[EASST-Eurograd] CfP | Archives of Care: Black Health Histories in Twentieth Century Britain
Jonathan Kuo via Eurograd
Call for Participation
Archives of Care: Black Health Histories
in Twentieth Century Britain
For many historians researching histories of health and health policy, sources often come from collections whose inception was for the documentation of and contribution to a history of medicine, health, and health policy – whether this be personal papers of doctors and scientists, records of pharmaceutical companies, government records pertaining to health, etc. The presence of racialized experiences are seldom represented or, if any, partial within these collections. And so, historians researching health and healthcare in Britain at the intersection of race are found reliant on community archives to fill the gaps and bring together narratives of racialized experiences.
This Spring there will be a one-day workshop that brings together doctoral and early career historians with community archives to examine the history of Black health and healthcare in twentieth century Britain. In consideration of the politicization of Blackness throughout twentieth century Britain, this workshop welcomes research that discusses health and healthcare at the intersection of racially marginalized groups in Britain, including but not limited to the histories of African, Caribbean, and South Asian descent. This workshop will be a collaborative and constructive space for emerging and early career scholars to present work-in-progress, receive feedback, and foster a scholarly community while directly supporting the mission and operations of community archives.
The objective of this workshop is to engage with the following 3 points of intervention:
What is the utility and purpose of the community archive? What role and responsibility do archives like these have/take to serve Black communities in Britain?
How does your work think about what community archives already have as insights to Black health and healthcare in Britain?
And, what are current challenges in preserving Black health histories?
In addition to presenting work-in-progress and participating in feedback rounds, this workshop will support the mission and operations of community archives whereby (1) the cumulation of work presented will result in the output of a thematic guide that catalogues materials on Black health and healthcare archived across the various community archives and (2) for there to be a roundtable where historians and representatives of community archives engage in conversations on how to preserve and remember Black health histories.
The workshop will take place Friday, May 29, 2026 at the University of Cambridge (exact location to be confirmed upon acceptance).
There are limited funds to possibly support travel expenses. If this may apply to you, please let us know so that we can see how to best allocate the limited funding we have and/or do our best to apply for further funding.
Applications for participation are currently open. If interested, submit your abstracts to Naomi Samake-Bäckert (ns2...@cam.ac.uk) and Che Kelly (che....@qmul.ac.uk) by March 23, 2026. Abstracts should be 250–300 words and clearly outline the main argument or research question, the historical period and geographical focus, and the sources, archives, and methodology used. Authors should also include a paper title, author names and affiliations, contact email, and a brief (50–100 words) biography.
Monday, March 23: Abstract Submissions Due
Friday, April 3rd: Submission Results with Feedback
Tuesday, May 5: Full papers (<10,000 words) Due for Pre-circulation
Friday, May 29: Workshop Date