Event Details

Two doctoral colleagues from the History department in Lancaster University will be sharing their thoughts in relation to black history in the context of Preston and Wigan

Stephen Poleon: Preston Lancashire, A Banana Boat Stowaway Paradise?

Between 1958 and 1960 it was estimated that 250 stowaways came to Preston from Dominica. An article in the Daily Telegraph claimed that they viewed Britain as a paradise. I will argue that the reality was entirely different.

Cameron Fleming: Acquired for the cause of abolition? Wigan Museum’s Egyptology collection and its contested memory

Wigan, a town in the north-west of England evokes many images: Orwell’s Road to Wigan pier, pies and working men’s pubs. Egyptology is the last collection you expect to be faced with in the town’s museum. From narratives explaining their ‘gift’ for ending slavery in Egypt to their contextualisation as the profits of colonialism, this talk explores their contested and multifaceted post-colonial legacy.