COLLECTIONS

We hold unique library and archive collections that tell the story of race, ethnicity and migration in Manchester, the UK and America. Our historical archive collections are rooted in local Global Majority community history, which include life stories, paper documents and photographs. We also hold significant national collections related to race relations in the UK.  

 

Life stories – the voices of real people – are a significant and extremely rich part of our collection. We hold more than 300 individual recordings, mostly with members of the local Global Majority community talking about life in Manchester 

 

Visit Us to view the collections in person. 

Collections

The online catalogue contains details of our archive collections. These include documents and photographs which are available for researchers to access in the search room at Manchester Central Library.
View the collection here.

Videos

Our videos offer an introduction to our community focused events, activities and workshops that link to themes within our collections.

View our videos here

Sound Archive

Listen to excerpts from life stories in our extensive oral history collection. Recordings include memories, opinions and unique experiences, often omitted from official historical narratives.

Listen to the archive here

Archives

Donating to the Archive

We are interested in acquiring physical and digital material to increase the representation of Global Majority communities in archival collections in Greater Manchester. We collect books, other publications, memorabilia, documents, life stories, photographs and other ephemera that contribute to this mission.

More details can be found in our Collection Development Policy.

If you have material or a collection that you think we may be interested in, email [email protected] or telephone 0161 275 2920.

Let us know more about your donation

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