'Govanhill People's History'

"'Govanhill People's History' recorded the dynamic history of migration in and around the Govanhill area of Glasgow. The aim was to celebrate Govanhill’s unique diversity and its important role as a portal for new Scots. The project explored the contribution of migrants to Scottish society, the difficulties they experienced, and asked whether Govanhill was a place of hope and personal development for them.

Dr Sue Morrison was the Scottish Oral History Centre's lead community oral history project trainer and adviser and worked with the project in that capacity throughout the oral history collection phase of the project. When the first project coordinator left to take up another post, Sue was asked to also step into the vacant role. At that point, no interviews had been generated. Sue's 8 month term with Govanhill People's History saw her recruit 18 volunteers to increase the overall number to 29. She trained, supervised and supported the volunteers to complete all of the project's 140+ oral history interviews, an amazing feat in the given time. She also found time to organise two very productive reminiscence events, encourage volunteers to conduct archival research, and support one placement student and two project interns to gain as much as possible from their time with the project.

Sue's down-to-earth honesty, solid advice, tremendous work ethic, and her great sense of humour, left a lasting impression on everyone she worked with, and she left the project with lots of fantastic material for the archive and project outputs."

Janet Thompson
Glasgow Southside Community Worker