Image from the “Themes” page on the Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past website

Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past (CMSP) is a digital repository of commemorative works related to the slave past (monuments, memorials, and sites of slavery). The term slave past covers the extended period of chattel slavery from the transatlantic slave trade and the Middle Passage to emancipation. Built on the open-source, publishing platform Omeka, the site includes 134 commemorative works from West Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, Europe, and the United States. Now in its third iteration, we will add seventeen (17) additional commemorative works from the United States by September.

From 2024-2026, I worked with the Center for Digital Scholarship (CDS) at Brown University Library to reorganize and re-design the site. I convened a series of focus groups to elicit feedback on the content and usability of the current digital repository. Khahn Vo, PhD, Digital Humanities Specialist at the CDS led the redesign of the site. Yui Suzuki provided editorial assistance and Nélari Figueroa-Torres helped to research individual monuments and memorials.

To review the current data, visit Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past: https://www.slaverymonuments.org/

Updated 08/28/2026