Public His o y Re iew
Vol. 28, 2021
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Ci a ion: Kean, H. 2021.
Making Public His o y: S a ues
and Memo ials.
Public His o y
Re iew
, 28, 1–7. h p://dx.doi.
o g/10.5130/ph j. 28i0.7763
ISSN 1833- 4989 | Published by
UTS ePRESS | h ps://ep ess.
lib.u s.edu.au/jou nals/index.
php/ph j
Making Public His o y:
S a ues and Memo ials
Hilda Kean
DOI: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.5130/ph j. 28i0.7763
In wo king on his edi ion Kei a Lindsay and Ma iko Smi h ha e asked ‘whe he monumen s
should be decons uc ed, econs uc ed o des oyed.’1 Clea ly a en ion o s a ues and
memo ials has ecen ly been explo ed in many coun ies. Ce ainly in B i ain he e has been
much discon en as I shall explain, ye opposi ion o pa icula s a ues has seemed o igno e
and o e look p og essi e memo ials and his o ical measu es– owa ds black and e hnic
mino i y g oups ha ha e been widely de eloped and suppo ed in he pas .
Now bu hen …
B is ol, a o me sla e po in he wes o England, has been c i ically and his o ically
discussed o decades. Madge D esse ’s wo k, o example, has c i ically analysed he p ope ies
o sla e owne s and discussed he hos ili y o local wo ke s o black bus d i e s.2 O e wen y
yea s ago Sally J. Mo gan looked ca e ully a he B is ol opposi ion o Edwa d Cols on, a
o me sla e owne , a s a ue o whom has been displayed in he cen e o B is ol o many
yea s. As she explained, he e was a signi ican his o y o a emp s o emo e he s a ue which
was ‘ aced o he ci y’s con olling me can ile class as ep esen ed by The Socie y o Me chan
Ven u e s, es ablished in he 16 h cen u y and s ill going s ong, who ha e con i ed o o ge
almos as much as hey demand we emembe .’3 Ye in ecen mon hs unde he aegis o Black
Li es Ma e he s a ue was quickly des oyed as i his was almos a new posi ion.4 Cou
ac ion agains he ou people who ook down and damaged he Cols on s a ue in June 2020
has ini ially aken place and now due o be hea d a he B is ol C own Cou in Decembe
2021. The ou men ha e p e iously pleaded ‘no guil y’ and a e on uncondi ional bail.5
In jus ecen days in June 2021 he damaged Edwa d Cols on s a ue was displayed in he
M shed museum in B is ol, now open. Visi o s a e asked o ill in a su ey explaining wha
hey hink should happen nex . Tha is, he display is seen as he ‘s a o he con e sa ion, no
a comple ed exhibi ion’. Commen s will be conside ed. ‘We a e B is ol His o y Commission’
was es ablished by he local Labou mayo , Ma in Rees, who was e- elec ed in May 2021. I s
ole is o ‘build an imp o ed sha ed unde s anding o he ci y’s s o y’. Se e al local his o ians
a e membe s including, posi i ely, D Madge D esse , no ed in his a icle.6 Ye while he
council acknowledges he o me ole o se e al his o ians his needs o be conside ed
DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The au ho (s) decla ed nopo en ial con lic s o in e es wi h
espec o he esea ch, au ho ship, and/o publica ion o his a icle. FUNDING The au ho (s) ecei ed no
inancial suppo o he esea ch, au ho ship, and/o publica ion o his a icle.
1
app op ia ely. Fo example, on a ecen BBC2 documen a y, alongside he ecen display o he s a ue,
en i led S a ue Wa s: One Summe in B is ol, noa en ion was paid o he pas his o ical an i- sla e y issues
o e many decades.7
In addi ion o B is ol, o he sla e y memo ials seemed o go un ouched and un ecognised. In he Ci y
o London he s a ue o William Beck o d emains almos unknown in he Guildhall. As Madge D esse
explained hi een yea s ago: ‘The e idence linking William Beck o d (1709–70) o sla e y is widely
a ailable and o e whelming. Beck o d, wice Lo d Mayo , was he ee- spending son o a weal hy suga
plan e and owed much o his posi ion o his owne ship o some 3,000 A icans ensla ed on his nume ous
Jamaican plan a ions.’8 He w o e and spoke in de ence o poli ical eedom o which his s a ue a es s
bu no he so o eedom ha was he sou ce o his weal h.9 Al hough his oo has been discussed by
his o ians i seems la gely unknown by ecen ac i is s.
