Our newsletter for February is now available to read online or download in PDF format.

The contents include:

• new publications
• Discover Huddersfield news
• events in late February & March 2020
• Press Release: Burial Ground Management System
• “A Century of Progress: 1868 to 1968”
• Huddersfield & District in the Past

Any corrections, comments or feedback are welcome and will be added to this page.

Our newsletter for January is now available to read online or download in PDF format.

The contents include:

• new publications
• celebrations planned for “The Town that Bought Itself”
• events in early 2020
• appeal from the British Federation of Women Graduates
• The Panto Vicar and his (Upper)Thong Birds
• Huddersfield & District in the Past

Any corrections, comments or feedback are welcome and will be added to this page.

Kirklees Libraries’ Lunchtime Club is an informal meeting of people with an interest in local history. Meetings are held every two months in Huddersfield Central Library and begin at 1pm. Light refreshments are provided.

Although the talks are free, you are requested to book places in advanced at ticketsource.co.uk/kirkleeslibraries

The advertised talks for 2020 are:

• 15 January World War One Peace Pageant in Dewsbury by local historian Stuart Hartley
• 11 March “I Wished to Tell the Truth”: Ann Bronte at 200 by Diane Fare, Bronte Society
• 20 May Huddersfield in 50 Buildings by local author and historian Chris Marsden
• 15 July A Bradford Pal by local author John Broadhead
• 15 September Brass Bands Around Huddersfield c1840—1914: Inventing Myths of Northernness and Class in an Industrial Landscape by Dr Stephen Etheridge of Huddersfield University
• 18 November A Brief History of Farming in Kirklees by historian Dr Stephen Caunce

The 2020 programme of events for Marsden History Group has now been announced, which includes four talks:

• 9 March — Peterloo Retold 1819-2019 — Janette Martin
• 11 May — Who was the real Anne Lister? — Jill Liddington
• 13 July — Marsden Mechanics’ Men: The Movers & Shakers of 19th Century Marsden — Stephen Challenger
• 9 November — A Brave and Beautiful Spirit: Dora Marsden 1882-1960 — Les Garner

Further details can be found on the Marsden History Group web site.

Details of the Windrush Huddersfield Exhibition on Saturday 19th October 2019 are given below.

In celebration of Black History Month Education 2000, Amour Promotions and Kirklees Local TV in partnership with the University of Huddersfield Heritage Quays are delighted to invite you to our Windrush Huddersfield Exhibition.

Date: Saturday 19th October 2019

Venue: University of Huddersfield Archives, Heritage Quay

Time: Doors open at 12.30 pm

Refreshments and an opportunity to view the exhibitions of Venn Street Sound System and Culture Huddersfield, Echoes of Colonialism and the Windrush Generation Huddersfield

• 1.15 pm: Windrush The Years After Documentary
• 2.20 pm: Presentation Natalie Pinnock Hamilton, Denzil Nurse and Debbie Johnson
• 3.00 pm: Windrush Panel, Questions and Answers
• 3.30 pm: Close

Exhibition Overview:

Venn Street Sound System and Culture
This exhibition explores three generations of community activism, bringing reggae music to Huddersfield. The exhibition includes pictures of Sound System’s reggae music events, dance hall clashes, the camaraderie, fun and celebrates African Caribbean individuals, families and the community.

University of Huddersfield Archives, Heritage Quay: Echoes of Colonialism
This exhibition explores the impact of British colonialism throughout the world, as seen in Heritage Quay’s archive collections. Curated by University of Huddersfield History students, the display features textiles, sporting collections and more.

Windrush Huddersfield
The exhibition traces from the Caribbean’s history of enslavement through to African Caribbean peoples coming to Huddersfield between the 1940s and the 1980s. It portrays how those early pioneers created organisations and associations to create a safe space that enabled African Caribbean families to build solid and stable lives in Huddersfield.

Windrush The Years After Documentary
This documentary captures the memories of African Caribbean people and their families coming to England and settling in Huddersfield West Yorkshire between 1948 and 1972. The documentary highlights the personal testimonies of community activists, faith leaders, mothers, fathers, musicians, writers, professionals and others. People overcame barriers of race, prejudice and many forms of discrimination. Three generations of African Caribbean descendants showed courage and determination to succeed.

Presentations will include:

Debbie Johnson: Debbie has been developing skills as a genealogist for over ten years. Debbie will present the importance and excitement of tracing her family tree through DNA mapping and research.

Natalie Pinnock Hamilton: Natalie will present her early classroom experiences as a child and then as a teacher in the British education system.

Denzil Nurse: Denzil will share his experience within the Health Service, for example, the recruitmentjourney for African Caribbeans.

Our three presenters will form a panel and give the audience members an opportunity to ask questions.