Nassau, Bahamas - The next talk at the Bahamas Historical Society will be with Chris Curry who will speak on “‘In Whose possession they belong:’ Black Loyalists and their Quest for Freedom in the Bahamas" on Thursday 27^th January at 6pm.

Within the last two decades a number of scholars have sought to recover the social history of black loyalists—those enslaved blacks and free persons of colour who supported the British cause during the American Revolution. Though considerable scholarship has documented the experiences of black loyalists and their struggles for freedom in Nova Scotia and England, less is known about their counterparts in the Bahamas and Jamaica. This study has as its subject the small, but significant, group of black loyalists who sought freedom in the Bahamas. In seeking freedom in the Bahamas, black loyalists appropriated a political consciousness that was based on their colonial experience in British North America.

Arguably, this political activism was shaped largely by the epoch of enslavement; but also drew inspiration from the enlightenment ideals of liberty and freedom and the egalitarianism of the Great Awakening revival meetings. Upon settlement in the Bahamas, black loyalists expanded on these Revolutionary ideas by petitioning the courts and defending their right to liberty even while slave-owning whites deemed their claims to be unconstitutional. 

Chris Curry received Bachelor of Arts with First- Class Honours in History at Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada. A Masters of Arts in History at University of Waterloo, Waterloo Ontario, Canada; A Diploma in Education at College of The Bahamas and is currently completing his PhD at University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut in Latin American/Caribbean History. He has taught at St Anne’s High School and is a Lecturer in History at COB.

His publications include:

2004    “A Critique of Bahamian Society After Emancipation,” At Random,  (Fall 2004): 26-28.

2005    “Christianity and Slavery in The Bahamas: A Catalyst for Revolutionary change or a Quest for Respectability,” in The Bahamas Historical Journal (October 2005): 4-8.

2006    with Neil Sealey, Social Studies for Bahamian Secondary Schools. 3 vols.   London: Macmillan Caribbean, 2006.

2007    with Denny Curry, A History of the Churches of Christ in The Bahamas. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford, 2007.

2007    “The contributions of Baptists to Education in The Bahamas,” American Baptist Quarterly 26:4 (2007): 374-387.

2008    “Black Loyalists and their quest for Freedom in the Bahamas,” The College of the Bahamas Alumni Magazine

The Bahamas Historical Society (BHS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to stimulating interest in Bahamian History and to the collection and preservation of material relating thereto. Its Headquarters, the former IODE Hall, was a gift from the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE). BHS is on Shirley Street and Elizabeth Avenue in Nassau. www.bahamashistoricalsociety. com