Fo me Nine een h- Cen u y Memo ials in London and Edinbu gh
In London’s T a alga Squa e a column was e ec ed in 1843 o Ho a io Nelson who died a he Ba le o
T a alga in 1805. While he na u e o s a ues h oughou he squa e ha e been somewha c i icised in
ecen yea s,10 a en ion is a ely paid o he p esence o a black sailo posi i ely engaged in ba le,11 p esen
on he column’s black plaque. This is e en o e looked when adical demons a ions a e held in he squa e!12
The e exis s a memo ial in Old Cal on bu ial g ound in Edinbu gh in Sco land o pas mili a y e en s.
Geo ge Bissell’s wo k was un eiled in 1893 os ensibly in memo y o i e named Sco ish- Ame ican soldie s
who had ough in he Ame ican Ci il Wa . Howe e , on op is a s a ue o Ab aham Lincoln and a he
bo om a b onze li e- sized igu e o a sla e p omo ing a mo e speci ic an i- sla e y message.13
Fo me sla e, looking upwa ds o Ab aham Lincoln, Old Cal on bu ial
g ound, Edinbu gh, 1893 (Pho og aph Hilda Kean)
Re- eading Pas His o ies
The e ha e also been al e na i es o s a ues and commemo a ions occu ing h ough local o ganisa ions bu
hese ha e been comple ely o e looked in ecen ac i i ies. In he inancial Ci y o London, a ep esen a ion
Kean
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Vol. 28, 20212
exis s in s a k jux aposi ion o ha o William Beck o d’s. ‘The Gil o Cain’, a si e- speci ic wo k in
Fen Cou , is nea he Lloyds building and was e ec ed wel e yea s ago. This ci y ga den is he si e o a
chu chya d o he o me S Gab iel’s Fenchu ch S ee , now in he pa ish o S Edmund he King and S
Ma y Woolno h. The la e chu ch had s ong connec ions o he aboli ion mo emen . John New on, he
o me sla e ade , and subsequen ly an i- sla e y campaigne , was ec o om 1780 o 1807.
‘The Gil o Cain’ combines ma e ial o he Sco ish sculp o Michael Visocchi wi h Lemn Sissay’s poe y
and was opened in 2008 by Desmond Tu u. Visually, he sculp u e consis s o a iously sized cylind ical
columns, esembling suga cane– o possibly human igu es.
Gil o Cain by Michael Visocchi (wi h Lemn Sissay), Ci y o London, 2008 (Pho og aph Hilda Kean)
As Visocchi explained, ‘The idea was ha I could somehow use hese suga cane shapes so ha hey
could be ead on he si e as igu es, as an h opomo phic o ms– and he e o e could hey no hen su ound
a pulpi as a cong ega ion?’14 The wo k was ini ia ed by Black B i ish He i age, chai ed by Ken Ma indale,
who was in ol ed in communi y poli ics o many yea s, including he No ing Hill Ca ni al.15
Nea Lancas e , once he ou h la ges sla e po in England, a g a e o Sambo (sic), a sla e who died
sho ly a e a i ing in he 1730s, was subsequen ly commemo a ed in he ea ly nine een h cen u y wi h
a g a es one and an eng a ed pla e in Sunde land Poin .16 In he ea ly wen y i s cen u y signpos s we e
e ec ed o he g a e and isi a ion was encou aged. Teache s b ough child en who placed pain ed and
deco a ed s ones nea by. O he wo k in Lancas e included he e ec ion o a memo ial ou side he o me
cus oms house in S Geo ge’s Quay ecalling ‘Cap u ed A icans’. I was sculp ed by Ke in Dal on- Johnson
using s one, s eel and ac ylic. Al hough unded by public money, he ini ia i e was c ea ed by local people,
encou aged by Alan Rice, an ad iso o he Sla e T ade A s Memo ial P ojec (STAMP). Much o his
academic wo k included ‘ he poli ics o memo y in he black A lan ic’. By simply li ing locally in he own
he helped c ea e u he a en ion o he nea by his o y o he sla e ade.17
