Public History Student Placement Final Thoughts
My name is Molly Shaddix and this is my second blog post while working with YoCo! Just to recap, I am currently a graduate student at the University of York in the Public History MA. I am from Kentucky in the US, and I am passionate about making history and the past available for everyone! I am working with York Central Co-Owned in their Heritage Co-Owned project to create a history to inform the future of the site. This project is about creating a complete history of the sites in York Central that are, at present, missing or under-detailed in the official narratives. During this semester, I have learned so much about the history, the community, and the culture of York Central and Leeman Road! It has been an amazing experience and I will briefly describe what I have learned and my contributions
As I described in my first post, much of the early work in my placement with YoCo centred around learning about the history of the Foundry Buildings, which were formerly the Phoenix and Albion Foundries, and the communities surrounding them. In doing this, I learned about the ways York Central had its earliest waves of employment and population growth in the area. In conducting this research, I was able to learn the different ways this area has existed in many forms: including as a foundry, railway workshops, use by the Royal Mail, and more contemporarily as a car hire business! These sites, even as they are currently behind construction fences and pylons, reflect the ways Leeman Road and York Central have important histories yet to be revealed and stories to be found! However, finding out about the history and heritage of these places requires more than spending time in the archive.
As a Public Historian, I wanted to use the archival research as the beginning of crafting a co-owned and co-created heritage of this space. After trips to the Borthwick, and time spent using online archives and repositories, I compiled photographs and maps to share with those on social media as a way to learn more and add to the knowledge of this area. I posted a series of Facebook posts on private groups within the community to try and start conversations and stimulate conversation about the images and the area. This was an exciting way to reach people who knew so much about the history of the Leeman Road area and talk about the ways it has changed throughout time. Both a fun and worthwhile venture, these Facebook posts had interactions about memories, both from family and friends, of the area! Hearing from the community, through interactions from the archival research, reflected the ways heritage and history should reflect experiences of the community and potentially of different experiences of the same place and time. Doing this allowed me to gain a greater appreciation for Leeman Road and York Central while adding to the voices speaking about their community. Additionally, many individuals pointed me to other individuals who knew a lot and could be important when researching, showing the spirit of the community to learn more and share their history with outsiders like myself.
Co-creating local heritage with Leeman Road Community.
(Image: Author)
In addition to the Facebook posts, I was able to host a booth at the St. Barnabas Church TableTop Sale in May to talk with those passing through about the history and memory of the Leeman Road area. This, like the Facebook posts, was a way to add other understandings of history that reflect a lived experience, something to use in combination with archival research, to paint a truer picture of the past. This was a fabulous event, and I was able to talk with so many individuals who shared their memories, stories, and opinions about York Central. We also were able to add a number of great memories to our culture map to add to the mosaic of York Central. Talking with community members added even more details to the history of York Central and gave personal anecdotes that revealed the importance of remembering and documenting the history of this place.
Book Front Cover (Image: Author)
I was also able to interview Christine Waddington to discuss her book: ‘A Shop on Every Corner’, and memories of living on Leeman Road and running the Post Office. Talking with her illuminated both great stories and experiences of this time and added to the ways heritage can be collected.
These experiences, working in the archives, and working with communities for historical and co-created heritage, reflect the beginning of changing the nature of remembered heritage in the Heritage Assessment. This is a document outlining the “significance” of buildings in York and their value due to the heritage of York Central. Their current parameters of value, significance, and meaning are currently extremely limiting and reflect an outdated ethos to remembering and documenting the past. With the wonderful, and continued, contribution from the York Central and Leeman Road area community, these documents will be changed to reflect a wide range of experiences and memories, like the many I was able to hear during these engagement points. While this is the end of my placement with YoCo, this reflects an ongoing process of creating heritage with communities, reflective of their experiences and needs.
This process would not have been possible without the wonderful contributions of my placement hosts, Claire and Helen, who gave me the opportunity to work with their community. Also, I am indebted to the many individuals I spoke with about the history and memories of Leeman Road! Both in passing at YoCo directors' meetings, at community events, or online through social media, whose reflections were of great importance to my research and the heritage of York Central that will continue to be created by and for those who live here.
