Thursday, December 11, 2003

Chat with Madeleine Burnside, author of Spirits of the Passage: Dec 16th, 9PM ET

Contact:
Kathleen Wyer Lane
Publicist
writeaway@afrigeneas.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AFRIGENEAS.COM INTERVIEWS BRITISH AUTHOR MADELEINE BURNSIDE OF MEL FISHER MUSEUM

Web's legendary African-American genealogy group will discuss Burnside's book Spirits of Passage: The Transatlantic Slave Trade in the 17th Century

Visit the Book Forum

Anniston, Alabama… December 14, 2003…AfriGeneas.com announced today its upcoming interview with Dr. Madeleine Burnside author of Spirits of the Passage: The Transatlantic Slave Trade in the 17th Century. The online interview will be conducted by George Geder, Manager of the AfriGeneas Book Forum, on December 16, 2003 at 9:00 PM EST in the Dee Woodtor Room of the Chat Center (www.afrigeneas.com/chat/).

"AfriGeneas is very pleased to interview Dr. Burnside about her landmark study which chronicles the history of slavery", said George Geder. "Her research and insight into early slavery and its impact on the Americas will help us to better understand our ancestors' experience in the broader context of the international slave trade." Spirits of Passage published by The Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society and edited by Rosemarie Robotham, includes a Foreword by Dr. Cornell West of Princeton University. "The nameless souls who were lost during the Middle Passage is a sad chronicle in American history," added Geder. "In the face of this tragedy, AfriGeneas researchers continue to document the lives of their ancestors who triumphed over slavery and helped shape the Americas… centuries before Ellis Island."

Dr. Madeleine Burnside, born in England is a noted historian and the Executive Director of the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society. Under her direction, the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society created and mounted the national museum traveling exhibition of "A Slave Ship Speaks: The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie." Its companion book, Spirits of the Passage: The Transatlantic Slave Trade in the 17th Century is the centerpiece for the AfriGeneas discussion.

Dr. Burnside remarked, "The importance of the 17th century slave trade is that it reveals a series of choices that would have a profound consequence for Western Civilization. The slave trade began quite gradually. During its early phase someone could have said 'No. We are not going to do this' Instead, cultural groups who had never used slavery in their land of origin—like the English and other Northern Europeans—changed their lifestyles to rely on slave labor. I'm delighted and honored that Afrigeneas.com invited me to their Book Forum and I look forward to the discussion on the transatlantic slave trade."

Dr. Burnside's discussion of the 17th century slave trade is part of a continuing series of interviews with leading historians and genealogists. Over the years, Afrigeneas has interviewed Dee Woodtor, Edward Ball, Barnetta McGhee White, Henry Wiencek, Dr. Jane Landers and Dr. Gwendolyn Midlo-Hall.

Afrigeneas.com is the largest genealogical site on the web whose focus is centered on the centuries-old presence of Africans in the Americas. Founded in 1996, Afrigeneas offers free of charge, a wide range of historical African American research data and topics from slavery, free people of color, to Civil War military history. Visitors to Afrigeneas.com, its Forum Managers, contributing historians, genealogists, and family historians are an international multi-cultural group which reflects the growing global interest in African-American history.


Posted by VKN on 12/11/03 at 3:40 pm EST