Kean
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Such his o ies c i ical o o me acism and posi i e public memo ials in a ious o ma s a e ob iously
no jus pa o he B i ish expe ience. Fo example, in Aus alia, an a icle o 2006 discussed he loca ion
o he Dog on he Tucke Box in Gundagai, in New Sou h Wales, while e e ing o he place o ‘ he
mos amous lood in Aus alian his o y’ o 1852 whe e a local Abo iginal man, Ya i (and subsequen ly
Jackey Jackey), escued six y nine whi e people om he massi ely swollen and dange ous wa e s o
he Mu umbidgee Ri e . In ecen yea s a conc e e b idge was named a e him and a new monumen
was e ec ed in No h Gundagai ceme e y18 since his had been ‘in he memo y o Gundagai people o
gene a ions’.19 A la e monumen o Ya i and Jackey Jackey– who bo h sa ed whi e people– was un eiled
locally in June 2017 in cen al Gundagai.20 Ye a ecen a icle e e ing o Gundagai desc ibes he dog as
‘one o Aus alia’s mos success ul pu pose- buil ou is a ac ions’ bu ga e noa en ion o local e- eadings
o Abo iginal con ibu ions o pas e en s and mo e ecen ecogni ion o his.21
Public His o y and Local People
Local commemo a ions o g oups o e hnic mino i y people ha e clea ly de eloped in di e en ways. I has
also been he case– despi e co e age in, o example, The Gua dian22– ha books, socie ies and campaigns
‘Cap u ed A icans’ by Ke in Dal on- Johnson, Lancas e , 2005 (Pho og aph Hilda Kean)
Kean
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ha e exis ed posi i ely o many yea s. One o he mos popula books– appa en ly widely igno ed by many
ac i is s in ecen e en s– is Pe e F ye ’s S aying Powe : The His o y o Black People in B i ain published by
Plu o P ess in 1984 and only ecen ly p omo ed on a pa icula B i ish Lib a y websi e.23 Howe e , speci ic
a en ion paid in schools o an i- acis his o ical cu iculum had been widely abolished beyond ecogni ion
such as ha de eloped by he ILEA alongside adical eache s in ALTARF om 1978 in o he 1980s. Thei
publica ion Challenging Racism explo ed he s a egies implemen ed in a ange o schools.24
F om he ea ly 1990s academics pa icula ly emphasised black his o y including Kushne and Lunn
who edi ed The Poli ics o Ma ginali y.25 In 1991 he Black and Asian S udies Associa ion (BASA), a public
o ganiza ion, was de eloped ‘ o os e esea ch and o dissemina e in o ma ion on he his o y o Black
peoples in B i ain’.26 Beyond he s a us quo o he go e nmen ’s p osc ip ions on black his o y, adical
eache s, such as Ma in Spa o d, de eloped black his o y in schools, hough his was no a common
p ac ice. BASA’s lobbying o he go e nmen ’s cu iculum posi ion, including b inging eache s and school
s uden s o con on a DFE o icial, esul ed in ag eed new his o ical cu iculum. Subsequen ly Spa o d and
o he s issued ex books o Mig a ion, Empi e and he His o ic En i onmen a ising om changes ag eed in
he GCSE his o y cu iculum om 2016 wi h he i s exams in 2018.27 Such p og essi e ac i i y owa ds
people’s own in e es in adical his o y and hei own posi ions has been seen in many public his o y wo ks.
Public his o y books ha e o en e e ed o local communi y g oups in he making o his o y, o example
Dis ic Six Museum in Sou h A ica, he Golconda o al his o y in T inidad and Mao i de elopmen s in
New Zealand.28 O he s also emphasised he p ojec ion o public his o ians owa ds people’s p ojec s and he
ac ions and agency o people hemsel es.
