Alison Newby | The University of Manchester (original) (raw)

History Blog Posts by Alison Newby

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - Research Skills Series, Jan 3, 2019

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - Research Skills Series, Jun 5, 2018

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, May 29, 2018

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester f... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility. The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer). The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials, the intention being to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post 'Stateless in Manchester - the strange case of the "D.P. Student"' uses rare contemporary Student Union publications to reconstruct the so-called 'D.P. Controversy' as it played out in the University of Manchester Student Unions from 1949 to 1950. Whilst my post 'Contextualising the 'D.P. Controversy': UK student responses to European migration after WWII' published on the University Histories blog in 2016 charted for an academic audience the larger context of UK student responses after the Second World War to potential Displaced Student migration to Britain from Germany, this post for the AIU Centre focuses more on local Manchester student activities and debates on the subject, framed to enthuse non-specialist audiences with the excitement of historical research.

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - Research Skills Series, Oct 10, 2017

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre (AIU Centre) is an open access University of... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre (AIU Centre) is an open access University of Manchester facility which is both public and academic facing. The Research Skills Series of blog posts is designed to promote insight into how the Centre's collections can enrich the work of students and researchers. The blog post 'Ways into the Collection: Questions to ask yourself' is the first of four 'Ways into the Collection' pieces. It explains the significance of the AIU Centre as the premier resource centre in the UK devoted to making available materials to facilitate the study of race relations, consulted by researchers from across the world. To aid understanding of how to make the most of the collections, the post touches on some of the realities of archives and archival research which need to be borne in mind, as well as questions for potential users to ask themselves to help them prepare to engage an archive collection. Other 'Ways into the Collection' pieces cover: Databases; 'Human Interface'; Serendipity.

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - Research Skills Series, Oct 10, 2017

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre (AIU Centre) is an open access University of... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre (AIU Centre) is an open access University of Manchester facility which is both public and academic facing. The Research Skills Series of blog posts is designed to promote insight into how the Centre's collections can enrich the work of students and researchers. The blog post 'Ways into the Collection: Databases' is the second of four 'Ways into the Collection' pieces. It explains the different ways of discovering what the AIU Centre holdings contain that is relevant to particular research interests. The Centre is a one-stop-shop for archival collections and books touching on a range of race relations topics, and the post takes the reader through different search options. Starting with the Centre's specialist subject area resource lists, it moves on to suggest the best database options for building up a list comprising solely Centre resources relevant to a particular topic, outlining the different approaches necessary to finding books as well as items in the archive collections. Finally, it introduces other databases which feature the Centre's resources alongside those of other providers, as well as further research aids and links to related collections. Other 'Ways into the Collection' pieces cover: Questions to ask yourself; 'Human Interface'; Serendipity.

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - Research Skills Series, Jan 19, 2018

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre (AIU Centre) is an open access University of... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre (AIU Centre) is an open access University of Manchester facility which is both public and academic facing. The Research Skills Series of blog posts is designed to promote insight into how the Centre's collections can enrich the work of students and researchers. The blog post 'Ways into the Collection: The 'Human Interface' ' is the third of four 'Ways into the Collection' pieces. It explains how the 'way into' the AIU Centre's collections can be smoothed by discussing research/study needs with the individuals whose role is to take care of the collection, answer questions from users, find information and give advice regarding materials in the library/archive. At the time of writing, the Centre's two 'Human Interfaces' are Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer) and Ruth Tait (Senior Library Assistant). The experience they bring to their respective roles is described. Ruth Tait is the main 'Human Interface' users of the Centre will encounter, and her special insights into the strengths of the Centre and its collections are provided, along with her advice on how best to prepare for consulting the Centre's 'Human Interfaces'. Other 'Ways into the Collection' pieces cover: Questions to ask yourself; Databases; Serendipity.

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - Research Skills Series, Jan 19, 2018

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre (AIU Centre) is an open access University of... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre (AIU Centre) is an open access University of Manchester facility which is both public and academic facing. The Research Skills Series of blog posts is designed to promote insight into how the AIU Centre's collections can enrich the work of students and researchers. The blog post 'Ways into the Collection: Serendipity'' is the last of four 'Ways into the Collection' pieces. It explains the concept of serendipity and its power as a way of uncovering resources relevant to particular interests in a facility such as the Centre. Serendipity relies on the individual keeping an open mind and a watchful eye, and case studies are provided (from the Centre's Roving Reader category of blog posts) which illustrate the powerful effects serendipity can have on the quality as well as content of different research projects. Other 'Ways into the Collection' pieces cover: Questions to ask yourself; Databases;
'Human Interface'.

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, Dec 12, 2017

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester f... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility. The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer). The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials, the intention being to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post 'From Jamaica to England revisited - Blanche Blackwell and the joys of reading obituaries' looks back to the 'From Jamaica to England' series of 5 blog posts which brought together the stories and recollections of Black and 'middle-class brown' individuals who had migrated from Jamaica to England in past decades. Through considering the obituary of Blanche Blackwell (who had died aged 104), the history of the tiny white community of Jamaica is considered. Blackwell was from the Jewish elite Lindo family, and her experience is compared and contrasted with those of the Jamaicans we met before in the previous 5 posts of the series.

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, Jun 26, 2017

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester f... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility. The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer). The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials, the intention being to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post 'Historians count...' explores the motivations of individuals who may spend many years conducting research. Highlighting the book 'Historians and Race. Autobiography and the Writing of History' (published 1996 and edited by Paul Cimbala and Robert Himmelberg), the post examines the motivations of eminent US historians of race relations Darlene Clark Hine, Mark Naison, Dan Carter and Eric Foner. Concluding from their words that historians bear a heavy responsibility in deciding what and who is to be remembered as 'important' or 'significant', as well as to conduct their research with as much objectivity as possible, it makes the case that the task of the historian is itself significant, and one upon which the opinions of millions depend.

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, May 16, 2017

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester f... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility. The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer). The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials, the intention being to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post ' 'White Fawn' and the lost history of James Young Deer' complements the Centre's holdings on Native American history and culture by uncovering the work of James Young Deer, the first Native American film director, who had been one of the most successful film-makers of the silent era in Hollywood. Including a link to one of the few examples of his work to survive ('White Fawn's Devotion' from 1910), the post highlights the fact that Young Deer strove to oppose the emerging stereotype in popular culture of Native Americans as savage unreasoning killers to present them as civilised and capable of mercy and love. The recently-solved mystery of Young Deer's own racial background is also examined, revealing him as genuinely Native American even though he had been officially designated as 'mulatto'.

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, Apr 20, 2017

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester f... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility. The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer). The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials, the intention being to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post ' 'Humpty Dumpty', Ahmed Kathrada, and the death of a conscience...' commemorates the life and contribution of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada, who died aged 86 on 28 March 2017. Kathrada's name may not be as familiar as others in the struggle, but he had stood shoulder to shoulder with leaders such as Nelson Mandela right from the beginning in the 1940s, and was with him throughout his long incarceration. As a South African of Indian Muslim heritage, Kathrada's experience of apartheid differed from that of Black South Africans, and the post highlights his autobiography No Bread for Mandela. Memoir of Ahmed Kathrada. Prisoner No. 468/64 (published 2004), which is held by the Centre.

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, Oct 12, 2016

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester f... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility. The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer). The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials, the intention being to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post "Pictorial Pan-Africanism and Apartheid" is one of two blog posts focusing on illustrated books (the other being “From the Horse’s Mouth”). Here the work of illustrators Ife Nii Owoo and Mike Bostock is highlighted, focusing on the way in which their pictorial representations deepen the intellectual and emotional engagement of the reader with respectively ‘Pan-Africanism for Beginners’ (by Sid Lemelle) and ‘Apartheid - a Graphic Guide’ (by Donald Woods).

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, Jul 5, 2016

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester f... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility. The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer). The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials, the intention being to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post "Hulme and the Nightmare Scenario" introduces the Hulme Study Collection (held in the Centre’s archive) in order to give a flavour of how one of the worst UK urban planning disasters of the mid-to-late twentieth century affected the lived experience of one of Manchester’s most deprived communities. Rare, unpublished City Council documentation is juxtaposed with the published hopes for the future recorded by local residents in Hulme Views. Self Portraits, revealing the spirit, strength, camaraderie and humour surviving in the multi-ethnic Hulme community despite tremendous tensions and difficulties.

University Histories blog, Mar 4, 2016

The University Histories blog was launched by The Research Group on University History (based in ... more The University Histories blog was launched by The Research Group on University History (based in the University of Manchester). It brings together a nexus of people working on university histories in the broadest context and provides a platform for discussion on the changing roles and meanings of these institutions through time, advancing the understanding of universities and their place in society. This blog post features in the category 'Students and Student Life'. It charts UK student responses after the Second World War to potential Displaced Student migration to Britain from Germany, and uses rare contemporary Student Union publications to reconstruct the so-called 'D.P. Controversy' as it played out in the University of Manchester Student Unions from 1949 to 1950. (See also the blog post published on the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre blog 'Reading Race, Collecting Cultures' in May 2018 entitled 'Stateless in Manchester - the strange case of the "D.P. Student"')

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, Feb 16, 2016

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester f... more The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility. The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer). The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials, the intention being to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post "Gladys and the Native American Long Long Trail of Tears" touches on the life experience of anthropologist and Medicine Woman Gladys Tantaquidgeon of the Mohegan tribe, focusing on the nature of the tensions between the conflicting worldviews represented by anthropological ‘science’ and Native American culture. Tracing the catastrophic history of the encounter between Native Americans and the colonisers of North America as they advanced across the continent, the blog post highlights the rich resources held by the Centre and how they can be juxtaposed to produce a sensitive, variegated view of past events.

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, Aug 25, 2015

The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym T... more The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer, Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre). The former provides the text and the latter normally provides the images. The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility, and The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials. The intention is to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post "The Devil Man Springs to Life" is part of a series exploring the links between items held by other institutions/collections and the race relations theme/holdings of the Centre. This post uses as its starting point an amazing lantern slide image annotated as 'Devil Man at Ladysmith' which was processed and reproduced for me by the Centre for Heritage Imaging & Collection care (CHICC) based in the John Rylands Library in Manchester. The lantern slide (along with thousands of others) had lain neglected for possibly eighty years or more in the astonishing uncatalogued Manchester Geographical Society Lantern Slide Collection now preserved by the John Rylands Library. The Manchester Geographical Society records held at the University of Manchester's Main Library reveal the context in which these lantern slides were amassed over decades and used for educational purposes in public lectures organised by the Victorians section of the Geographical Society. Collaboration with Dr Ian Fairweather (Social Anthropologist, University of Manchester) made it possible to explain the events the image may have been recording, as well as what these events may have meant to colonial observers in the 1920s or 1930s as opposed to the Black South African participants themselves. Such images were highly influential on the outlook of an otherwise uninformed British public regarding matters of race and culture, and may have unwittingly contributed to a social context in which various forms of racism and white-supremacist thought appeared to be justified. Other blog posts in this series are: "Massacre of the Missionaries" ; "Day in, Day out: Reminiscence work in Monsall" ; "Tennyson Makiwane comes to London - but how?" ; "Meeting Daisy Makiwane..."

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, Jun 17, 2015

The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym T... more The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer, Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre). The former provides the text and the latter normally provides the images. The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility, and The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials. The intention is to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post "Tennyson Makiwane comes to London - but how?" is part of a series exploring the links between items held by other institutions/collections and the race relations theme/holdings of the Centre. This post attempts to capture the excitement of discovering tantalising new evidence of how one of the most significant participants in the early UK anti-apartheid movement came to Britain. When researched and put into historical context with the help of eye-witness Manu Herbstein, certain correspondence buried in the uncatalogued British Asian and Overseas Socialist Fellowship (BAOF) collection (held by the Labour History Archive at the People's History Museum (PHM) in Manchester) revealed the informal networks in London whereby funds were obtained enabling Tennyson Makiwane to travel to the city from Cairo in 1959. Helped in this by his sister Daisy, anti-apartheid activist Canon John Collins, and the Secretary of the BAOF, Makiwane as a black South African came to play a key part in orchestrating the Boycott Movement which led to a nationwide month-long boycott of South African goods in the UK in March 1960. The follow-up post "Meeting Daisy Makiwane..." looks into what can be learnt about the activities of Tennyson's sister Daisy, who to all intents and purposes has disappeared from history. Further blog posts in this series are: "Massacre of the Missionaries" ; "The Devil Man Springs to Life" ; "Day in, Day out: Reminiscence work in Monsall"

