Historically
important Runnymede Collection moves to Black Cultural Archives
The
Runnymede Collection, which documents the development of multiculturalism and
race-relations in contemporary Britain from 1968 – 2001, will move to Black
Cultural Archives (BCA).[i]
This unique collection of cultural and political importance will be transferred
from the Cat Hill campus at Middlesex University in June 2011.[ii]
The
extensive library and archives explores the Runnymede Trust’s work effecting
policy and cultural change and includes books, reports, press cuttings,
monographs, pamphlets, official documents, journals and articles. The Collection reveals the diverse
sources of information that the Runnymede Trust has used in its research and
campaigning spanning the anti-immigration speeches of Enoch
Powell in 1968, to the 1981 Brixton uprising and the fall-out following the
publication of Salmon Rushdie’s Satanic Verses.[iii]
The
Runnymede Trust is the leading policy ‘think tank’ on race relations in
Britain. Since its inception in 1968, Runnymede has produced many
landmark reports, including Colour and Citizenship (1969) and the Commission
for Multi-Ethnic Britain (2000).[iv]
BCA
will open the doors to the country’s first Black heritage centre in 2012.[v] The £6.5 million capital project, £4m
of which is from the Heritage Lottery Fund, will transform the derelict Grade
II Raleigh Hall in Windrush Square, Brixton into an inspiring learning
experience of research, exhibitions and events.
The
BCA archive will be at the heart of the heritage centre, which will include a
library and reading room, providing public access to its unique collections.
The Runnymede Collection will serve to augment the centre’s research and
educational potential and enhance readers’ experience of BCA’s collections.
Professor
Stuart Hall, said:
“I
am delighted that the Runnymede archive – so critical for an understanding of
post-war migration and the responses to it – will still be available. The
Black Cultural Archives is an excellent and well-chosen site for is
preservation. I know they will continue to develop it and make it accessible to
researchers, scholars and, most important of all, the general informed and
concerned public”.
Dame
Jocelyn Barrow[vi], Director for
Development at Focus Consultancy Ltd, said:
“This
unique historical collection will enable the BCA to fulfil one of its major
purposes as an educational and research centre, covering the history of black people
in the UK in the 20th century and up to the present time”.
Paul
Reid, Director of BCA, said:
“The
Runnymede Collection is a fantastic addition to the archive. This superb
collection significantly increases BCA’s capacity to tell the story of Black
people in the UK. The collection will increase the scope of learning
possibilities for users of the archive and is perfectly timed in the build-up
to opening the new Black heritage centre.”
Rob
Berkeley, Director of Runnymede, said:
“We
are delighted that the BCA is to host our peerless collection of racism and
race equality-related material. For more than forty years we have built up an
archive of documents that charts the history of race relations in this country.
The 6000 item-strong collection of primary resources has incredible
historical value. It is entirely apt that such a resource should be housed
yards away from the site of the 1980s scenes of race-related unrest and
uprisings in Brixton. We hope that people up and down the country with an
interest in race equality and the history of the struggle for it will visit the
Runnymede Collection at the BCA”
Sue Bowers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund
London, said:
“As the main funder of BCA, the Heritage
Lottery Fund is delighted that it will now be housing the Runnymede Collection.
This is a hugely important collection and once installed in Raleigh Hall it
will be viewed by a much wider range of people and in an entirely appropriate
setting.”
-Ends
Notes
to Editors
[i] BCA was founded in 1981 as a
grassroots community organisation. The registered charity now collects,
preserves and celebrates the history, stories and culture of Black people in
Britain.
The
Runnymede Collection will move to BCA on 2 June 2011. The related collection of
the Commission for British Muslims and Islamophobia Archive will be transferred
from Middlesex University at the same time. A further part of the Runnymede
Trust archives will move from the Trust to BCA after the opening of the new
heritage centre in Brixton.
[ii] The Cat Hill campus
at Middlesex University is closing 3 June 2011.
[iii] The Runnymede Collection includes a complete range of
key texts and documents in subject areas such as employment, education and
training, housing and the inner-city, immigration and law, racism and ethnic
minority communities, women, religion, politics, social services, health,
policing and criminal justice.
[iv] The Runnymede Trust has
worked to challenge racial discrimination and promote a successful multi-ethnic
Britain by providing the facts of racial discrimination and the techniques for
overcoming it, stimulating debate and suggesting strategies in public policy.
Its principal function in the early years was to provide briefs, background
papers and research data for MPs, civil servants, local government and others
concerned with policy. It provided a means of responding swiftly and
authoritatively on key issues as media attention to the subject of race
relations increased. In later years, Runnymede published reports designed to
interpret government policy to a wider audience at the same time as briefing
government on public opinion. Through the 1990s, Runnymede’s role shifted from
that of providing position or interpretative papers to working more closely
with government in an advisory capacity. All of this work is documented in the
Runnymede Collections.
[v] The Black heritage centre capital
development project is generously funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
with a £4m grant and the Mayor of London, through the London Development
Agency, with a further £1m. The London Borough of Lambeth is also
providing a financial package of £910,000 over five years, and has gifted a 99-year
lease for Raleigh Hall. The
project is also funded by Foyle and Garfield Weston.
Using
money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
sustains and transforms a wide range of
heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and
enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural
environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse
heritage. HLF has supported more than 30,000 projects allocating £4.5billion across
the UK. Website: www.hlf.org.uk. For more information,
please contact Katie Owen, HLF press office, on 020 7591 6036/07973 613820.
[vi] Dame Jocelyn Barrow,
a
Patron of BCA, was
a founding member
and General Secretary of the Campaign Against Racial
Discrimination (CARD), the organisation responsible for the Race Relations Act of 1968. She was the first Black
woman Governor of the BBC, and was Deputy Chair of the Broadcasting Standards Council.
In 1972, Jocelyn Barrow was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for
work in the field of education and community relations. In 1992, she was made a
Dame of the British Empire (DBE) for her work in broadcasting and contribution
to the work of the European Union as a Member of the Social and Economic
Committee, representing the UK in Brussels. She chaired (2003-2005) The Mayor
of London’s Commission on African and Asian Heritage.
Further
information
Victoria
Lane, Collections Manager, BCA
020
75828516
Please
also see:
http://www.runnymedetrust.org/
http://www.web.mdx.ac.uk/runnymede/