On Wednesday 30 July 2003 www.movinghere.org.uk
was launched at City Hall, London. More than 180 people came to celebrate
this exciting achievement which is hopefully just the beginning...
The Moving Here website is a treasure trove. It is a resource for
everyone - providing free access to digital versions of more than
150, 000 items which record and illustrate the history of migration
to England over the last 200 years. In particular it looks at Caribbean,
Irish, Jewish and South Asian communities. People of many different
ages and backgrounds will have use of this unique 'digital' network.
Amongst many things on this site you can:
- find extensive reports and correspondence from Gandhi, charting
the struggle for Indian independence
- read a collection of family letters of a Kindertransport child
- listen to clips of calypso and jazz
- search selected passenger lists from the Caribbean 1948 - 1960
- read advice given to Irish young girls emigrating to England
in the 30s
- listen to over 200 segments from recordings of individuals
recounting their heart warming and heart breaking experiences
The site has been made possible by a total grant of £2.65 million from the New Opportunities Fund. It is the result of a partnership led by The National Archives between 30 national, regional and local museums, archives and libraries across England who have contributed the content.
There are 5 main different sections of the site which enable access to information via different starting points and levels.
The Gallery
provides highlights of the online collection arranged by topics such
as sport, style, politics and women's lives. About 500 items are showcased
here which can also be sent as e-postcards.
Migration
Histories provides the historical context for these items. Written
by experts it gives an overview of lives in the countries of origin,
the journeys people made to England, and the struggles and success
of arriving and settling for four communities.
Tracing
your Roots explores family history with easy-to-use illustrated
guides to tracing Caribbean, Irish, Jewish or South Asian ancestors.
It offers background history and describes the sorts of records you
may need to consult if doing family research for these communities.
There is a Search
engine which searches across the whole site including the catalogue
of 150,00 digitised items (photographs, newspapers, maps, reports,
interviews, artwork etc.). You can search by typing in keywords, dates
or phrases. Certain records can be searched by name.
Users of the site from ANY community can contribute their experiences
of migration to Moving Here via the Stories
section of the site. You can type in your story directly online and
choose an item from the Moving Here catalogue to illustrate it, or
accompany it with their own photographs/images or audio. These are
then published on the site for all visitors to read.
The Moving Here site enables people to explore identities and celebrate cultural diversity. It attempts to present a wider picture - a combination of the records and objects that have been kept in museums, archives and libraries and the reality of people's experiences.
For more information contact helen.wood@nationalarchives.gov.uk. |
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