White-Washed: The “Conservation” of the Physical and Metaphysical States of Ghanaian Slave Castle-Dungeons and Forts

The methodology for this qualitative research is heavily reliant upon personal observation, photographic documentation, secondary source analysis, and interviews. It i was crucial to also develop personal observation through other sources like journals and museum professionals. By visiting and thoroughly investigating Cape Coast Castle, St. George’s Castle (referred to as Elmina Castle), Fort Victoria, Fort St. Jago, and the English Fort in Komenda, observations that deal with preservation tactics for the buildings and for memorializing slave castles and forts in Ghana can be addressed. Certainly these case studies are all located in the Central Region, but the differences and variety of preservation at each location allows for all of the castles and forts to be addressed in the following paper. Cape Coast and Elmina Slave Castles are focused on in this paper and are highly invested in when compared to the rest of castles and forts found within Ghana. The forts vary from the once invested Fort St. Jago, the questionably sustained Fort Victoria, and the tragic case of the English Fort in Komenda. Through these five sites, the whole of slave castles and forts in Ghana can be critically critiqued and discussed due to their varied states. In the following paper the castles and forts will be referred to as slave castles and forts, to accurately describe them by simply using their name.