Ya i’s monumen , No h Gundagai ceme e y, e ec ed 1990 (Pho og aph Hilda Kean)
Kean
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Ce ainly hose in e es ed in public his o y ha e ecen ly pu sued ac i i ies commemo a ing, say, a
d owned black Sou h A ican om a nea by sou heas e n channel o analysing he commemo a ion o
A ican and Ca ibbean oops, also om he Fi s Wo ld Wa , in London.29 Bu a a ecen zoom con e ence
called ‘Doing Public His o y in Lockdown and beyond’, public his o y was dis inc ly an a ea o highe
educa ion.30 One con ibu o explained online; ‘We wan o ind new ways o engage as academics wi h
con empo a y s uggles, o lea n om ac i is s, and o see how we can use wha expe ise and ins i u ional
esou ces we ha e o p o ide ac i e solida i y.’31 Whe he his sugges s s eng hening he ole o academic
his o ians and elling ac i is s wha o do seems somewha ambiguous abou acknowledging o he people’s
posi ions. Recen ly my a icle in A Companion o Public His o y emphasised he ques ion: ‘Whe e is Public
His o y seeing di e en app oaches o a se de ini ion?’ I e e ed posi i ely Paul Ma in’s iew ha ‘i
empowe s he indi idual in hei sense o owne ship and as a con ibu ion o wha his o y is and how i
is made.’32 Pe haps hinking b oadly and c ea i ely abou public his o y in he cu en clima e s ill needs
conside a ion.
Endno es
1. See h ps://www.u s.edu.au/ esea ch- and- eaching/ou - esea ch/aus alian- cen e- public- his o y/e en s- and-
semina s/his o y- week- 2020/public- p o es - and- public- his o y- s a ue- wa s- ii- public- his o y- hou - a chi e (Accessed 6
Oc obe 2020).
2. Madge D esse , Sla e y Obscu ed: The Social His o y o he Sla e T ade in an English P o incial Po . Con inuum New Yo k
2001 (and 2016); Black and whi e on he buses: he 1963 colou ba dispu e in B is ol, B is ol B oadsides, B is ol, c1986.
3. Sally J. Mo gan, ‘Memo y and he me chan s: Commemo a ion and ci ic iden i y’, In e na ional Jou nal o He i age
S udies, ol4, no2, 1998, p104. h ps://doi.o g/10.1080/13527259808722225
4. ‘Cou ac ion now con inues’, Daily Teleg aph, 18 Sep embe 2020, p8 h ps:// heb is olcable.o g/2021/03/cols on- 4- o-
s and- ial- a - b is ol- c own- cou - on- 13- decembe / om cou decision on 2 Ma ch 2021 (accessed 11 June 2021).
5. ibid.
6. See h ps://exhibi ions.b is olmuseums.o g.uk/ he- cols on- s a ue/?u m_sou ce=wha son&u m_medium= e e al&
u m_campaign=cols on (accessed 11 June 2021).
7. See h ps://www.bbc.co.uk/p og ammes/m000w zx 10 June 2021 which has been a ailable o ele en mon hs.
8. D esse , ‘Se in S one? S a ues and Sla e y in London’, His o y Wo kshop Jou nal, ol64, no1, Au umn 2007, pp162–
199. h ps://doi.o g/10.1093/hwj/dbm032
9. John Siblon, ‘“Monumen Mania”?: Public Space and he Black and Asian P esence in he London Landscape’, in Paul
Ash on and Hilda Kean (eds), People and hei Pas s: Public His o y Today, Palg a e Macmillan, Basings oke, 2009/2012,
pp146- 162. h ps://doi.o g/10.1057/9780230234468_9
10. See, o example, Leon Kuhn and Colin Gill, Topple The Migh y, F ic ion Books, Kilma nock, 2005.
11. Siblon, op ci , pp150- 152.
12. A ua Hi sch, ‘Toppling s a ues? He e’s why Nelson’s column should be nex ’, Gua dian, 22 Augus 2017 h ps://www.
hegua dian.com/commen is ee/2017/aug/22/ oppling- s a ues- nelsons- column- should- be- nex - sla e y (Accessed 10
Sep embe 2020).
13. See ‘ he only monumen o he Ame ican Ci il Wa ou side he US. A s a ue o Ab aham Lincoln s anding o e a eed
sla e’, The Sco sman, 15 Feb ua y 2016 a ailable a h ps://www.sco sman.com/wha s- on/a s- and- en e ainmen /why-
he e- monumen - ab aham- lincoln- edinbu gh- 1482881 (Accessed 6 Sep embe 2020).
14. Alan Rice, C ea ing Memo ials Building Iden i ies: The poli ics o memo y in he black A lan ic, Li e pool Uni e si y P ess,
Li e pool, 2010, p18.
