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Hispanic Liverpool Community Collection documents over 90 pieces of the past

  • Warwick has a small number of places available in clearing in the Hispanic Studies Department in 2016. Our clearing hotline number is 024 7653 3544 and it will open at 8am on Thursday 18th August.

Nineteenth-century Liverpool was a global city. Although the city does not remember them, Liverpool was once home to thriving Spanish, Basque, Galician, Filipino and Latin American communities who lived and worked in the maritime and trade networks connecting Liverpool with its sister ports in the Luso-Hispanic world.

The Hispanic Liverpool Project aims to gather, preserve and share the forgotten stories of Liverpool's Hispanic community from the nineteenth century until the present. Through the projects work with families, individuals, archives and heritage organizations, over 90 historic items have been collected helping to put Liverpool's Hispanic history back on the local and global map.

The items can be viewed in a new digital archive, a place to record, preserve and share Liverpool’s forgotten Hispanic history. Part of the Hispanic Liverpool Project, it brings together stories, images and memories of Liverpool’s Spanish, Basque, Galician, Filipino and Latin American residents, from the nineteenth century until the present.

Dr Kirsty Hooper, Head of Hispanic Studies at the University of Warwick said:

"Liverpool’s role as a great port and commercial centre, a hub for the British and Spanish shipping routes that crisscrossed the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, brought thousands of people to the city from all over the Hispanic world. Some settled permanently, and their descendants remain in the city today. Some stayed for just days or weeks on their way to somewhere else (usually North or South America). Some returned frequently, as ships’ crews or to visit family or business associates. Others stayed for months or years and then returned home, carrying with them memories of their life in Liverpool."

The project has collected records of thousands of Hispanic Liverpudlians from all walks of life, but their stories have been forgotten and they are not included in Liverpool’s official history.

"The Hispanic Liverpool Community Collection showcases these stories, images and memories of Liverpool’s Hispanic communities. It’s an open-access digital collection that can be viewed by anybody with a computer and the project positively welcomes contributions." Said Kirsty.

You can contribute original material and further information or corrections to the projects featured collections. There are several different ways to contribute. You can:

  1. Upload your own scanned photos or stories via this website.
  2. Send your photos or stories to us (hispanicliverpoolproject@gmail.com) and we will upload them for you.
  3. Attend one of our roadshow events, where we will have photo scanners, voice recorders and opportunities to write down your stories for the Collection. Upcoming events will be announced on the Hispanic Liverpool Project website.

Project Interviews

If you have a lot of material to contribute, or you are willing to be interviewed in person for the project, please contact us either by email (hispanicliverpoolproject@gmail.com) or via our site contact form, and we can arrange for somebody to visit you.

You can read more about the project here: Hispanic Liverpool Project

You can view the collection here: http://hpl.warwick.ac.uk/

10 August 2016

Contact:

Alex Buxton - Media Relations Manager

Tel: 02476 150423
Mob: 07876 218166
E:a dot buxton dot 1 at warwick dot ac dot uk