Template for emailing New Lanark Trust
Note: please copy and paste this email. Editing it to include, in your own words, why this is important to you, will often mean that more attention is paid than if several identical emails are received.
Email Template:
Send emails to: trust@newlanark.org
Subject: Request to review how New Lanark’s involvement in the Transatlantic Slave trade is presented and acknowledged
FAO: Board of Trustees at New Lanark Trust
I am writing to ask the Board of Trustees for a prompt and necessary review of the way in which the New Lanark site presents its history, paying particular attention to the mill's role in the transatlantic slave trade. The cotton mill used cotton from plantations worked by enslaved people in the USA, Brazil and Caribbean and yet there is no acknowledgement at present on the website of this history. Is the same also true within the physical spaces at the site?
I have appreciated and learned a lot from ongoing conversations exploring, and challenging, the ways in which historical spaces which serve the public continue to erase history. As someone who might pay to visit your centre or stay at the hotel, this is important to me. I know that many other historical sites and museums, including within Scotland, have established panels and advisory committees, which include the expertise and voices of those people most impacted by this erasure. I would like to know if such an arrangement is in place at New Lanark given the demographic make up of the Board of Trustees?
From the Empire, Slavery and Scotland's Museums' steering group: "Scotland’s museum sector is increasingly vocal in their commitment to use their collections to acknowledge and confront our history." I would ask that this same commitment to acknowledging and confronting Scottish history be a distinct and unflinching part of the way that the New Lanark Trust presents its cultural heritage. There are several sites at New Lanark that profit from it being a historical site, from the cafe to the hotel, mill and education centre.
Actions we request are: an acknowledgement on all New Lanark websites of this history; a clearly communicated and readily accessible plan of action to address New Lanark's colonial history; immediate updates to learning materials and plaques around the site.
I look forward to hearing your updates.
Yours sincerely,
Your name