Bengali Oral History Project
Oral History Project
Tales of three generations of Bengalis in the UK: Bengali Oral History Project
September 2005 – August 2006
There are approximately 500,000 Bengalis currently living in the UK. Not much history of those Bengalis who settled in the UK currently exists (except two books written by Caroline Adams & Yousuf Chowdhury). Many of the first settlers are now elderly (sadly some have already passed away) and their memories and experiences are being lost as their testimonies have not been recorded and preserved. Many young Bengalis do not know the history of their elders and cannot easily access information related to Bengali community. The project aims to preserve the memories and experiences of the elders before this loss.
The project will offer unique opportunity to Bengali young people to research, document and celebrate Bengali heritage & history by recording the experience of three generation Bengalis in the UK. Interviews (interviews will be translated into Bengali or vice versa) will be recorded on audio (and if possible on video), materials (including photographs) will be used for exhibition, publication (including learning packs for schools) and website. Original material will be held with the Swadhinata Trust (for its proposed Bengali Resource Centre) and CRONEM but copies will be deposited in the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and other institutions Swadhinata Trust works with in partnership.
See the short film which includes extracts of the video interviews.
Further detail of the project:
Swadhinata’s partner organisation on the Oral History Project.
The Oral History Project Interviews
Interviewee profiles and interviews from the three strands of the Oral History Project
The interviews carried out as part of this project have been written up and are reproduced in full here
Introduction
Main Preface to the interviews
by Prof John Eade , Executive Director CRONEM, University of Surrey and Ansar Ahmed Ullah Swadhinata Trust Nirmul Committee
Strand 1:
Dialogue between first and third generation on the history of Bangladesh and the 1971 war of independence
– An Introduction to Strand 1
Interviewee profiles and full transcripts
Strand 2:
Dialogue between second and third generation on welfare and community involvement in the UK, from the 1970s-80s
– An Introduction to Strand 2
Interviewee profiles and full transcripts
Strand 3:
Popular culture – between tradition and innovation – Across three generations, mainly focussing on traditional and more recent British Bengali musical heritage
– An Introduction to Strand 3
Oral History Project Media Coverage
Oral History Project in the media
Below is some of the press coverage the Swadhinata Trust’s Oral History Project has received.
Bangla Post page from Bangla Post 5th May 2006 (JPEG image – opens in new window)
Notin Din page from Notin Din 5th May 2006 (JPEG image – opens in new window)
Surma page from Surma (JPEG image – opens in new window)
East End Life Bridging the gap – page from East End Life (External web page – opens in new window)
East End Life – Bangla section page from East End Life – Bangla section, 5th May 2006 (JPEG image – opens in new window)
Times Higher Education News page from Times Higher Education News (pdf document – opens in new window)
Stratford and Newham Express page from Newham and Stratford Express Online (opens in new window)
Stratford and Newham Express – Education pack launch page from Newham and Stratford Express (pdf document – opens in new window)
Mayor of London Lottery puts Asian heritage on London map (pdf file – opens in new window) The Mayor of London’s ‘India Now’ season
BBC Archives Discovering London’s Asian Music
Bangla Mirror Bangla Mirror review 30-01-2009
Faces in Westminster Faces in Westminster
Other Oral History Projects
Below are links to other Oral History Projects
►D.C. Everest Area Schools ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM
►The Immigrants Project – An Oral History Project that tells the stories of people from all over the world who came to settle in Reading.
►Kala Tara An Oral History of the Asian Youth Movements in Britain.
►Kings Cross Voices A London Borough of Camden project which seeks to record people’s memories and unique life experiences of the King’s Cross area.
►Oral histories of Bengalis who experienced Pak army atrocities in 1971 Evidence of Participants & Eye witness accounts.
►Roots and Routes – Congolose diaspora in multicultural Britain by David Garbin and Wa Gamoka Pambu
►B-ONE EKH BENGALI – An intergenerational community oral history project in which young people from the Elephant and Castle area learned interviewing and recording skills and collected the stories of older people in their communities. It provided an opportunity for young and older people to make their mark and record their community’s history together.
►Everyday Muslim – a five-year project to create a central archive of Muslim lives, arts, education and cultures from across the UK.
► The award-winning Child Migrant Stories is a space to explore the experiences of child migrants both today and in the past. It brings together the voices and experiences of those who migrated under the age of 18 to the UK from 1930 to the present day. The initiative uses images, sound, text and short films developed in collaboration with former child migrants, some of whom are artists, musicians, and filmmakers on this page.
Partnership Working
Swadhinata Trust is proud to have a partnership working relationship with: