Mapping Memory on the Liverpool Waterfront
CASE STUDY
Background
The streets behind Liverpool’s South Docks were once
the beating heart of a busy, seaport city. Shops, indus-
tries, small businesses, bars and boarding houses all
thrived, many connected in some way to the work of the
port. This changed with the closure of the South Docks
and with successive recessions in the 1970s and 1980s,
which had a significant impact on Liverpool.
The project
‘
Mapping Memory on the Liverpool Waterfront’ is a
collaboration between the University and National
Museums Liverpool, bringing together urban historians,
museum curators and film-makers to work with the
people of the city. Its aim was to record the recollections
of those who lived or worked in the area during these
years of dramatic change. Memories, impressions and
opinions are hugely valuable, but individuals remember
things in different ways, and everyone has a different
story to tell. Together these form part of a rich tapestry
of Liverpool history and life.
A broad collection of memories and images has been
gathered through oral history interviews and public
mapping workshops, along with filmed recollections
of spaces and buildings, often prompted by archive
photographs. Some participants were interviewed on
location, bridging past and present visions of the city.
These recollections were plotted onto an interactive
map on a specially constructed website, with the aim
of inspiring visitors to investigate further the history of
Liverpool. A 40 minute documentary about the project
can also be viewed online.
The project has brought academic history and museum
expertise together to work with the public, crossing both
museum and university boundaries to reach a wider
community. It built relationships with communities which
were not previously engaged with either the museums
or the University, and provided additional research
capacity and expertise which complemented that of
the museum. It has also demonstrated a collaborative
model that could readily be extended to public history
and heritage projects more generally.
Outcomes / benefits
•
Building relationships with communities not
previously engaged with either the museums
or the University
•
Providing research capacity and expertise to
complement those of the other project partners
•
Permanent exhibition at the Merseyside Maritime
Museum.
Visit the interactive map at:
Partner
Merseyside Maritime Museum (National Museums Liverpool), Re-Dock (Community film-makers)
Activity type
Collaborative research, Events, conferences, seminars and exhibitions, Public engagement and
policy advice
Academic lead(s)
Dr Graeme Milne, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Histories, Languages
and Cultures, History
Supported by
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as part of the ‘‘Beyond Text’ Research
Programme.
175
Society & Culture
Projects such as Mapping Memory
are critical in underpinning the core
public outputs of the museum with
new and cutting edge research.
This particular project has resulted
in a completely new set of data
which will enable us to further
understand and interpret
collections. In addition, the
methodology deployed, that of
community engagement, is hugely
important in connecting societies
with their intangible heritage.
Rachel Mulhearn, Director,
Merseyside Maritime Museum
(
National Museums Liverpool)
