Prejudice and Solidarity
Archived Throughout History
Prejudice and Solidarity Archived Throughout History (PATH) is a community-led heritage project ran by Four Pillars & GREC (Grampian Regional Equality Council), exploring minority ethnic groups and queer community history in Aberdeen and surrounding areas.
Starting in the summer 2022 until spring 2024, the project invites members of these communities to engage and record the difficult but inspiring stories of prejudice and solidarity which they have experienced.
In partnership with Aberdeen City Council and University of Aberdeen we will be re-discovering existing archival materials which are not part of our current local history narrative.
We hope to capture local history previously unheard-of through interviews and oral stories to preserve this rich heritage within these communities and for future generations.
Sharing with the wider community the memories and personal accounts of people from minority ethnic groups and the LGBT+ community, our aim is to inspire new waves of solidarity and equality.
Archival Research
PATH is working with several institutions to scan the archives for records of LGBT+ people in Aberdeen. With the help of Old Aberdeen House, Aberdeen Central Library and Town House Archive, the project looks at issues and aspects of Queer life in cultural, legal, medical and political spheres. We focus on primarily written sources from diaries to newspapers roughly in the span from 1850s to 2000s.
Oral History Interviews
Due to limited available data, PATH seeks to expand existing collections of memories and stories from LGBT+ community through the medium of Oral History Interviews. Invited for a personal chat, the contributor will be brought to a safe space allowed for audio recording to take place, with the interlocutor writing notes they might deem important to the meeting. A list of topics will be provided for general guidance, but each interview will be different in one way or another, as experiences and reservations differ from person to person. Questioning will involve various aspects of life where their identity has played a crucial role, be it their upbringing, education, or interpersonal relationships; all with the focus on Prejudice and Solidarity. Concluding the interview, the contributor is presented the PATH Project Consent Form, which is to provide consent for the storage, archiving and use of the information recorded in the interview.
Outputs
The project’s goal is to highlight the lives of LGBT+ and Minority Ethnic People in Aberdeen, their journey for affirmation and impact on Aberdeen and Northeast Scotland as a whole. We aim to achieve this by creating short documentaries with the help from SHMU, as well as presentations and talks featured at various educational and cultural institutions of Aberdeen. To strengthen the engagement of public with heritage and local history, PATH wishes to form factsheets which would feature many of the sources found in Aberdeen.
