Thankfully, on the second day a file arrived which contained a list of men who were recruited in the West Indies and came to Britain to help with the war effort, with further analysis we will shortly be revealing the names of those who trained and worked in the region. Information on the Black G.I’s was more elusive and while no evidence was collected on the soldiers based at Cottingham, records created by the Prime Minister’s Office gave a general overview of their experiences in Britain. In particular, it highlighted anxieties about the development of inter-racial sexual relationships. This prompted research into the League of Coloured Peoples and their investigation into homes for illegitimate Black children. Although, their correspondence highlighted that there was no ‘problem’ in Hull and East Yorkshire we understand that Black babies were born during and after the war. However, it is possible that women in the region chose to raise their children.

The stories of the West Indian recruits and the Black American G.I’s are coming soon. Please click the contact us button to the right if you or your family have any memories of these men in the region. We would love to hear from you.

We've had a busy couple of months working on the Africans in Hull and East Yorkshire Project.
Today we can announce the newest member of our project team, Lauren Bell, who joins us as our new Project Researcher. Lauren has recently completed a PhD at the University of Hull’s Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation (WISE) where she completed her thesis 'Convict Transportation in the age of Abolition, 1787-1807’. Click here to find out more about our project team.

Contemporary Voices Update
We have also added the sixth interview to our oral histories project Contemporary Voices. Click on the image to the left to listen to Siddi Maju talk about certain elements of African history with particular focus on African seamen and their families in both Liverpool and Hull. Siddi was born in Sierra Leone in the 1970s and recently moved to Hull after living many years in Liverpool.

Thanks to our volunteer transcribers it is now also possible to read written transcriptions of our interviews with Glynis Neslen and Janet Alder.

New Research Added!
Jubilee Singers
Click on the picture to the right to begin reading part one of our story of the Fisk University Jubilee Singers and their visits to Hull in the early 1870s. The singers, nine of whom were former slaves, arrived in Britain from Nashville, Tennessee in 1873 to perform and raise money for Fisk University which had been established to educate newly freed African American slaves after the end of the American civil war. The troupe sang so-called 'slave spirituals' to enraptured and enthusiastic Hull audiences.

The Story of Wylie Young: an African American Servicemen in Hull during WWII

Another addition to our research story archive is Jane Bielby's family story of Wylie Young (pictured centre left) and his friendship with the family during the 1940s. Wylie was stationed at the U.S. Army camp at Harland Road, Cottingham. Click on the photograph to the left to read Jane's story. We're also asking whether anyone has any information about Wylie or any of the African American servicemen stationed at Cottingham during the 1940s. If you can help go to our Contact page here.