Black, Female and British: Stories of port cities in the 1900s

Dr Nathalie Rech will share early research into Black Women who entered UK state institutions in the early 20th Century. Her research aims to contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of white supremacy. The presentation will focus on archival research in port cities with a larger Black presence, such as Liverpool, and Cardiff.

Black women’s presence appear in journalistic accounts of police and court activities, as well as in institutional records, although often through the filter of stereotypical and racialized representations. Very few academic studies have focused on women of African descent in Britain at the turn of the 20th century.

Dr Nathalie Rech is a writer and a historian. Her research focuses on Black women’s lives at the turn of the 20th century. Currently a Post-doctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool, she explores the criminal justice system and state institutions in Louisiana, and in the UK.