About this Project

Beginning in October 2017, University of Hertfordshire students enrolled in the ‘Migrants & Minorities in Britain c. 1688-1850’ module were asked to find one already-digitised cartoon of a migrant or minority group (c.1688-1850) and contribute it to the class Instagram Feed. The Instagram feed acts as a (free) digital archive of already-digitized primary sources brought together from around the web. Each image is accompanied by its relevant metadata and a URL to the original repository where it was found. This collection thus represents an ‘invented archive’ of visual primary sources that students can use in their research essays.

Module Aims

This module is designed to give students a deep exposure to issues and sources surrounding the history of migrants and minorities in Britain during the long eighteenth century. It also provides a context in which to develop the practical skills needed to present historical research, giving students the intellectual tools to critique a range of primary sources, and to understand the context of their creation.

Project Aims

• Become aware of digital archives holding visual primary sources related to the groups you are studying.
• Learn about metadata standards for describing visual primary sources
• Learn to integrate visual primary sources in your research essays.

Project Outputs

• Uhmigrantlivesproject (2017-Present), Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uhmigrantlivesproject. The Instagram feed provides a simple and free archive that highlights the wide range of relevant primary sources that might otherwise not be evident to students when sprinkled widely across the web. In its first year the archive included 72 images and associated metadata.
• Adam Crymble, ‘Cultural Diversity in London, 1821’ The Migration Museum Project (2018).
• Adam Crymble & Sammy Sturgess, ‘Bringing Indigenous & Minority Immigrant Histories to the Curriculum’, University of Hertfordshire Learning & Teaching Conference (June 2018).
• Ian Chowcat, ‘University of Hertfordshire, Inherited Learning: Digital Archives Built by Students for Students’ JISC, (2018).

Software and Primary Sources

This project uses Instagram to host all primary sources and metadata.

Students gathered images from around the web, but found the image collections of the British Museum and the Lewis Walpole Library particularly useful.

Student Contributors

The following students made contributions to the archive:

2017-2018

• Ellen Daly
• David Eddy
• Joshua Fowell
• Adam Hemming
• Sebastian Jones
• Lucy Kenealy
• Amy Mulryne
• Thi My Nhi Vu
• Denis O’Malley
• Tyler Osborne

2018-2019

• Sameer Deacon
• Joshua Draper
• Grace Herron
• Andrew Hudson
• Sharna Hylton
• Kelly Mulhern
• Sheldon Pollard
• Joel Sorby
• Jessica Thomas
• Carl Tosner
• Beatrice Zanette

Project Team

Please direct any correspondence, including takedown requests, to Adam Crymble (a.crymble@herts.ac.uk)