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Representing Race, and Place: Black Midlanders on Television in the 1960s and 1970s

‘Representing Race, and Place: Black Midlanders on Television in the 1960s and 1970s’ was commissioned as a contribution to a special edition of discussions addressing the neglect of ethnic histories by historians of Britain, aiding in scoping out the variety of sources and methodologies for exploring such histories via media forms and their contexts of production. It develops my attention to neglected aspects of history as well as the nature of archival sources and innovations in their use. It builds on my close association with Media Archive of Central England (MACE) and in particular a long-term engagement with the life, work and archival legacy of filmmaker Philip Donnellan. Donnellan’s work is in many respects the missing feature of “Only in the Common People”, a discovery that emerged from dogged exploration of his story and in search of his largely forgotten work. His documentaries evoke themes of the politics of cultural production, the relationship of dominant organisations and narratives with marginal stories and perspectives. A further element of this research demonstrates the impact of this work within BCMCR, as it makes use of the Pebble Mill archival work developed by colleague Vanessa Jackson, itself a part of three Screen West Midlands projects in which I have had a hand. These projects put archival materials before audiences as well as aiding in the creation of communities of interest around cultural legacies of TV production. The commission of the research and article for instance was in part suggested by public screenings of Donnellan’s films, as well as dramas from BBC Pebble Mill, as part of Black History Month and several other outreach events designed to engage audiences in this material.