Searching for information on persons who lived in slavery on Aruba and Sint Eustatius has become easier with the online posting of two indexes and corresponding scans of colonial archives. The indexes can be searched from 30 June on the website of the Archivo Nacional Aruba (ANA) and on the website of the National Archives.
In the index Aruba: slavery and emancipation, 1840-1863 is to follow the enslaved population of Aruba over the last 25 years of slavery, up to Emancipation in 1863. It involves some 1,000 people, 450 of whom were freed in 1863 (one-fifth of the Aruban population). A wide range of archival sources were used for the database, including the 1863 Register of Emancipation, borderellen (compensation lists for plantation owners), registers of birth and death of enslaved people, petitions and notarial deeds with information on the purchase and sale and manumissions of enslaved people.
The index Aruba: slavery and emancipation, 1840-1863 is the result of a collaboration between Raymond Hernandez of the (ANA) and Coen van Galen of Radboud University Nijmegen (on behalf of the Historical Database Suriname and the Caribbean Foundation), with support from the National Archives in The Hague. Implementation was in the hands of Rosa M. Arends (ANA) and Wouter Raaijmakers and Matthias Rosenbaum-Feldbrügge (Historical Database Suriname and Caribbean, HDSC), with advice from Edric Croes and Johny van Eerden (ANA) and Peter Scholing (Biblioteca Nacional Aruba).
The index St Eustatius: Border sheets and the Emancipation Register, 1862-1863 refers to two lists: the Statian Emancipation Register and the Court of Audit's border tables. Both sources can now be accessed online on the National Archives website. The emancipation register lists the names and surnames of enslaved people who were freed in 1863. The notes provide records of the compensation slave owners received to compensate for the loss of "property". The General Audit Office audited the compensation paid by the Dutch state to the former owners of freed enslaved people.
The publication of the index St Eustatius: Border sheets and the Emancipation Register, 1862-1863 was a joint initiative of Nadine Busby-De Graf (Census Office, Oranjestad), Johan van Langen (National Archives) and Coen van Galen, implemented by Wouter Raaijmakers and Coen van Galen (HDSC).
With the completion of the two new indexes, archives on the Dutch slavery past become more searchable. Some original records had been in moderate to poor physical condition for some time, but digitisation means the information is now available. Regardless of the location of the physical documents - whether they are held on Aruba, St Eustatius or in The Hague - the digital reproductions can now be consulted online by anyone
Nationaal Archief is working with institutions in partner countries to make more sources on the Dutch colonial and slavery past available online for researchers and interested parties. In addition, the National Archives in The Hague is working on the restoration and digitisation of items on the Dutch slavery past from its own collection, and these will become available online in the coming months and years.
The databases will be available from 30 June at:
National Archives website: Saint Eustace [https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/index/nt00476]
Website National Archives: Aruba [https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/index/nt00479]
Archivo Nacional Aruba: www.coleccion.aw/zoeken/personen]
Search aids have been developed for searching these databases:
https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/zoekhulpen/slavernij-en-emancipatie-op-aruba-1840-1863
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