Black history to form part of new exhibition in Mansfield Museum

Members of Mansfield Council’s cultural services team are working on a project to document and collect oral histories from local people of the Windrush generation and their descendants.

These pieces of history will then form part of a temporary exhibition at Mansfield Museum next year, inviting residents to learn more about Mansfield’s black history and the contribution made by the Windrush generation.

Among the stories featured will be Samuel Case.

As your Chad reported in January, the 91-year-old was the first Black man elected as a Deacon by an all-white, 120 strong congregation at Mansfield Baptist Church, the highest honour the church can bestow on a lay person.

Samuel, from Jamaica, worked as a miner at Welbeck Colliery in Meden Vale and lived on Western Avenue in Mansfield.

Carl, his son, lives in Sheffield and has been working with the museum to create a short video to be shown in the exhibition documenting his father's life.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities awarded the council a grant of £17,949 in May to support the education of the Windrush generation.

Coun Stuart Richardson, council portfolio holder for regeneration and growth, said: “This project aims to bring together people of all cultures, faiths and races to celebrate one of the world’s most influential cultures and an unforgettable contribution by a generation.

“It will also highlight the importance of migration and inclusion, reflecting on this story’s significance through today's events.”

The It Runs Through Us temporary exhibition opens in the Leeming Street museum on February 28 and will run until mid-November 2023.

It is hoped the project will bring together local campaigners, people affected by the Windrush Scandal, race equality activists and social historians to co-curate the exhibition and surrounding events.

The council is also asking for the public’s help to bring the exhibition to life.

Anyone with Caribbean historical items – anything from suitcases and passports, to letters or any clothing, particularly from the 1960s and 1970s – is asked to get in touch via [email protected]

Sian Booth, council cultural services manager, said: “There is currently no archive of black-led oral histories in Mansfield and we risk losing that valuable heritage and history to time.”