Reimagining Lincolnshire is a public history project based at the University of Lincoln (UoL). Co-investigators include heritage professionals, teachers and researchers from a wide range of organisations in the region, as well as staff and students at the UoL and Bishop Grosseteste University. The project has the support of the UoL’s Vice Chancellor and Board of Governors, and is committed to UoL’s One Community values (One Community | About the University | University of Lincoln).
Reimagining Lincolnshire seeks to uncover hidden and neglected stories from Lincolnshire, of those whose contributions to the county, country and internationally have largely been forgotten. Who remembers now the 5,000 black colonial volunteers who served in the RAF in Lincolnshire in the Second World War, or the Asian-origin refugees from Idi Amin’s Uganda who were housed in former RAF stations and cared for by local people, or the many suffragists from this region who fought to extend the civic rights of all British people? Why are people like Mary Jane Lovell, Albert West, Richard Hill, Margaret Emily Bennett, Rebecca Hussey and Salim Charles Wilson not better known?
The participants in this project believe there are countless more stories like theirs, of individuals who left a significant mark on history, yet whose contributions have been marginalised or overlooked. This project addresses the complexities of Lincolnshire’s role in the making of the modern world, to show that extensive international connections stretching back over many centuries resulted in a social diversity and global knowledge that was not exceptional but the norm in our region.
We participate in events such as Heritage Open Days, Black History Month, the Being Human Festival and Women’s History Month. In the coming months, we will be producing exhibitions, educational resources, campus and city trails and more.
If you have information you’d like to share, or would like to know more, or would like to be added to our mailing list, please contact either Professor Heather Hughes (hhughes@lincoln.ac.uk) or Dr Victoria Araj (varaj@lincoln.ac.uk).