WE'RE RECRUITING TRUSTEES FOR OUR BOARD!

After decades of campaigning for Scotland to attest to its role in empire, processes of colonialism, and the transatlantic slave trade, ’empiremuseum.scot’ is pleased to announce that work is now underway to establish the Scottish Museum of Empire, Slavery, Colonialism and Migration (SMESCM). This will be a space dedicated to exploring, sharing, and attesting to the myriad of ways in which Scotland participated in, and benefitted from, networks of empire, slavery, colonialism, and migration.

To support and progress this work, SMESCM is looking to recruit up to 12 Trustees to our Board to lead, support, and provide guidance to staff in executing our vision:
“A Scotland committed to anti-racism that explores and addresses the legacies of empire, slavery, colonialism and migration. Through connecting people to our shared histories, we have a platform from which to imagine, name and resource a more equitable and collectively owned future.” 

We invite applicants from diverse backgrounds! Further information on the role and how to apply can be found by clicking the button below. If you have any questions or would like to chat with us some more, please send us an email to information@empiremuseum.scot. We look forward to hearing from you!

A new chapter in Scotland's history
A new chapter in Scotland's history
Scotland needs a coherent way of telling history on a meaningful and engaging platform through curiosity, education and a reflection on our past. This space presents the realities of Scotlands role in empire, colonialism, slavery and migration.
Find out more
Black Minstrelsy in Scotland
Black Minstrelsy in Scotland
On the 10th June 1839 the ‘father of American Minstrels’ Thomas ‘Daddy’ Rice – made his first appearance on the stage of the Adelphi Theatre in Broughton Street, Edinburgh.
View exhibition
"It wisnae us"
"It wisnae us"
Walking trail of Glasgow's built heritage, tobacco, the slave trade and abolition.
View Trail Guide
The tree fellers
The tree fellers
Explores the story of the British Honduras Forestry Unit who were seconded to Scotland during WWII. The history of these 'tree-fellers' begins with the rise of mahogany as a luxury commodity and the subsequent colonisation of Belize. The legacy of the 900 Belizean lumberjacks continues in contemporary Scotland.
View Exhibition
Rice, Scotland and slavery
Rice, Scotland and slavery
Explores Scottish merchant Richard Oswald's slave trading business in Sierra Leone, its ties to the coastal plantations of South Carolina and Georgia and the descendants of these enslaved people and the crop at the center of it all; rice.
View Exhibition

JACOBITE REBELLION OF 1745 AND SLAVERY

Introduction to the Historical Context of 1745: Reconstituting the lives of the enslaved from the archival evidence
read more

‘That’ Indian Suffragettes Photo

This image of Indian women is symptomatic of one of the arguments that British suffragists and suffragettes put forward for the female vote. The issue of Indian women (or other racialised women) who might vote in Britain was not being raised.
read more

"It Wisnae Us"

Walking trail of Glasgow's built heritage, tobacco, the slave trade and abolition.
read more

Museums Decolonised

The Other Perspective

The Exiled Child-Prince Maharajah Duleep Singh and Scotland

As the last ruler of the Sikh Empire, Duleep Singh was deposed from the throne by the East India Company and exiled to Britain.
read more

Battle of George Square

Battle of George Square, however first recorded race riots in Scotland took place 3 days prior.
read more

The Tree Fellers

The story of the 900 British Honduran foresters who came to Scotland in 1942 (from what is now Belize) to help defeat fascism and decided to stay. Welcomed by most they still faced hostility and racism from a few.
read more