Information about slavery in Aruba and Statia is available online
ORANJESTAD – Information about people who lived in slavery in Aruba and Statia is available online through indexes and associated scans of colonial archives. Searches are possible on the website of Archivo Nacional Aruba (ANA) and on the website of the Dutch National Archive.
The index Aruba: slavery and Emancipation 1840-1863 enables people to find information about the slaves that lived in Aruba during the last 25 years of slavery. The index contains information about around one thousand people; 450 of them became free in 1863. They represent one-fifth of the Aruban population at the time. The database uses a wide array of sources, like the Register of Emancipation in 1863, lists of compensation for plantation owners, registers of birth and death of slaves, notarial deeds about purchase and sale, and manumissions (certificates of legal freedom) of slaves.
The index Sint Eustatius: Borderellen en het Emancipatieregister (Statia: Financial Reviews and the Emancipation Register) refers to two documents: the Statian Emancipation Register and the borderellen of the General Audit Chamber. A borderel is a document that contains information about the compensation plantation owners received for the loss of their “property.” The Emancipation Register contains the names of slaves who became free in 1863. The General Audit Chamber controlled the compensation the Dutch state paid to the former owners of freed slaves.
Searching of archives about Dutch slavery history has become easier with the publication of the new indexes. Some original documents were already for some time in a bad condition, but the information they contain has now become available through digitalization.
The National Archive worked together with institutions in the partner countries to make more sources about the Dutch colonial and slavery past available for researchers and others interested in the subject.
The National Archive in The Hague works on the restoration and digitalization of documents about Dutch slavery history from its own collection. They will become available online during the next couple of months and years.
The Aruban index is the result of cooperation between Raymond Hernandez (ANA), Coen van Galen (Radboud University Nijmegen on behalf of the Foundation Historical Database Suriname and the Caribbean – HDSC), with support from the National Archive. The project was executed by Rosa M. Arends (ANA) and Wouter Raaijmakers and Matthias Rosenbaum-Feldbrügge (HDSC) with advice from Edric Croes and Johnny van Eerden (ANA) and Peter Scholing (Biblioteca Nacional Aruba).
The Statia-index is a joint initiative of Nadine Busby-De Graf (Census Office, Oranjestad), Johan van Langen (National Archive), and Coen van Galen. The project was executed by Wouter Raaijmakers and Coen van Galen.
The databases are accessible through the following websites:
https://www.nationaal archief.nl/onderzoeken/index/nt00476 (Statia) and
https://www.nationaal archief.nl/onderzoeken/index/nt00479 (Aruba)
www.coleccion.aw/zoeken/personen (Archivo Nacional Aruba)
Two other tools can help with searches;
https:/www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/zoekhulpen/slavernij-en-emancipatie-op-aruba-1840-1863
and
https://nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/zoekhulpen/vrijgelaten-slaafgemaakten-op-sint-eustatius-1862-1863
For more information contact Erwin Tuil, spokesman for the National Archive at +31 6 5009 8093 or via email: erwin.tuil@nationaalarchief.nl
In Aruba: Edric Croes (Archivo Nacional Aruba) via +297 583 48 80 or via email: edric.croes@aruba.gov.aw
Historical Database Suriname and the Caribbean, project leader Coen van Galen: +31 6 4223 5325, or via email: coen.vangalen@ru.nl
