New interest in local black history
Published: 7th May 2021
Dr Cheryl Butler
@CherylHello
Cheryl Butler is a Southampton Tourist Guide, a founder member of The Sarah Siddons Fan Club Theatre Company and is a BALH Outreach Team member. She read history & drama at Winchester before going on to complete a PhD in history and is an Associate of the New Era Academy.
One of the recent outcomes of the Black Lives Matters campaign is an increased interest in local black history.
As a public historian with a focus on People and Place I have given a series of on-line talks titled ‘Ascupart’s Children: early black history in Southampton 1500-1900’ (https://hampshirearchivestrust.co.uk/events-and-meetings/past-events/ascuparts-children-black-history/).
The response to that talk from the community organisation The United Voices of Africa Association led to the creation of the film ‘Six Characters in Search of a History’. Members of the Association had been astonished to learn how far back the history of black people in Southampton stretched and wanted to know how to access these stories and to promote them more widely.
With Covid-19 restrictions in place it was decided that making a short film would be a first step in raising awareness. BALH member organisation, The Sarah Siddons Fan Club Theatre, was brought in as a partner as their specialism was site specific theatre on historic events. With a budget of just a few hundred pounds and restrictions on how many people could meet together, just six stories were selected, three about women and three about men, spanning a number of centuries, and with locations associated with the main character that still exist today. The majority of the actors were volunteers from The United Voices of Africa Association.
Trailer https://youtu.be/4dBMfdI8ATQ - which gives the background to the film
Film https://youtu.be/T6cKDsHDp0k - Six Characters in Search of a History
Later this year a new publication on early black history in Southampton will features some fifty stories illustrative of the range of experiences of black Sotonians.
Dr Cheryl Butler ANEA MITG FRHS FRSA
Hon Fellow University of Winchester
BALH Personal Achievement Award 2014
City of Southampton Award 2018
Recent Publications
St Mary Over the Water: The Story of the Jesus Chapel 2020
The Remembrance Books of Robert Knaplocke 1575 & John Jackson 1578 Southampton Records Series 2021
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the British Association for Local History (BALH). Any content provided by our contributors is of their own opinion and is not intended to malign any individual, group, organisation, or entity.