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, Oct 6, 2015

The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym T... more The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer, Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre). The former provides the text and the latter normally provides the images. The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility, and The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials. The intention is to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The blog post "Meeting Daisy Makiwane..." is part of a series exploring the links between items held by other institutions/collections and the race relations theme/holdings of the Centre. This post looks into what can be learnt about Daisy Makiwane (the sister of anti-apartheid activist Tennyson Makiwane), who was crucial in facilitating the channelling of funds to her brother which enabled him to travel to London in 1959, where he became a key orchestrator of the anti-apartheid Boycott Movement. Combining the memories of Manu Herbstein (who had met Daisy and Tennyson Makiwane at the time of these activities) and the contents of a flyer preserved in the Records of the 1956 Treason Trial held by the Historical Papers Research Archive at the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa), the blog post assesses the few scraps of information about Daisy that have survived. Daisy all but disappeared from history, yet as the flyer shows, in the mid-1950s in London she was appearing on a panel discussing South African problems alongside exiled giants of the anti-apartheid cause such as H A Naidoo, E S (Solly) Sachs and Guy Routh. "Meeting Daisy Makiwane..." is a follow-up post to "Tennyson Makiwane comes to London - but how?" Further blog posts in this series are: "Massacre of the Missionaries" ; "The Devil Man Springs to Life" ; "Day in, Day out: Reminiscence work in Monsall"

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures blog - The Roving Reader Files category, Mar 19, 2015

The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym T... more The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer, Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre). The former provides the text and the latter normally provides the images. The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility, and The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials. The intention is to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The post "Massacre of the Missionaries" is part of a series exploring the links between items held by other institutions/collections and the race relations theme/holdings of the Centre. Here, I gained the permission of the archivist of Special Collections at Manchester Metropolitan University to reproduce images of two remarkable Baxter prints held in that archive, allowing me to discuss and contextualise their race-related subject matter. The two prints depict the murder of the missionary Reverend J Williams by indigenous people in the Pacific region in 1839. This caused an outcry in the western Christian world, and Williams' friend George Baxter used his skills in colour print production to present his own impressions of how the sad events might have unfolded. In doing so, he set the tone for innumerable later visual and media representations of so-called 'native savagery' which continue to influence our unconscious inherited attitudes to other cultures and peoples to this day. Other blog posts in this series are: "Day in, Day out: Reminiscence work in Monsall" ; "The Devil Man Springs to Life" ; "Tennyson Makiwane comes to London - but how?" ; "Meeting Daisy Makiwane..."

Reading Race, Collecting Cultures - The Roving Reader Files, Apr 16, 2015

The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym T... more The Roving Reader Files category of blog posts is produced by Alison Newby (under the pseudonym The Roving Reader) in collaboration with Hannah Niblett (Collections Access Officer, Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre). The former provides the text and the latter provides the images. The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is an open access University of Manchester facility, and The Roving Reader Files are designed as public engagement materials. The intention is to introduce research skills and terminology to the general user/reader in an entertaining yet informative manner by revealing hidden stories, making unusual connections and sharing insights into using the Centre's collection for research. The post "Day in, Day out: Reminiscence work in Monsall" is part of a series exploring the links between other institutions/collections and the race relations theme/holdings of the Centre. In this case, after participating in one of the Alzheimer Society's Dementia Friends information sessions (adopted by the University of Manchester as one of its social responsibility flagship programmes), I noted the similarity between the session's approach to dementia and that of a little-known pioneering Manchester organisation almost forty years before. The Gatehouse Project had used what are now known to be dementia-friendly techniques to collect the reminiscences of elderly ladies staying in two wards of Monsall Hospital, Manchester, valuing their contribution and giving them a voice which has too often been ignored. The resulting publication Day In, Day Out. Memories of North Manchester from Women in Monsall Hospital (edited by Patricia Duffin and Ailsa Cox) appeared in 1985 and forms part of the Centre's collection. Other blog posts in this series are: "Massacre of the Missionaries" ; "The Devil Man Springs to Life" ; "Tennyson Makiwane comes to London - but how?" ; "Meeting Daisy Makiwane..."