Black Cultural Archives
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| Established | 1981 |
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| Location | 1 Windrush Square, Brixton, London, SW2 1EF |
| Type | archive |
| Founder | included Len Garrison |
| Website | www.bcaheritage.org.uk |
Black Cultural Archives (BCA) was founded in 1981, by educationalist and historian Len Garrison and others. BCA's mission is to record, preserve and celebrate the history of people of African descent in Britain. The BCA's new building in Brixton, launched in 2014, enables access to the archive collection, provides dedicated learning spaces and mounts a programme of exhibitions and events.
In 1981, Len Garrison and other members of the Black British community started a collection, originally housed in Coldharbour Lane in Brixton and later based in Kennington, that sought to redress the historical imbalance of the representation of Black people in Britain.
In 2010 the BCA won major funding, including £5million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the London Development Agency, and moved back to Brixton to become the UK's first national black heritage centre. A site dedication ceremony took place in June 2013, and the new BCA building – a Grade II-listed Georgian building, the former Raleigh Hall – at 1 Windrush Square, was officially opened on 24 July 2014. Designed by architects Pringle Richards Sharratt, it was named in 2015 as "Building of the Year" in the New London Architecture awards.
In 2008, a two-year HLF-funded project called "Documenting the Archive" enabled the cataloguing of BCA's collections of books, objects, and archives, which "document the hidden stories and experiences of Black people either through personal and family journeys or through the rich network of Black-led community organisations", and "celebrate Black achievements "alongside the strong sense of campaigning and resistance to racial inequalities." BCA's records are also accessible through an online catalogue.
BCA's inaugural exhibition was Re-imagine: Black Women in Britain (24 July–30 November 2014), which chronicled "the often hidden histories of Britain’s black foremothers", including Mary Seacole, Mary Prince, Adelaide Hall, Olive Morris, Jessica Huntley among others. In October 2016 this exhibition was launched online as part of the Google Cultural Institute.
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