Email: cb@cydfx.net
Roles within the OHS:
- Regional Network representative for the East Midlands (Leicestershire and Rutland)
- Trustee of the Oral History Society
- Editor of the Current British Work section of Oral History
- Accredited Trainer for the British Library/Oral History Society training programme
- Member of the Training Liaison Committee
Current professional role:
Freelance historical research and writing; teaching modern British history and local history to adult students; oral history training.
Current projects:
I am currently working on a chapter for a book on family history with my colleague at the British Library, Mary Stewart, exploring the ways in which oral history can support and add to family history research. I also write articles for journals including the Leicestershire Historian, and edit its book review section. I am a trustee of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society.
Previous projects:
In 2001 I helped to establish the HLF-funded East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA) at the University of Leicester and was its Project Manager for three years. I have written or edited a range of books based on or incorporating oral histories while working at EMOHA, for Leicester City Council as a community historian and museums education officer, and since retiring from full time work. These include Wharf Street Revisited (1995), The Story of the Saff (1998), Leicester Voices (2002), Still Learning: 100 years of the Workers’ Educational Association in Leicester, ed. (2008); and A Blessing to the Town: 150 years of Vaughan College, Leicester (2012). Articles include ‘Moving on: reflections on oral history and migrant communities in Britain’ in Oral History, Volume 34, No. 1, Spring 2006.
Expertise:
- Oral history archives
- Museums
- Community outreach
- Training
- Conference and event organisation