North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources (North Carolina African American Heritage Commission)

The North Carolina African American Heritage Commission will initiate research on Blackbeard’s pirate ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge which previously served as a French slave-trading vessel, named La Concorde originating from Nantes, France. The project began with translating manuscripts from French archives, then expanded into an exploration on how Afro-descended people aboard La Concorde moved about the Atlantic World. Research conducted in archives from France, Martinique and Guadalupe will provide insight into life aboard ship, including the origins of the vessel, the stories of the crews, and records of the trade goods and enslaved Africans carried by La Concorde as a slave trade vessel. The project will provide a research fellowship opportunity for a local university student and two paid internships for HBCU students. A symposium will be held to present, share and review research with domestic and international colleagues who participated in the first and second phase of this project, and share best practices for commemorating spaces and places connected to the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.