Sarah Price swings open the doors of the archive in the depths of Durham University's library. Inside the room, in which temperature and humidity are controlled, rows and rows of shelves house a wealth of historical documents covering a huge range of topics. Among them are posters, letters and documents relating to the slave trade and its abolition - hand-written bills of sale for luxury goods linked to the trade such as sugar and posters for anti-slavery meetings. 2007 marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade and with it comes a series of exhibitions and events to explore the subject. Sarah is the access and learning officer for the university library and is working on a number of projects aimed at helping schools in the North East learn about slavery. Engage pupils
 | | Sarah Price looks at some of the Grey Papers |
As part of that she has been sifting through the material in the archives to pick out documents which will help bring the subject alive for pupils. She said: "We want to show that just because something happened in the past, it's not a dead issue. "The aim is to engage the kids in their heritage. For a long time slavery has been seen as something not particularly relevant to the region. I would argue that it is. "It is to show them something that happened in the past still has a contemporary resonance. "We will never understand where we are now if we don't understand how we got there. "If you tie it in to the locality, everyone responds better if they have a connection with the past. "This is just to show them the North East did have a role in the slave trade but it also was quite strong in the anti-slavery movement. I think it's something the region can be quite proud of." Books and documents Among the university library's collection are the Earl Grey family papers, church commission papers including bills of sale for goods such as sugar, copies of the Anti-Slavery reporter and posters for anti-slavery meetings around the region.
 | | A bill showing details of sugar being sold |
The library also has books by prominent figures in the anti-slavery movement such as Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp. Granville Sharp was born in Durham in 1735 and educated in the city before moving to London and later became known as a campaigner for the abolition of the slave trade. As well as providing education resources to schools, the archives and documents are available for anyone to go and use. Sarah is working on a number of projects to tie in with the bicentenary including an exhibition at Durham Cathedral in March which will use the resources to look at the history of slavery, particularly in the North East. There will also be a project with the Northumberland Record office at Woodhorn which will involve an e-learning resource based around citizenship. There are plans for other projects during 2007 and funding applications are currently being drawn up for those. | 
