Are you passionate about Black history and keen to help increase public knowledge and awareness of it?

A rare opportunity has arisen, based at Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, for a researcher to uncover narratives illustrating African presence in the East End of London and share the evidence gathered with the wider public.

Communities of Liberation is a historical research and public art project which aims to increase awareness of the long history of the African presence in the borough of Tower Hamlets, by focusing specifically on excavating and sharing stories of individuals who lived here in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The aim of the project is to identify the places, spaces and networks in which African people lived, worked or socialised during the period of operation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Rather than focus on exceptional individuals - eg those who published their life stories or were abolition activists - the project will locate names, stories and experiences of everyday life of working Londoners, and map them to specific locations in present day Tower Hamlets. We are especially interested in the buildings and spaces - homes, taverns, places of worship - where ‘working class’ African people would gather, meet and coalesce as a community.

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  Key Responsibilities

The Research & Engagement Lead postholder will be based at Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, firstly carrying out historical research using primary sources from the period to identify and map specific histories and narratives of individuals and collectives; and secondly engaging local residents and the wider public with these histories through participatory workshops.

The outcome of these workshops will be to gather community responses and feedback on the stories uncovered and build a collective appreciation of their significance. Then, the Communities of Liberation project will commission one or more creative public memorials to the individuals whose stories have been uncovered, sited in relevant locations in Tower Hamlets.

Further fundraising is to be carried out to extend the scope and budget available for the co-production process and the artwork commission.

Oversight and support comes from the Communities of Liberation Steering Group, which comprises historians and activists with decades of experience researching these histories. The project has been developed by Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives with the Communities of Liberation Steering Group.

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  Requirements

The postholder will have experience in using primary and secondary sources to carry out historical research. You will have lived experience of issues facing Black British communities today, excellent group facilitation and communication skills, and the right to work in the UK.

Please refer to the person specification for full details.

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  Additional Information

Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives (THLHLA) is managed as part of Tower Hamlets Council's Idea Store service, which integrates modern library services with lifelong learning. THLHLA is dedicated to collecting, preserving and making publicly accessible extensive archival collections relating to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and its communities past and present. Located at 277 Bancroft Road, Mile End, E1 4DQ, THLHLA welcomes several thousand people per year. Visitors undertake their own research in our Reading Room about the borough's history, and attend local history related events, exhibitions or workshops.

The contracted hours are 17.5 hours per week but these can be worked flexibly. This is not a freelance role – the postholder will be employed by Tower Hamlets Council on PAYE terms.

You will be expected to work at least one day per week based onsite at Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives. THLHLA is open Monday-Friday, Thursday evenings until 7pm and on the first and third Saturdays of every month, 9am-5pm. The postholder will be assigned a Microsoft laptop to be used onsite and from home.

This is a fixed-term post for 18 months with the intention to extend it for a further 1-2 years subject to fundraising. The appointee will be automatically opted-into the Local Government Pension Scheme but can opt out if they wish.

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Tamsin Bookey, Heritage Manager via email on tamsin.bookey@towerhamlets.gov.uk. Please visit www.ideastore.co.uk for further information about the borough’s Local History service and the Communities of Liberation project.

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  Application Details

Applications must be made through the council's online recruitment system by the individual applicant. CVs received via agencies or through job aggregator sites like Indeed will not be considered.

This post is open to the following types of applicants: External/ Redeployees/ Internal

Interview date: Friday 19 May 2023 tbc

Tower Hamlets Council’s vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.

Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class.

We welcome applicants interested in flexible working arrangements and particularly applicants who live in the borough.

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