Dr Susanne Seymour (School of Geography and a Deputy Director of Institute for the Study of Slavery, University of Nottingham) heads up a team awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) grant through the Connected Communities Summit 2013 Follow-up Funding call.
This new AHRC project seeks to examine the global histories and legacies of cotton in the Derbyshire Peak District, through active engagement with local communities, including those of BME heritage. Through examination of historical archives it will provide new information on cotton supplies and product use, including links to slavery. It will use this new historical information to inform collaborative work with three local community-based groups from different heritage backgrounds: members of local history and heritage societies in Glossop, a Sheffield Hindu cultural group and an inner-city Nottingham group of African Caribbean heritage. The project is also supported by the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, which saw the birth of the modern factory system in the late 18th century.
The project runs from February 2014 to January 2015. Members of the research team include: Dr Martin Phillips, Geography, University of Leicester (Co-I); Dr Esme Cleall, History, University of Sheffield (Co-I); Dr Lowri Jones, Geography, University of Nottingham (Research Fellow); and Helen Bates, a community historian. The project’s advisory group includes a range of academic, government agency, NGO and public expertise.
For more information on the project's activities, check out the Global Cotton Connections blog: http://globalcottonconnections.wordpress.com/.
Posted on Friday 7th March 2014