The Cayman Islands National Museum is pleased to announce the opening of its newest exhibition, Freedoms Imagined; Freedoms Won: Long Celia & Elizabeth Jane Trusty, opening to the public on Friday, 1 May 2026. The exhibition is based on the research and scholarship of Dr. Roy Murray, with Mr. Brian Watler Jr. serving as lead curator.
The exhibition focuses on two enslaved women, Elizabeth Jane Trusty and Long Celia, whose lives show different paths toward freedom. Elizabeth secured her manumission for “five pounds current money of Jamaica” in 1809 and built a life as a free woman in George Town, Grand Cayman. Long Celia, still enslaved, spoke openly about freedom in 1820 and was sentenced to receive 50 lashes in a public square in George Town.
Theirs are stories of freedoms imagined and won; of lives shaped not only by the circumstances of their time, but by the ways these two women understood, pursued, and carried freedom forward.
“Public history works like Freedoms Imagined; Freedoms Won are designed to keep collective amnesia at bay and to center the voices of those disadvantaged by the past,” says Dr. Roy Murray, co-curator.
“My role as lead curator of the exhibition was to bring the story of Long Celia and Elizabeth Jane Trusty to life. And these aren’t fictional characters from long ago; Long Celia and Elizabeth Jane Trusty were real documented enslaved women of the early nineteenth century. I designed the exhibition in a way that visitors will feel the presence of these women,” says lead Curator Brian Watler Jr.
As part of the exhibition programming, the National Museum is hosting a Speaker Series lecture and discussion on Tuesday, 5 May 2026 entitled, “We had slaves, Sir?” with Dr. Murray, co-curator of the exhibition. Following the lecture, a discussion will feature Dr. Roy Murray, Ms. Lucille Seymour, and Dr. Christopher Williams, moderated by Mr. Brian Watler Jr. The event takes place at the Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) Studio Theatre at the Harquail grounds and focuses on the life and story of Elizabeth Jane Trusty to explore the nuanced and often complex perspectives surrounding slavery in the Cayman Islands. It also highlights the critical role of education in uncovering, preserving, and sharing these histories, and in deepening our understanding of the people and experiences behind them.