Before Windrush: Black People in Leeds and Bradford, 1708 – 1948

This week the Secret Library blog is delighted to welcome back local historian and researcher Danny Friar whose four articles during Black History Month told the story of Black people in Leeds and Bradford in the three centuries before the arrival of the ‘Windrush Generation’. This week, Danny has very kindly allowed us to publish…

Black History Month 2020: The Windrush Generation

During October the majority of our content on the Secret Library blog will focus on Black History Month, including links to relevant resources held at the Central Library and signposting to external organisations, most specifically relating to Leeds, its history and heritage. Each week will have a different theme – Research, Events, Social Justice, Windrush and…

Black History in Leeds

Series of articles exploring and highlighting Black history and heritage in Leeds, because we firmly believe #blacklivesmatter. More articles to follow – we also welcome submissions and ideas for future articles, as well as comments and corrections. Windrush Day 2020Short article exploring the arrival of the Empire Windrush at the port of Tilbury on June…

I Was Here: Diversity in Georgian Yorkshire

This week we hear from independent researcher Danny Friar, who offers a brilliant and sensitively-researched excavation of the Georgian era, revealing fragments of a hidden, but universal, history… Ten years ago a discussion of the Georgian period may have brought up names such as Lord Horatio Nelson, Captain James Cook, William Wilberforce and Jane Austen….