Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 2002-2010 (Creation)
Level of description
Ffeil / File
Extent and medium
0.029m³ (1 large box)
Context area
Name of creator
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Material relating to a musical performance/workshop titled Before Freedom, which depicted the life of Willis, a freed slave who took up residence in Swansea, including school resource packs; completed student and teacher evaluation forms; posters and flyers; list of bookings; material relating to specific performance bookings; photographic prints; enquiry sheets; and application for grant aid to fund the project. The show, performed by members of Women in Jazz and others, toured schools, museums, theatres and other venues as part of the events commemorating the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.
The events marking Black History Month October 2006 coincided with celebrations to mark Women in Jazz's 20th anniversary, highlighted by a gala evening featuring Women in Jazz patron Dame Cleo Laine and a performance of Before Freedom - for which see Women in Jazz 20th Anniversary events. See also Black History Month.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Enquiry sheets arranged chronologically.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
- Welsh
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Willis, whose first name is not known, was born to a slave mother on a Kentucky plantation in 1813. In 1832 Willis escaped the plantation and stowed away on a copper ore carrier ship, eventually arriving in Swansea, a city which held strong abolitionist views, where he was set free by the portreeve, Mr T. Edward Thomas. Willis remained a citizen of Swansea until the last sighting of him occurred there in 1894, when he would have been around 80 or 81 years of age.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Willis, b. 1813 (Subject)