Caribbean Journeys: Wembley Artsmark Project
Introduction
As part of an Artsmark project, London Transport Museum has been working with students from Wembley Primary School to co-create a series of films based on the lives and inspirational careers of London Transport’s Caribbean workforce.
This page includes a variety of teacher resources to enhance classroom learning about the Windrush and Caribbean communities while exploring important themes such as identity, belonging, racism, and discrimination.
Wembley Artsmark Project highlights
Here is the highlight video of the three films created by Wembley Primary School as part of their Artsmark project about the Caribbean workforce that came to work for TfL, and how they have shaped London and its transport system as we know it today.
Did you know?
London Transport had a network of sports clubs and societies that helped the Caribbean workforce establish new friendships and communities.
London Bound and Proud
How have Caribbean communities contributed to and shaped the capital?
The Caribbean workforce came bringing as little as family photos, clothes, and passports, but soon forged communities that brought unique flavours, culture, and inspiration to London and its transport system.
Key Stage 2 Caribbean Journeys sessions
Teachers, join us for our amazing Caribbean Journeys session where KS2 students immerse themselves in the world and stories of London Transport’s Caribbean workforce. Booking is now open!
Image gallery
Did you know?
The Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury, Essex on the 21st of June 1948, and out of the 1,027 passengers, 802 were from British Caribbean colonies.
Give me a little R.E.S.P.E.C.T
What is racism? What is discrimination?
Many Caribbeans made the journey to Britain, leaving good lives behind with high hopes of starting a new life, but not all were welcomed. Many who helped London get back on its feet suffered racism and discrimination, although our city’s vitality and cultural landscape would not have been the same without the Caribbean workforce.
Caribbean recruitment resource
Explore our resource about London Transport’s Caribbean recruitment, which shares the impact Caribbean people have made on London and its transport system through story and collection-based learning.
Image gallery 2
Did you know?
The Windrush Scandal in 2018 revealed that at least 83 people who came from the Caribbean before 1973 were deported between 2013 and 2018 as a result of the Immigration Act, which went into effect in 1971.
The Place For Us
What was the experience of London Transport workers from the Caribbean in the city?
Many Caribbeans faced trying and challenging times upon arrival as they were treated unfairly due to their skin colour, culture, and identity. The Windrush scandal of 2018 brought further challenges for this community as many of those who had lived in Britain for most of their lives were threatened with deportation.
Caribbean immigration timeline
With the help of this immigration timeline, your students can learn more about the Caribbean workforce by exploring key events, enhancing classroom learning and opening up important conversations on topics of identity, belonging, racism, and discrimination.
How to use the timeline
- Teachers can design questions based on the information given in the timeline.
- Students can track the emotions of migrants, as laws around immigration changed.
- Students can build a collective timeline as an eye-catching classroom display.
- Students can make individual timelines of a person or role model they admire.
Glossary of key terms
Migrant - a person who moves from one place to another, usually for better work or living conditions.
Recruitment - finding and hiring people for work.
Commonwealth - 54 countries from all over the world with a link to the UK. King Charles III is their Head of State.
Bus conductor - a person whose job is to collect fares and sell tickets on a bus.
Deported - when a person is removed from a country for not being a citizen or for being there illegally.
Timeline
1914-1949
From 1914, any person born in the British Empire was a natural-born British subject. They could live and work in the UK.
1948 - The Windrush
The Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks in Essex on 21 June 1948. Of the 1,027 passengers, 802 were from British Caribbean colonies.
1948 - The British Nationality Act
All Commonwealth subjects were given the status of British Citizen. They had the right to work and live in the UK and to bring their families with them.
1956 - Recruitment from Barbados
The government of Barbados contacted London Transport to discuss recruitment direct from the island. Hundreds of people signed up to go and work for London Transport.
1962 - The Commonwealth Immigrants Act
For the first time, British subjects from the Commonwealth were stopped from entering the UK unless they were born there or held a UK-issued passport. This was the beginning of immigration control.
1966 - Jamaica and Trinidad
London Transport started direct recruitment from Jamaica and Trinidad, but the shortage of immigration vouchers limited its success.
1968 - The Immigrants Act changed
In 1968 a change to the Immigrants Act would mean that future migrants needed proof that their parents or grandparents were born in the UK.
1970 - End of an era
Recruitment from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad ended in 1970. London Transport had already begun reducing the number of bus conductors by introducing one-person operation on buses.
1971 - A new Immigration Act
When the Immigration Act of 1971 came into force, newly arriving Commonwealth citizens lost their right to remain in the UK.
2018-now - The Windrush scandal
In 2018 it emerged that at least 83 people who came from the Caribbean before 1973 had been deported between 2013 and 2018.
It was claimed they could not provide enough evidence that they were in the UK legally. Many more were detained, lost their jobs or homes, had their passports confiscated or were denied benefits and medical care.
Teacher resources
We have signposted a list of different websites, resources, books and articles to support you and your class to continue talking and learning about these themes and stories.
Related content
People have come from all over the Caribbean Commonwealth to live in the UK. Do you know which flag is which?
Open now, Legacies: London Transport’s Caribbean Workforce exhibition celebrates the huge contribution people of Caribbean heritage have made to transport history and British culture.
- Exhibitions
How we made our new exhibition Legacies: London Transport's Caribbean Workforce
Find out how we developed our exhibition, Legacies: London Transport's Caribbean Workforce, working closely with an Advisory Board made up of people of Caribbean heritage, in this blog by Senior Curator Laura Sleath.
