The National Academy of History in Venezuela is one of the most prestigious institutions with a long tradition in the preservation of archival materials and the generation of new knowledge about Venezuela’s and Latin-America’s past. Established in 1888, it is located within the Palace of the Academies, a building from the colonial period that formerly served as the location of the first university of the country, the Real y Pontificia Universidad de Caracas (today Universidad Central de Venezuela). The most renowned historians of the country have been part of the National Academy of History since then. The institution has a vast library containing close to 200,000 titles and archival collections with more than 100,000 documents encompassing the colonial and republican eras.
Rescuing the Historical Memory of the Afro-Venezuelan Slaves
First project about the lives of Afro-Venezuelan slaves
project pictures
The economic crisis that has affected Venezuela for several years now has impacted the operations and activities of the National Academy of History. Its infrastructure has suffered from the lack of resources, and the absence of appropriate measures to preserve the integrity of many of its collections is contributing to their accelerated deterioration.
Before these circumstances, and after the rain season compromised in 2020 one of the rooms containing the Civil-Slaves Section Collection, the National Academy of History sought allies to recue the archive. From this situation of urgency is that the Venezuela History Network came into existence as a non-profit organization founded by researchers Guillermo Guzmán Mirabal (PhD), Marcus Golding and Guillermo Ramos Flamerich. Through an inter-institutional agreement these two organizations elaborated a plan to start the relocation and digitization of the Civil-Slaves Section. The collection became the best candidate for rescue at the time due to its fragile condition and the water damage it was partially subjected to. More importantly, the Civil-Slaves Section is also significant because of its original academic value, having so far been ignored by most scholars. The absence of a digital catalogue to search these volumes, and the restrictions in place to access materials during the pandemic further conspired to keep the collection hidden from the researcher’s eyes. The digitization of the collection will enable Afro-Venezuelan communities to reconnect with their historical past. Second, the academic value of these volumes represents a crucial entry point for the scholarly community in rescuing the participation of this social group in the construction of new historical narratives about Venezuela. In turn, the future research derived from the collection will contribute to a better understanding of the social dynamics that fueled the country’s transition from a colony to a republic.
Some of the stories and anecdotes of the Civil-Slaves collection reflect its significance. In general, these volumes provide information related to the different tactics enslaved peoples employed to access freedom during the colonial period. For example, slaves like Juan Nepomuceno and Joaquín Vivas requested their freedom, at different times and locations, due to their military service in the Wars of Independence of Spanish America. Nepomuceno sought his freedom before the institutions of the Crown for his involvement “in the just cause of the King.” Vivas did the same but before the enemies of the Crown, the Republican Army. There are also some unusual cases. One is the situation of Ana María Moreno, a slave that by the year 1808 appeared before a courthouse in Caracas. She reaffirmed before the authorities her decision to renounce the freedom conceded to her because of Moreno’s fear “to enjoy that liberty.” Stories like these ones problematize and revendicate the social struggles that Afro-Venezuelans and their descendants went through since the colonial period. These records provide the scholarly community with new evidence to reconstruct that past.
Thanks to the support of the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, the Venezuela History Network started a project of digitization and preservation of the Civil-Slaves Section. This collection contains approximately 430 volumes that register the trials, civil cases, petitions, and the trade of enslaved peoples from Africa in Venezuela. Additional activities undertaken by the Venezuela History Network in partnership with the National Academy of History included:
-Infrastructural improvements to the room where the collection resides. The measures taken involved renovating and repainting the walls and the ceiling, replacing burned bulbs for new lights, and reparation of electrical and refrigeration systems.
-Fumigation and cleaning of the meeting halls and archival rooms of the National Academy of History.
-Purchase of equipment for the digitization of historical documents (scanners, computers, external disks,etc.)
-Training of local personnel in best practices to carry out digitization projects through the support of the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts, based in Philadelphia, United States.
-Constitution of a team of paleographers in charge of item transcription and metadata creation based on the already compiled information in the only existing catalogue for the Civil-Slaves Section: «El índice sobre esclavos y esclavitud (Sección Civiles-Esclavos)», by Carmen Torres Pantin and Marianela Ponce. Biblioteca de la Academia Nacional de la Historia / Serie Archivos y Catálogos, número 11, Caracas, 1997.
-Creation of a website and open-source platform to access the digitized volumes of the collection.
-Promotion of this initiative and the digital platform through social media.
The project’s results can be accessed at redhistoriave.org and through the digital collection created for the Civil-Slaves Section.
This first important initiative, led by the Venezuela History Network, in partnership with the National Academy of History and the support of the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, is recovering the historical memory of the country. Together, we are also opening new venues of research to explore the lives of historically discriminated groups. This endeavor is key to get a better understanding of Latin America’s past and present. We look forward to keep developing alliances with important international organizations such as the Gerda Henkel Stiftung. The goal is to continue rescuing historical archives that are currently at risk in every part of Venezuela. Finally, we seek to expand opportunities to access new sources of information, and thus, contribute to the democratization of knowledge.
Written by Guillermo Ramos Flamerich.
Edited and traslated by Marcus Golding.
The Venezuela History Network is a non-profit organization in charge of preserving at risk historical archives in that country. This first project about the lives of Afro-Venezuelan slaves was generously supported by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.