Online 'Brown Babies' exhibition wins major prize
Research by Professor Lucy Bland of ARU is recognised by Museums Association
An exhibition based on the work of Professor Lucy Bland of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has won a prestigious national Museums Association award.
The online “Brown Babies” exhibition, which tells the stories of children born to black American GIs and white British women during the Second World War, has received the best Digital Engagement prize at the Museums Association’s annual Museums Change Lives Awards.
It was shortlisted for the award alongside the V&A Dundee and the Jewish Museum London, and the winner was announced by Dame Caroline Mason, Chief Executive of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and one of the award judges.
The online “Brown Babies” exhibition is hosted and organised by The Mixed Museum, which focuses on the history of racial mixing in the UK. The exhibition is sponsored by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and builds on the research Professor Bland carried out for her book Britain’s ‘Brown Babies’, which earlier this year won the Social History Society’s Book of the Year prize.
Lucy Bland, Professor of Social and Cultural History at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said:
For her book, Professor Bland interviewed over 50 people who were born in Britain to Black GI fathers and white mothers between 1942-45. Dubbed the “brown babies” by the African American media, it is estimated that almost half of these 2,000 children were placed in children’s homes in the UK.
The online exhibition – which includes contributions from people who have come forward since the book was originally published – expands on these stories through photographs, newspaper reports, and audio, to bring this important chapter of Britain’s 20th century history to an even wider audience.
Dr Chamion Caballero, Director of The Mixed Museum, said:
“As part of our work to share and preserve the histories of racial mixing in Britain, we believe in the importance of centring the voices of ordinary people, particularly those whose accounts have tended to be overlooked. And so we were honoured to be able to work with Lucy Bland and Anglia Ruskin University to help share the stories Lucy collected as part of her ‘Brown Babies’ research.
“It is thanks to the bravery and generosity of those who shared their experiences growing up mixed race during wartime that our exhibition exists, and this wonderful accolade belongs first and foremost to all of them. We hope it will go some way to help everyone who contributed to the research and the exhibition to feel that, after so many decades being marginalised, their history is increasingly seen as significant, valuable and worthy of attention.”
The digital exhibition can be viewed at mixedmuseum.org.uk/brown-babies