This was an interesting talk given by Dr. Martin Hall and it originally appeared on the Aluka Blog. After returning from Korea, Aluka is where I got my start. I moved to Princeton and the rest is history/blogged. To take the text from the Aluka blog:
Two weeks ago, while some members of Aluka were in South Africa meeting with partners and scholars involved in the Struggles project, a similar meeting took place at Aluka’s Princeton office with partners and advisors regarding Aluka’s Cultural Heritage project.
During this visit, Professor Martin Hall, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town and advisor to Aluka, graciously gave a talk on the Cape’s historical background and more specifically, the Cape’s legacy of slavery. As part of his talk, Prof. Hall also discussed how the University of Cape Town recently discovered a burial ground of slaves who worked the farms along the Liesbeeck River in the 17th and 18th centuries; his talk is available online. A detailed bibliography on the Cape’s slave past is available on the Iziko Museum’s website and a detailed report on the slave burial ground discovered at UCT is also available online.
Dr. Hall is a world-renowned archaeologist and he has since moved on to Salford University in the UK. The podcast is quite intriguing and makes mention of Brown University’s bout with slavery. Dr. Hall talks specifically about the legacy of slavery in the Western Cape and the founding of the University of Cape Town.
So, I recommend downloading it, throwing it on your iPod and spend a few minutes getting an enlightening education.
MP3-Martin Hall Presentation on the History of the University of Cape Town.
My personal connection to this podcast is that I was in the room when he gave it at our office (oh so long ago). I recorded it and edited it using Audacity.
If you are interested in reading more about archaeology, check out Martin Hall’s (et al) book Historical Archaeology, available from Google Books.