On the 12 June 2020 St Albans residents took part in two Black Lives Matter protests. The first took place in Market Place just outside St Albans Museum + Gallery and the second in Verulamium near Westminster Lodge.
The placards and photographs below have been added to St Albans Museums' collection as part of our commitment to contemporary collecting and to record this important moment in St Albans' history.
Some of the placards donated to the museum are currently on display in the windows of St Albans Museum + Gallery as part of our St Albans on Demand exhibition. Nominated by staff, volunteers and members of the public, each item in this St Albans on Demand is rooted in the local community, revealing hidden histories and opening up the museums' collections. You can find out more (or nominate an object) on the St Albans on Demand exhibition page.
Black Lives Matter protests (12 June 2020)
Black Lives Matter placards collected 12 June 2020
These placards were all used at the protest in Verulamium and are now part of St Albans Museums collections. St Albans Museums exists to serve our community and we know that it has been a diverse one for over 2,000 years. We want to represent St Albans as broadly as possible and these placards are part of our journey to widen our collections, exhibitions and the stories we tell.
The placards talk of international events but also of the racism that takes place in St Albans today and the history of slave trading which is woven into the history of every part of British history including local slave owner Joseph Timperon.
You can discover more about Joseph Timperon and other local slave owners through the Legacies of British Slave-ownership database created by UCL.
