The Persistence of Memory. Remembering Slavery in Liverpool, ‘slaving capital of the world’

328 Pages·2020·2.778 MB·English

by  Jessica Moody

The Persistence of Memory
LIVERPOOL STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL SLAVERY, 18

The Persistence of Memory
Remembering Slavery in Liverpool,
‘slaving capital of the world’
Jessica Moody
The Persistence of Memory
Liverpool University Press
First published 2020 by
Liverpool University Press
4 Cambridge Street
Liverpool
L69 7ZU
Copyright © 2020 Jessica Moody
The right of Jessica Moody to be identified as the author of this book
has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data
A British Library CIP record is available
ISBN 978-1-78962-232-4 hardback
ISBN 978-1-80034-828-8 paperback
ISBN 978-1-78962-257-7 epdf
Typeset by Carnegie Book Production, Lancaster
An Open Access edition of this book is available on the Liverpool University
Press website and the OAPEN library, having been made possible by the
generous support of the LUP Open Access Author Fund.
For Ryan

Contents
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgements xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Preface xv
Introduction: Remembering Slavery in the ‘slaving capital of
the world’ 1
1 From History to Memory: The Discursive Legacies of the Past 29
2 Black Liverpool: Living with the Legacy of the Past 65
3 Coinciding Anniversaries: Birthdays and the Abolition Act in
1907, 1957, and 2007 101
4 The Memorial Cult of William Roscoe: Remembering Abolition 129
5 The Rise of the Museums 155
6 Performing Memory: Local Slavery Memory in a Globalizing
World 181
7 Sites of Memory: Bodies and the Cityscape 217
Conclusion: Untelling Difficult Pasts 257
Bibliography 269
Index 293
• vii •

Illustrations
List of Illustrations
1 Liverpool Pageant, Car ‘The Slave Trade.’ 1907
Commemorative Postcard 109
2 Liverpool’s 800th Birthday Coin 123
3 Liverpool’s Bicentenary Programme 126
4 Roscoe Gardens Memorial Plaque, 2003 151
5 Sankofa Bird on Slavery Remembrance Day Postcard 202
6 Goree Warehouses Engraving, 1826 copy 221
7 Nelson Memorial, Exchange Flags, Liverpool 239
8 Figure in Chains, Nelson Memorial 243
9 After C.R. Cockerell, R.A. The Sculptured Pediment of St George’s
Hall, Liverpool c. 1850. Lithograph, 330 × 892 mm (image),
560 × 930 mm (sheet). William Grinsell Nicholl. Lithographed
by Alfred Stevens. Printed by Hullmandel and Walton.
Photo © Royal Academy of Arts, London; Prudence Cuming
Associates Limited 245
10 Close-up of the figure of ‘Africa’ from After C.R. Cockerell,
R.A. The Sculptured Pediment of St George’s Hall, Liverpool c. 1850.
Lithograph, 330 × 892 mm (image), 560 × 930 mm (sheet).
William Grinsell Nicholl. Lithographed by Alfred Stevens.
Printed by Hullmandel and Walton. Photo © Royal Academy of
Arts, London; Prudence Cuming Associates Limited 249
• ix •