London Transport Museum has teamed up with The Making of Black Britain (MOBB) for a jam-packed evening of talks, workshops, and screenings of oral histories of London’s past and present which will spotlight the voices of people who make up today’s Britain. The event is set to take place on Friday 14 July 2023.
From guest speakers such as Diane Louise Jordan, the first Black TV presenter of children’s television programme Blue Peter, to African head wrapping tutorials, this event will mark the 75th anniversary of the 1948 British Nationality Act and explore how this landmark legislation has influenced the capital, its transport and culture. This Museum Late is also a chance to relax and enjoy the Museum Galleries after hours to a backdrop of music and drinks.
Diane Louise Jordan, Broadcaster and Founder of MOBB said, “I can’t wait to take part in London Transport Museum’s Voices of London Late. We’ve been working together to create a fantastic line-up of talks, oral history screenings, workshops and music which will explore the experiences and memories of Black British people and indeed people of all backgrounds from the 1940s to today.
“The Voices of London event will the mark the 75th anniversary of the 1948 British Nationality Act. Although some people will not be familiar with this landmark piece of legislation it had a huge impact on British culture and its citizens. If you’re curious to find out more join us on 14 July in Covent Garden.”
Elizabeth McKay, Chief Operating Officer, London Transport Museum said, “When Diane Louise Jordan approached the Museum to partner with The Making of Black Britain, we knew we had to say yes. The 1948 Nationality Act led to lots of people of Caribbean heritage working for what was then London Transport and its successor TfL, so there is a lot of cross over with MOBB’s mission and our Museum’s archive, displays, exhibitions and Learning programme.
“The Voices of London Museum Late is just one of the events and activities we are collaborating on with MOBB. In the autumn we will be throwing our doors open to the public at our Museum Depot in west London for four open days where we will sharing personal histories from our archives and current collection about what it was like for people of Caribbean descent when they first arrived in London as well as showcasing stories from MOBB’s digital oral history collection.”
The London Transport Museum and MOBB partnership will mean that primary school teachers will be offered the opportunity take part in a Continual Professional Development (CPD) programme enabling them to train their students as story collectors and to collect stories within their school and local community. As part of this programme MOBB and the Museum will support teachers to better embed Black histories into the curriculum using the Museum’s collections and stories from the MOBB archive.
The Museum has invited MOBB to partner with London Transport Museum’s Young People’s Skills Programme training young people (aged 16-25) in oral history and digital storytelling skills enabling them to become story collectors for the MOBB archive. These young people will collect stories from schools, businesses and other walks of life.
Click here to learn more about this partnership.
