University supports project to share Portsmouth’s post-WW2 Black stories

The Portsmouth Black History Group has been awarded a grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to fill a gap in the Portsmouth archives by documenting the experiences of the pioneering African and Caribbeans who made the city their home after the Second World War. 

The £68,645 will be spent on recording the memories of members of the African and Caribbean community who came to Portsmouth, especially after Second World War, but up until the early 1980s between the end of the Second World War and the 1980s. 

The project, in collaboration with the University of Portsmouth and other local organisations, will aim to remember and record some of those who joined the armed forces, worked in the dockyard and NHS, and opened shops, businesses and the first specialist hair salons in the city, as well as exploring the social and cultural scene at that time. 

The interviews will be deposited with Portsmouth History Centre to secure and share this heritage for current and future generations. 

The local lens of the project will make it distinct. In contrast to Black History as taught in schools, which often centres around American Civil rights movement pioneers such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, the project aims to be more relevant to Portsmouth communities, especially Black children growing up here in the city. 

The project plans to work with local schools and also to create pop-up exhibitions in various community venues in the area. 

Marie Costa, Chair of Portsmouth Black History Group, said: “We will reveal the challenges we faced and overcame in finding housing, employment, in tackling ignorance and racism and expressing our culture. We hope that the project will lead to a greater appreciation of the city’s diversity and greater respect and tolerance for all its individuals and their cultures”. 

Dr Tarek Teba, from the University of Portsmouth’s Heritage Hub, who supports the project, said: “At the University of Portsmouth and its Centre of Excellence for Heritage Innovation, communities sit at the heart of our research and innovation. We prioritise co-creative approaches to safeguard both tangible and intangible heritage while informing future conservation practices.” 

Anna Delaney, University Archivist, helped shape and develop the successful bid. She added: “Collaborating with local partners supports University of Portsmouth’s ambition to strengthen its role as a Civic University – the project is also a great opportunity to record some of the stories of our own alumni and better document our shared history with the city.” 

Jodi Burkett, Senior Lecturer in History and the University’s current representative on the Portsmouth Black History Group, added: “This project will add to a growing national picture of the role, experiences and importance of African and Caribbean people to the development of British society in the late twentieth century. It will enrich our understanding of the vast range of people who have made Portsmouth what it is.” 

The project is also in collaboration with Portsmouth City Council, The National Museum of the Royal Navy and Portsmouth Creates. It will feed into the city’s Portsmouth 100 centenary celebrations and seek to boost its bid to become the UK City of Culture.