About The Catalogue

Our collections have been amassed by volunteers from the Black community since BCA began in the early 1980s. The archives span a period of five centuries and comprise a wide variety of material reflecting the history of the African diaspora and the presence of Black people in Britain. They include personal papers, organisational records, ephemera, photographs and periodicals, and have been used to support our educational and outreach work.

The current content of the archive reflects BCA’s history as a local grassroots organisation which sought to promote and collect material encompassing the breadth of experiences of people of African and African-Caribbean descent.