Birmingham's Lost Communities
For this project, we worked with groups based in 5 schools, to uncover the stories of local communities which have now disappeared - such as the Italian Quarter in Digbeth ... the Jewish Quarter on Hurst Street ... and the working class community in the Jewellery Quarter.
The project was featured in a special report on BBC Midlands Today (see video).
Below are links to pages which showcase some of the work that young people produced:
The Kathleen Dayus Trail
Find your way around the Jewellery Quarter, and see some of the places which Kathleen Dayus describes in her memoirs of growing up in the area in the first decades of the twentieth century. You can find the trail by clicking here. Created by young people from Perry Beeches Academy II.
The Italian Quarter
In the 1860s and 70s, families from villages in the Sora Valley in Italy migrated to Birmingham and settled in the Digbeth area. See some oral interviews conducted by young people from Al-Hijrah School, by clicking here.
The Jewish Quarter
In the 19th century the area around Hurst Street came to be known as 'Little Jerusalem.' Find out more about the research by young people from George Dixon Academy, by clicking here.
The Arthur Vickers Story
Aston-born Arthur Vickers won a VC for bravery in WWI. His descendants live in the area around Kingshurst Academy. See the film about his life, made by young people from the school, by clicking here.
Project Exhibition
We held a project exhibition in John Lewis Department Store, as part of Birmingham Heritage Week. Find out more here.