15. Hilda Kean, ‘Whe e is Public His o y?’, in Da id Dean (ed), A Companion o Public His o y, Wiley Blackwell, Chiches e ,
2018, pp 38- 40. h ps://doi.o g/10.1002/9781118508930.ch2
16. Hilda Kean, ‘Pe sonal and Public His o ies’, in B ian G aham and Pe e Howa d (eds), The Ashga e Resea ch Compan-
ion o He i age and Iden i y, Ashga e, Alde sho , 2008, pp56- 58.
17. Rice, op ci , pp32- 54.
18. Hilda Kean, ‘Public his o y and wo Aus alian dogs: Islay and he dog on he ucke box,’ ACH: The Jou nal o he
His o y o Cul u e in Aus alia, no24- 25, 2006, pp150- 1.
Kean
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Vol. 28, 20216
19. Wa diningsih Soe joha djo, ‘Remembe ing Ya ie: An Indigenous Aus alian and he 1852 Gundagai Flood’, Public
His o y Re iew, no19, 2012, p128. h ps://doi.o g/10.5130/ph j. 19i0.3096
20. See also a pho og aph o he s a ues o he wo men h ps://www.sbs.com.au/ni /ni - news/a icle/2017/06/13/
wi adju i- he oes- honou ed- gundagai- sculp u e (Accessed 29 Sep embe 2020).
21. Richa d Whi e, ‘The T ue S o y o Gundagai’s Dog on he Tucke box: Tou is s, T u h and he Insouciance o Sou eni s’,
Jou neys, ol17, no2, 2018, p118. h ps://doi.o g/10.3167/jys.2016.170207
22. The Gua dian issued a six- day black his o y imeline in p in , no p ima ily on B i ain bu also co e ing he USA. (In
p ess 13- 17 July 2020.)
23. See: h ps://www.bl.uk/collec ion- guides/black- b i ain- publica ions (Accessed 20 Sep embe 2020).
24. All London Teache s Agains Racism & Feminism, Challenging Racism, ALTARF, 1984. I included ma e ials pa icula -
ly p o ided in London’s Quin in Kynas on School.
25. Tony Kushne and Kenne h Lunn (eds), The Poli ics o Ma ginali y: Race, he Radical Righ and Mino i ies in Twen ie h
Cen u y B i ain, Cass, London, 1990, eissued 2006.
26. See: h p://www.blackandasians udies.o g/ (Accessed 20 Sep embe 2020).
27. ibid; Ma in Spa o d, Dan Lyndon, Ma ika She wood and Au h Hakim Adi, OCR GCSE His o y Explaining Mode n Wo ld:
Mig a ion, Empi e and he His o ic En i onmen His o y Explaining Mode n Wo ld, Hodde Educa ion, London, 2016.
28. See, o example, Hilda Kean and Paul Ma in (eds), The Public His o y Reade , Rou ledge, Abingdon, 2013; Dean, op
ci ; Paul Ash on and Alex T apeznik (eds), Wha is Public His o y Globally? Wo king wi h he Pas in he P esen , Bloomsbu y,
London, 2019.
29. See he black Sou h A ican lag now a ached o Cpl Nagozo’s g a es one in Has ings in 2016. h p://hildakean.
com/?p=3397 (Accessed 26 Augus 2020); John Siblon, ‘Nego ia ing Hie a chy and Memo y: A ican and Ca ibbean T oops
om Fo me B i ish Colonies in London’s Impe ial Spaces’, The London Jou nal, ol41, no3, 2016, pp299- 312 h ps://doi.
o g/10.1080/03058034.2016.1213548 and commemo a ion. h p://hildakean.com/?p=3378 (Accessed 10 June 2020).
30. Doing Public His o y in Lockdown and Beyond 7 Sep 2020, o ganised by he Raphael Samuel His o y Cen e and Man-
ches e Cen e o Public His o y a ailable a h ps:// aphaelsamuelhis o ycen e.com/2020/08/03/doing- public- his o y-
in- lockdown- and- beyond/ (Accessed 8 Augus 2020).
31. His o y Ac s a ailable a h ps://www.his o y.ac.uk/semina s/his o y- ac s (Accessed 8 Sep embe 2020).
32. Kean in Dean, op ci , p35.
Kean
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