Caribbean
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Material held relating to Caribbean staff includes:
Photographs – we hold approx. 200 photographs relating to transport staff recruited from the Caribbean (most are b/w). In some cases, we hold images of certain individuals at work and in old age (some were taken in the Caribbean where some ex-staff had returned after retiring). Jobs represented include: Underground station staff, train drivers, train guards, bus drivers, conductors, inspectors, track maintenance crews and canteen assistants.
Oral history recordings – The Museum currently holds approx. 65 recorded interviews with transport staff of Caribbean origin. Interviewees include current and retired London Transport staff, and passengers, from early motor bus drivers to poster artists and designers. Some interviews were carried out in the West Indies, where some former employees had returned after retiring. The interviewees include former Underground station staff, train drivers, train guards, bus drivers, bus conductors, inspectors, ticket collectors, managers, engineers, canteen assistants and mechanics. These interviews are a valuable resource for both social and transport history, and can help to put the Museum's other collections, for example photographs and personal belongings, into context by providing that person’s own story. The Museum's recordings are made on audio cassette-tape (analogue), or CD recorders or Mini-Disc machines (digital). Interviews are occasionally recorded with a video camera. Transcripts have been created for some of the recorded interviews to help researchers choose which recording they would like to hear.
Film footage – includes a copy of the London TV programme celebrating 40th anniversary of the first Empire Windrush migration and a 1970 BBC interview with London’s first black bus driver, Joe Clough.
Staff magazine entries (articles, announcements, obituaries etc)
Recruitment posters and leaflets – a small number
Reference books
Biographical information – we hold varying amounts of information on around 30 individuals of Caribbean origin. Some of this information is linked to the photographic collection.
Travelling exhibition on London Transport’s Caribbean recruitment 1950s-1970s: “Sun a-Shine, Rain a-Fall”. This display tells the stories of men and women who came from the Caribbean during the 1950s and 1960s, to work for London Transport, and is largely based on personal stories and reminiscences. These sources have been especially important as there was little written information available on this subject.
All items are available to view by prior appointment only. Time span 1910-present day
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