The closure of Croydon Citizen is regrettable because the loss of its publishing contributions on aspects of the Borough’s history and events.
The wide range of short essays,
the promotion and discussion of events, and debate on the contemporary threats
to Croydon’s heritage, have helped increase
understanding of aspects of Croydon’s development, and what of the past is of
value and of relevance today. This has been particularly important in a period
of considerable change and with a big annual turnover of population.
First
World War
In June 2013 I discussed the inadequacy of the Government’s plans to commemorate the First
World War, because they ignored the
enormous social and political cost of the conflict in Croydon and elsewhere. In
subsequent contributions I examined life
in Croydon in 1914 and 1917,
Croydon’s wartime Canadian links: the
Halifax explosion, December 1917; and the controversy over memorialising the
soldiers traumatised by combat who were treated in Cane Hill Hospital.
Robert Ward reflected on
his grandfather as a result of visiting the Whitgift School exhibition Remembering 1916. Emily Lansell has
written on The Museum of Croydon’s
centenary commemorations: First World War hospitals and Wallacefield.
In addition to reporting
on the Grade II* listing of the former airport building, Ian Walker of the
Croydon Airport Society wrote about how
its Heritage Lottery Fund grant was helping
to unveil the secrets of Croydon’s wartime history, leading to the birth of the aviation industry.
The Museum’s placement student Samuel Ali’s has
contributed articles on Croydon and the
Sinai & Palestine Campaign, Croydon and chemical warfare, and although he
has now left the Museum, on the Trinidadian Vignalë brothers.
The Second World War
There have also been
pieces on experiences in the Second World War: the local Scouts, and some of the
war veterans. Paul Dennis reviewed 98 year old resident Eric Sanders’
autobiography Secret Operations.
Histories of Local Areas
It published my three articles
on aspects of South Croydon’s history under the title Keen as Mustard, and two on the Selhurst area, my obituary of the
life of local resident Alex Elden From
the SS Windrush to Croydon, and The
Edwardian library legacy of an Anglo-Pole. Mark Wadsworth wrote a Tribute to Darcus Howe who had
lived in Pollards Hill.
Black & Asian History
The Borough’s Black/African
and Asian history have featured in many ways. In 2013 my Does Croydon need its own Martin Luther King? was triggered by the
showing of the film Freedom Riders. My
Remembering Paul Robeson’s musical activism was contributed because of Tayo Aluko’s Call
Mr Robeson, the last show at the Warehouse Theatre. Talks were held in the Heritage
Festivals, and in the African
History+@Croydon 2014 event organised by Kwaku of Black
British Music who published a preview, while I contributed How far have we come? Slavery, civil rights
and contemporary racism? In 2015 I discussed some films on aspects of
black history shown at the David Lean Cinema.
Samuel
Coleridge-Taylor
A particular emphasis has been given to Croydon’s local composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. In
addition to pieces by me, Gareth
Endean discussed whether Coleridge was a
victim of racism, and Samuel Ali his boosting civil rights campaigning.
Croydon’s slavery connections
Nick Draper of the Legacies of British
Slave-ownership project gave talks during two of the Festivals. Ann Giles reported on the first one. Other
contributions on the history included Ola Kolade on the talk by Paul Crooks on Secrets
of the 1817 Slave Registers Uncovered, and Jonny Rose’s How a meeting on
a tree stump near Croydon led to the abolition of slavery in Britain, and my contextual review of the film 12 Years a Slave,
Croydon
Minster
David
Morgan contributed three articles, including about the Minster’s organ and
choral music, and whether Mendelssohn
played that organ. Karen Ip wrote about the 150th Anniversary
of the fire that destroyed the Minister, while Liz Sheppard-Jones reviewed the Fire’s
commemorative concert.
Importance of Archives
In late 2013 and early
2014 there was a threat to close the Croydon
Local Studies Library and Archives Service. James Naylor explained
why the Citizen supported keeping it open,
and I wrote on The Importance of Archives.
In Fortune Favours the Archives Brian Lancaster of Croydon Natural History
and Scientific Society, explained how
the Service was saved.
Croydon Museum
Back in 2013 I pointed
out that Croydon’s art collection was a forgotten resource. Since the Labour
administration came to office in Mya 2014 the re-organised Museum and Archives
service research room on the ground floor of the Clocktower has been a hive of
activity and initiatives since 2014. Works from the art collection are now regularly
displayed. Volunteers have been working on projects including sorting and
cataloguing collections. The Fairfield (Halls) Collection project was discussed
by Angela Lord and myself. The many exhibitions
at the Museum included one on the artistic and musical family of the
Pethericks, about whom I contributed a piece in the Citizen.
The Citizen is itself a historical archive. Its print archive will be deposited with the
Museum, and plans are under way to ensure that the internet site remains as a
digital resource.
Threat to Croydon’s Heritage
Many residents and
others were outraged by the then Conservative Council’s decision in 2013 to
sell items from the Riesco porcelain collection displayed in the Clocktower. The
Citizen reviewed the arguments for
and against, while David White discussed whether the Council had the legal
power to sell.
In September 2014 I
explained the Council Planners’ admission that the Borough’s heritage had been significantly compromised
over recent decades. The threat to historic assets is always present. The
future of SEGAS house was discussed through the Citizen in 2014. My August 2016 Will Croydon Council sell off more of its historic assets? remains an open question.
Other Topics
Contributions have been
made on a range of other topics by PhD student Dan Frost, Clare Walker, Holly
Bernstein and myself on Croydon and Agincourt, Taras Shevchenko (the Ukrainian poet
who fought for the freedom of his
country using words), the 1968 Council elections and the student
occupation of Croydon College of Art, the
life of legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, the 90th
anniversary of Croydon Soroptomist International women’s organisation, and events
organised in this year’s Women’s History Month. Given this year’s commemoration
of Votes for Women the Citizen
published my introduction Historical
heroines: meeting Croydon’s suffragettes and suffragists.
The Citizen’s demise will make it more difficult to promote new writing
and share knowledge about Croydon’s history.
Postscript
The above text was written and submitted to Croydon Citizen. Unfortunately it was too close to the closure deadline for the team to be able to post it up. James Nayor, the Editor in Chief says on this and the previous posting on this blog site:
It's a real pity because these were excellent - thank you for your kind words and serious tackling of the issues the town faces with the losing the Citizen. I am very grateful for you writing this.
The Citizen was able to post up the latest contribution by Samuel Ali adding to our knowledge of Croydon's slavery links.
It has also managed to publish the last of my articles on the history of peace and anti-war movements in Croydon.
