Birmingham Stories: local histories of migration and settlement and the practice of history

Over the last decade research on the history of ethnic minority migrant communities in Birmingham and the West Midlands has grown with investigations looking at postwar migration and settlement; ‘race’ thinking and racism; social movements and community activists; faith communities; national identity; issues of surveillance; the local state; public histories and narratives of the city; urban histories and sources; and visual evidence and history. Much of this research has been matched by the presentation of a sustained argument for new narratives of the city’s (and by implication the nation’s) history which recognizes that there is a need for a radical transformation of social memory in order to better reflect the cultural diversity and difference that is a part of everyday lived reality. This article aims to do two things: first to summarise research to date on the ethnic minority history of Birmingham and to locate it within a historiography that goes back to Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (1938); and second to look at the nature of the historical practice associated with writing local histories of migration and settlement and by doing so to relate this practice to Edward Said’s (2003) idea of ‘communities of interpretation’ and the role of historians in contemporary society

Exploring supplementary education: margins, theories and methods.

Existing knowledge of supplementary education, that is education organised and run by political, faith or ethnic groups outside of formal schooling, is patchy. This article is an exploration of the histories of supplementary education in the twentieth century. It is organised into three sections. \ud The article begins by reviewing some existing literature and argues that supplementary education has been a topic of marginal concern for social historians, sociologists and historians of education. This marginal status has often been reflected in the way in which a dominant account of the history of supplementary education has entered the research literature despite a rather selective evidential base. The second section of the article deploys an expansive definition of education, and presents some new historical evidence concerning African Caribbean and Irish supplementary education. A final arguments section reflects on the significance of supplementary education and suggestions some topics for a future research agenda.\u

The School album: images, insights and inequalities = L'àlbum de l'escola: imatges, introspecció i desigualtats

Les fotografies, tal com Elisabeth Edwards va observar al seu article sobre la fotografia de Susan Meiselas, són «objectes culturals» fets per «projectar certs significats i provocar certs afectes». Tradicionalment, els historiadors que han treballat amb imatges han tingut interès, en general, a extreure'n l'evidència de la materialitat del passat, i això es pot portar a terme a través de mirar el que s'ha fet present en una imatge. No obstant això, el significat o els significats que se'n poden extreure sempre estan emmarcats en el context que les imatges mateixes proporcionen, i el fet d'observar sempre té una qualitat subjectiva que perfila les idees que es creen, en forma de diàleg, entre la imatge i els significats que se n'han construït amb posterioritat. A partir de les imatges d'un àlbum fotogràfic de l'escola Floodgate Street Infant School de Birmingham (Anglaterra), dels anys vint del segle XX, aquest breu assaig explora la naturalesa d'aquestes imatges, els seus significats amagats i la importància de contextualitzar- les. L'exploració visual d'aquestes imatges s'agrupa en quatre diferents categories de context: l'arxiu com un lloc de la memòria; la mirada experta; les tecnologies de l'exhibició; i la singularitat de la imatge. Aquest assaig també té en compte la idea de la «biografia social» d'una imatge i com la digitalització pot transformar imatges originals i els seus significats.Las fotografías, así como Elisabeth Edwards observó en su artículo sobre la fotografía de Susan Meiselas, son «objetos culturales» hechos para «proyectar ciertos significados y provoca ciertos afectos». Tradicionalmente, los historiadores que han trabajado con imágenes han tenido interés, en general, en extraer la evidencia de la materialidad del pasado, y esto se puede llevar a cabo a través de mirar lo que se hace presente en una imagen. Sin embargo, el significado o significados que se pueden extraer están siempre enmarcados en el contexto que ellas mismas proporcionan, y el hecho de observar siempre tiene una cualidad subjetiva que perfila las ideas que se crean, en forma de diálogo, entre la imagen y los significados que se han construido con posterioridad. A partir de las imágenes de un álbum fotográfico de la escuela Floodgate Street Infant School de Birmingham (Inglaterra), de los años veinte, del siglo XX, este breve ensayo explora la naturaleza de estas imágenes, sus significados ocultos y la importancia de contextualizarlas. La exploración visual de estas imágenes se agrupa en cuatro diferentes categorías de contexto: el archivo como un lugar de la memoria; la mirada experta; las tecnologías de la exhibición; y la singularidad de la imagen. Este ensayo también tiene en cuenta la idea de la biografía «social» de una imagen y como la digitalización puede transformar imágenes originales y sus significados.Photographs, as Elizabeth Edwards noted in her essay on the photography of Susan Meiselas, are «cultural objects», made to «project certain meanings and elicit certain affects». Traditionally, historians, when they have worked with photographs, have been generally concerned with extracting evidence about the materiality of the past. This is done by looking at what is made present in an image. However, the meaning[s] we take from photographs are always framed by the context in which we come upon them and looking always has a subjective quality which shapes the ideas that are formed in dialogue with an image and the meanings that are then constructed. Using a 1920s school photographic album of Floodgate Street Infant School from 1920s Birmingham, England this small essay will explore the nature of images, their hidden meanings and the importance of contextualizing the visual. This exploration of the visual is grouped around four different categories of context the archive as a site of memory; the knowing gaze; the technology of display; and the singularity of the image. The essay also considers the idea of the «social biography» of an image and how digitization can transform original images and their meaning

