The Vincent J. Rosivach Register of Slaves in Fairfield, Connecticut
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Document Type
Digital Scholarship Project
Project Type
Faculty Contribution; Student Project
Project Information
The Vincent J. Rosivach Register of Slaves in Fairfield, Connecticut (1639-1820) is a comprehensive database of enslaved individuals in colonial and post-colonial Fairfield. This database is searchable, and will be able to track projection of slave families as well as movement across households and other important information related to the slave, their family, and their history. While there are some distinct contrasts between Northern and Southern slavery, one of the key similarities is the lack of proper record-keeping of these enslaved individuals’ identities. The database compiles information including birth, death, and distribution of slaves in colonial and post-colonial Fairfield into a single site to help formulate a once-broken narrative. In several cases, we were able to piece together entire families of slaves, identifying a lineage previously scattered across countless documents.
The Register uses primary source property documents, church records, newspaper advertisements, military records, and museum archives to compile a list of slaves and the households they were a part of.
Recommended Citation
Rosivach, Vincent J.; Ruffini, Giovanni; Lurie, Alec; and McEvoy, Olivia, "The Vincent J. Rosivach Register of Slaves in Fairfield, Connecticut" (2020). All Digital Humanities Projects. 26.
https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/digital_humanities_all/26