways towards a means of understanding appropriate for a ‘digital creasing of the world’—that is to say using the digital humanities to raise the surface of what was traditionally smoothed over by the sources. It is, we believe, likely to bring those researching the world of slaves and their audiences closer together