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The History of the Presence of Black People in Britain
Black History (KS3 - A level)
The Institute of Race Relations has created a history DVD Struggles for Black Community. Four 38-minute films made for Channel 4 tell the stories of how ordinary Asian and African-Caribbean people have made history in the UK. £20 user licence. Download the useful accompanying booklet from:
Free Downloadable Materials for Teaching about the Abolition of the Slave Trade (KS1 - 3)
A comprehensive resource containing free downloadable schemes of work and materials for Key Stages 1-3. The innovative resources include film clips from "A Son of Africa" (on Equiano) and the Hollywood biopic of Wilberforce "Amazing Grace. The approach taken models medium term planning for the new KS3 curriculum in History and would particularly support an emphasis on diversity, community cohesion, interpretation and the role of the individual.
Black History Month Assembly 'Unsung Heroes - Unheard Voices'
A Powerpoint Presentation by St Michael's Catholic High School History Department:
Resources for teaching about the life and times of a famous Victorian woman.
New BBC Schools Programmes (KS2 but also suitable for KS3)
Black Britons BH33 - From Roman Times to the 2nd World War
£49.90 +VAT (DVD and Pack)
Black Pride Posters from Badger Publishing, Stevenage
Set of 12 A3 colour posters of influential black people - £29.38.
ISBN 978 - 1 84691 - 079 - 1
Positive Images specialises in supplying 'quality, affordable, eye-catching' posters'. They present 'images of people who dared to dream'. 'Discuss the contributions they made to our everyday lives and the obstacles and scepticism they overcame' . 'Great educational tools for cross-cultural awareness.'
BBC Web Site
Website with biographies of famous people - includes a few historic black people (Olaudah Equiano, Mary Seacole, Marcus Garvey):
The Arrival of the Empire Windrush: Stories of people who came to Britain in June 1948:
Origination 'brings together the wealth of web resources recording and celebrating the contributions of immigrant cultures to contemporary Britain'
Black Presence : Asian and Black History in Britain 1500-1850 with Virtual Tours exploring London Bristol and Liverpool and An 18th century Voyage of Discovery
Caribbean Histories Revealed, is an online exhibition from The National Archives. The exhibition traces the history of the British Caribbean through Colonial Office records from the 17th century to 1926. From maps and photographs, to letters and petitions, it brings to life over 300 years of life in the Caribbean.
Moving Here explores, records and illustrates why people came to England over the last 200 years and what their experiences were and continue to be. It offers free access, for personal and educational use, to an online catalogue of versions of original material related to migration history from local, regional and national archives, libraries and museums.
General History site
Includes sections on Black people in Britain; slavery; civil rights movement
Black Presence in Britain
100 Great Black Britons
25 March 2007 marked 200 years to the day that a Parliamentary Bill was passed to abolish the slave trade in the former British Empire. 1807 marks the beginning of the long road to the eventual abolition of slavery itself within the former British Empire via the Act of 1833. Even then slaves did not gain their final freedom until 1838. Although slavery was finally abolished in the Americas in 1888, it is estimated that over 20 million people are still in forms of servitude today.
In the video ‘Listen We’re Aiming High’ (MECS 2005) young people reflect on the content of the History they are taught in school. They express concern that the only aspect of Black people’s history that is offered is their experience of slavery and that this is usually presented in a negative way, with no attention paid to black people’s resistance or to their part in the abolition movement.
Useful weblinks re the background to the Celebration of the Bicentenary:
The National Maritime Museum, National Museums Liverpool, Bristol Museums and Art Gallery, British Empire and Commonwealth Museum and Hull City Museums and Art Gallery have collaborated to produce materials for schools about the trans-Atlantic slave trade to support the teaching of history and citizenship.
Freedom: A KS3 History Resource about Britain and the Transatlantic Slave Trade (National Maritime Museum)
Also useful information and questions for students to research:
Government statement about the plans for the Bicentenary events etc.
BBC Web Site
Interesting site focussing on Bristol and the Slave Trade
National Archives Learning Curve
Parliament and the British Slave Trade - ideas for lessons and historical sources
Slavery - basic information
Very useful material is also to be found in the book
‘Slavery: An Introduction to the African Holocaust’ ISBN 0 9524789 0 0
Race Equality Management Team,
The exhibition ‘The History of the Presence of Black People in Britain’ is available for hire to Hertfordshire schools and organisations.
Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS) Programme for Schools (KS2 and 3)
Many African Caribbean people came to Hertfordshire before 1807, and have stories to tell. Hertfordshire people took part in the first mass human rights campaign, and were involved in the fight for freedom in Britain, the West Indies and America. Museums, archives, libraries, and community organisations in Hertfordshire worked together during 2007(Bicentenary of the Act which abolished the Slave Trade in Britain) to find out more from primary sources, and give a voice to those whose stories have not been heard.
Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS) offer a Programme for schools (KS2 and 3) entitled ‘Hidden Histories: The Slave Trade and Abolition in Hertfordshire’. Teachers are invited to bring their class (maximum 30 pupils) to Hertford for a half day visit. The cost is £50 for half a day.HALS work with original documents and can do a session which is primarily history based or one which includes a creative writing element.
To support the Programme for Schools, an excellent DVD is available - ‘Hidden Histories: Hertfordshire’s links with the Slave Trade and its Abolition’ (in 4 parts : running time 35 minutes).
Visit the HALS pages on Herts Direct:
or the Herts Memories website which has some useful information on Hidden Histories:
For further information, a copy of the DVD or to book a visit to HALS please contact:
The 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade prompted new research into the links between Hertfordshire people, the slave trade and its abolition. As part of the 'Hidden Histories' project, volunteers used parish registers and other archives to identify over 50 African people who came to Hertfordshire at the time of the slave trade. The information collected is on the Herts Memories website which was launched in 2009 to celebrate life in Hertfordshire.
Thundridge Primary School set up a school project to restore the monument to Thomas Clarkson that had been erected in 1879 to mark his involvement with the campaign to abolish slavery as part of the Hidden Histories Project which is recorded on the Herts Memories website: