29 October 2024 – 28 March 2025
Monday to Friday 9am - 7pm and Saturday 9.45am - 5pm
Free entry
Britain’s Caribbean colonies had been exploited for centuries, but increasing demands for self-determination emerging from riots and strikes during the 1930s forced Britain to introduce political reform. Progress towards self-government unfolded in stages between the 1960s and 1980s. Today Britain retains six overseas territories in the Caribbean and is still linked to its former colonies through the Commonwealth. The process of decolonisation is ongoing.
This exhibition traces British Caribbean colonies’ paths to independence, highlighting the work of transnational activists. It also explores the Caribbean diaspora in Britain and how successive changes to immigration and nationality laws have culminated in the 'Windrush' scandal.
Visitors can trace the journey from colony to independence and diaspora through a vibrant range of materials from Senate House Library's Caribbean and Black history collections. Items on display include pamphlets, posters, newspapers, comics, calypsos, poetry and badges. Visitors will have the opportunity to listen to new oral history recordings created as part of the AHRC-funded project ‘The Windrush Scandal in a Transnational and Commonwealth Context’.
Content warning: Please be advised that this exhibition includes content that features racist language and refers to racial discrimination. The archival material is representative of the time and context in which the objects were created.
The exhibition features a selection of oral history interviews from the AHRC-funded project, The Windrush Scandal in its Transnational and Commonwealth Context. Learn more about the project and explore the 60 oral history interviews created for it.
Curation: Juanita Cox, Argula Rublack
Conservation: Salvador Alcántara-Peláez, Christos Fotelis
Interpretation: Susan Dymond
Design: Northover&Brown
Mount-making: Rebecca Ash
Graphic production: Displayways
AV installation: ADi Audiovisual Ltd
With special thanks to the following organisations and individuals:
Senate House Library team
Guyana SPEAKS
The Convocation Trust for sponsoring the events programme
Maisie Barrett
Dr Tisa Bryant
Professor David Dabydeen
Professor Katherine Harloe
Professor Philip Murphy
Dr Angelina Osborne
Frances Swaine
Rod Westmaas
And to everyone who contributed so generously to the AHRC-funded project, The Windrush Scandal in its Transnational and Commonwealth Context. The project team members were Principal Investigator Professor Philip Murphy, Co-Investigator Dr Rob Waters, and Research Fellows Dr Juanita Cox and Dr Eve Hayes de Kalaf. To learn more about the 60 oral history interviews that were conducted as part of the project go to windrushscandal.org.
Billy Strachan (1921–1998) was a socialist, anti-racist, campaigner for colonial independence and founder of one of the first newspapers for the Caribbean community in the UK, Caribbean News. This video tells his story illustrated with his papers and pamphlet collection, which are held at Senate House Library.
Claudia Jones (1915–1964) was a Trinidadian activist who made significant contributions to London’s Black community by founding The West Indian Gazette and by organising the 1959 Caribbean carnival. This video features items connected to her activities in London alongside publications on Caribbean carnival and calypso traditions.
Una Marson (1905-1965) was a Jamaican playwright, poet, journalist, performer and campaigner. The items in this film are taken from Senate House Library’s modern book and periodicals collections and depict aspects of Una Marson’s life during the two periods she lived and worked in London during the 1930s and 1940s.
The Pioneer Press was founded in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1949 and aimed to provide cheap books focussing on several themes including Caribbean poetry, biography, natural history, and nation building. They also published works for children. A selection of these titles, taken from Senate House Library's collections, are shown in this film.
Revolutionary feminist rhetoric has been pivotal in shaping Latin America's socio-political landscape, especially through the contributions of women. Though often overlooked, these movements have profoundly influenced feminist advocacy across Latin America.
The Caribbean studies collections at the Institute of Historical Research, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and Senate House libraries are some of the largest and most varied in the UK. This guide offers a concise introduction to the collections and some of their main strengths.