Children, Propaganda and War, 1914-1918: An exploration of visual archives in English city = Infancia, propaganda y Gran Guerra 1914-1918: una exploración de los archivos visuales en una ciudad inglesa

Since 2014 there have been across Europe programmes of commemorative events to mark the Great War, 1914-18, and early amongst these events was an exhibition of photographs Paris 14-18, la guerre au quotidien at the Galerie des Bibliothéques de la Ville de Paris. The photographs were all taken by Charles Lansiaux, and record daily life in the city, from the recruitment and departure of French soldiers to victory celebrations in 1918. The exhibition importantly pointed to the fact that the Great War was the first conflict where the experiences of civilians were extensively visually documented. Further, as publicity for the exhibition noted: «La présence récurrente de groupes d’enfants dans ces photographies révèle la place nouvelle qui leur incombe, à l’aube du XXe siècle». Taking a lead from this exhibition this paper will investigate the wartime experiences of children in one English city, namely Birmingham, and how they were visually captured. In particular we will focus on documenting and analysing the connections between the representation of children at war, propaganda and the promotion of patriotism.Desde 2014 ha habido a lo largo de Europa diversos programas conmemorativos de los acontecimientos que marcaron la Gran Guerra de 1914-1918. Uno de estos eventos fue la temprana exposición de fotografías Paris 14-18, la guerre au quotidien que tuvo lugar en la Galerie des Bibliothéques de París. Todas las fotografías habían sido tomadas por Charles Lansiaux, y versaban sobre la vida cotidiana en la ciudad desde el reclutamiento y salida de los soldados franceses a las celebraciones de la victoria en 1918. La exposición señalaba, de manera importante, el hecho de que la Gran Guerra fue el primer conflicto en el que las experiencias de la población civil fueron visualmente documentadas de manera extensa. Además, como se indicaba en la publicidad de la exposición, «La presencia recurrente de grupos de niños en estas fotografías revela el nuevo lugar que les corresponde en los comienzos del siglo XX». Tomando como guía esta exposición, este artículo investigará las experiencias de los niños, durante el tiempo de guerra, en una ciudad inglesa, concretamente Birmingham, y cómo fueron visualmente captados. En particular, nos centraremos en documentar y analizar las conexiones entre la representación de la infancia en guerra, la propaganda y la promoción del patriotismo.

Art, Anti-fascism, and the Evolution of a “Propaganda of the Imagination”:The Artists International Association 1933–1945

The artist and art educator Nan Young man recalling the 1939 Art for the People exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, London said ‘we wanted everyone to use their art, whatever it was, in a political way.’ In the fight against the growing threat of fascism in the 1930s artists in Britain became increasingly concerned with producing art or curating exhibitions which presented a strong and radical challenge to fascist ideology. This agenda was also linked to desire to reach out to audiences beyond those of the metropolitan centre and in the late 1930s and 1940s anti-fascist art exhibitions toured to regional museums, civic centres, factories, and barracks. This essay identifies and documents the rationale, content, participants, impact and interconnectedness of exhibitions in late 1930s and early 1940s Britain that confronted the threat of fascism, including Artists against Fascism (1935), Guernica (1938), and For Liberty (1943) and in particular map the evolution of a “propaganda of the imagination” whereby through direct engagement with art and artists the public would look closely, rather than look away and become an advocate for the arts and progressivism

‘Seeing through touch’: the material world of visually impaired children

This article examines the changing material world of the visually impaired child and the ways in which this has been viewed and understood by scholars, philosophers, educators and other commentators over time. It describes and analyses tactile encounters as they have been planned for by educators, museum curators and others, from the Age of the Enlightenment until the present day. It takes as its starting point a recent blog that appeared online in 2011, which posted images from handling sessions for the visually impaired child, organized by John Alfred Charlton Deas from Sunderland Museum, England, between 1913-1926. It traces the provenance and development of ideas around ‘seeing through touch’, from the embossed books and maps and the printing machines for systems such as Braille in the nineteenth century to the theoretical and pedagogical developments which began to occur at the start of the twentieth century