The Calabar Slave History Museum, located in the historic Old Residency building, preserves the painful memory of Calabar's role in the transatlantic slave trade. From the 15th to 19th centuries, Calabar (Old Calabar) was a major departure point for enslaved Africans bound for the Americas. The Efik and Ibibio peoples, initially trading partners with Europeans, later became victims as the trade intensified. The museum displays shackles, chains, documents, and artifacts documenting this dark period. Marina Resort Beach nearby marks where enslaved people were held before being shipped across the Atlantic. The museum doesn't shy from this history; instead, it confronts it honestly, educating visitors about slavery's brutality and its lasting impacts. Archaeological excavations continue uncovering evidence of this trade. The museum participates in UNESCO's Slave Route Project, connecting African, Caribbean, and American descendants to their ancestral origins. Annual commemorations bring together diaspora Africans seeking roots. Calabar Museum reminds Nigeria that remembering painful history is essential for healing and ensuring such atrocities never recur.


KEEPER OF MEMORY:
Housed in the Old Residency built by the British in 1884, the Calabar Slave History Museum documents centuries of Atlantic slave trade routes that emanated from the Cross River estuary. Exhibits trace the human cost of commerce that linked African traders, European merchants, and Caribbean plantations.

IMMERSIVE EXHIBITIONS:
Rooms display shackles, branding irons, shipping manifests, and personal testimonies. Multimedia installations compare maps of slave routes with present-day diaspora communities, while interactive timelines highlight resistance movements such as the Ekpe society’s efforts to protect captives.

COMMUNITY HEALING:
Annual Remembrance Day ceremonies gather descendants from Nigeria, the Caribbean, and the Americas for libation rituals, storytelling, and cultural performances. The museum partners with UNESCO’s Slave Route Project and universities conducting DNA ancestry research.

EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY:
Guided tours engage students, historians, and policymakers, emphasising the need for human rights vigilance. Workshops teach teachers how to incorporate slavery narratives into curricula and support trauma-informed heritage preservation.

FAST FACTS:
- Location: Old Government House, Marina Resort, Calabar, Cross River State.
- Established: 2011 (expanded exhibits in 2017).
- Key features: reconstructed holding cells, virtual reality voyage experience, library and archive.
- Mission: honour the enslaved, educate visitors, and promote reconciliation.