Browse our collections

BCA's collections are currently being catalogued with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This list reflects the material catalogued so far. The online catalogue is now available here.

The archive of BCA comprises large collections of photographs, prints, drawings, periodicals, press cuttings and ephemera (flyers, posters, reports, exhibition catalogues, invitations etc.). We also hold personal papers and organisational records, including the following collections:  

BANTON - Papers of Michael Banton, a sociologist who researched the Caribbean community in Stepney.
1929-1985.

BCA - Records of Black Cultural Archives that chart its progress from conception to the present day.
1833-2008. This collection is partially closed.

CAMBRIDGE - Papers of Alrick Cambridge, community activist and founder of the Black Unity and Freedom Party. 1976-1984. This collection is partially closed.

COLETAY - sheet music, programmes, recordings, and reference material relating to the composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
c1895-c2005.

COMMROOTS - Records of the Community Roots Trust, a charity aimed to improve the management and service delivery of community self-help projects with particular reference to the needs of ethnic minority communities.
1980-1988.

DUMAS - photographs, press cuttings and publications relating to the writer Alexandre Dumas.
c1845-1960.

EMELINE - Bill of Sale for an enslaved woman, probably from the south-eastern United States of America.
4 September 1843.

FRANKLIN - Papers of John Franklin, a community worker.
1954-2001. This collection is partially closed.

GALE - Indentures of the Gale family and others relating to Jamaican plantations.
1760-1838.

GARRISON - Papers of Len Garrison, academic, community activist and founder of BCA.
1947-2003.

GLADSTONE - letters from Jamaica, Mauritius, Calcutta and Melbourne to John Gladstone & Co, Liverpool.
1840-1843.

GRANT - records relating to Bernie Grant (including items deposited by Bernie Grant).
1764-2001.

GREEN - Papers of Jeffrey Green, a researcher and historian, and material given to him by Amy Barbour-James, daughter of John Barbour-James, a founding member of the League of Coloured Peoples.
c1900-1998.

LIBFRONT - pamphlets from the BLF's Black Liberation Series and a run of its Grass Roots newspaper.
1979-1991.

MORRIS - photographs of Olive Morris, community activist, and an order of service for her funeral, and her mother, Doris Morris's funeral.
c1977-c2002.

PAGNELL - Records of Pagnell Street Youth and Community Centre.
1981-1985.

SEACOLE - posters, books, educational resources, and images relating to Mary Seacole.
1984-c2005.

UPRISINGS - documents concerning the uprisings in Brixton.
1981.

WILLIAMS - Papers of Howard G Williams, Her Majesty's Inspector of schools.
c1947-c1988.

WONG - Papers of Ansel Wong, teacher and activist. Includes material on supplementary schools, the West Indian Students' Union, and the Black Arts workshop. The collection demonstrates an impressive geographic spread of activist publications which can be viewed on this map. c1960-1990.

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