Groningen involvement in the history of slavery

In this article I explore the involvement of the institutions and people of Groningen in the history of slavery in order to integrate this knowledge into a local and regional historiography. The starting point is a research project led by Margriet Fokken and myself that resulted in Sporen van het slavernijverleden in Groningen. Gids voor Stad en Ommeland (Traces of the slavery past in Groningen. Guide for the City and Region) (Groningen: Passage, 2016), in addition to contributions to the national website www.mappingslavery.nl.The establishment of a Groningen department of the West India Company (WIC) made the city and region of Groningen an influential factor in this colonial venture. We looked for various forms of involvement in this overseas trade, which left its mark on Groningen society after the abolition of slavery in 1863. For example, Groningen has many old tobacco factories and coffee roasters that refer to the trade in colonial goods. Thanks to the forced labor of enslaved, it was a profitable enterprise that was later continued in Groningen companies such as Niemeijer or TikTak. With the income from the colonial trade, Groningen administrators, captains of slave ships, governors in the colonies, and owners of plantations (and thus enslaved) could settle in beautiful buildings - which we can still admire today. Their heritage often contains references to colonial practices, as we can see in the collection of the Groningen museum and other museums. As it happened, some Dutch on their return to Groningen brought their black "servants" or their children of enslaved mothers. They made the city and region of Groningen slightly more colourful before the 20th century, although it took until the second half of the 20th century before the Dutch colonial past lead to a more prominent presence of Groningers of colour. That makes it all the more exciting and necessary to immerse ourselves in the intertwining of regional history with Groningen histories from overseas.