We need you! - A People’s History of Finsbury Park

We are creating the People’s History of Finsbury Park and we need your help! Come and add your voice to this unique multi-authored history of the area that we are creating to as we prepare for our arrival at our new home in Finsbury Park. We’ll be hosting drop-in workshops throughout August and September and invite you to get involved. Whether you want to talk about what’s changed about the area, resistance or struggles, share a story about the past or today, we want to hear from as many people as possible.

Collecting histories of Finsbury Park at the Solidarity hub

The end result will be a new DIY publication - The People’s History of Finsbury Park – a book which will explore the complicated and varied history of Finsbury Park through many people’s voices launching in the autumn. We are working with Matt Bonner at Revolt Design on the publication. We are grateful to Historic England for their support for the project.

About the project

Finsbury Park has long been an area of change, contradictions and churn. How does an area recognised for its history of activism and social change square with its founding as a railway suburb? How does its associations with post-war renewal and later its gentrification sit with the many accusations it has faced over the decades that it is in decline?

Finsbury Park is an area that has seen its housing struggles. Whole communities – like the infamous Campbell Bunk and more recently the Woodbury Down Estate – have seen struggle. It is a site of legendary histories of squatting, resistance and battles against gentrification.

The project aims to capture as much of this history as possible from the ground up. To do this we will be hosting regular drop days just up the road from the park so do come and get involved.

What will be expected of me

The drop-ins will be part of the Streets Kitchen Solidarity Hub Fridays 12 - 4 pm where people come and go, pick-up supplies and have chats.

We’ll have a space where people can write reflections, sketch and draw and a separate upstairs space for capturing recorded testimony. You can pop by and stay for as long as you like.

This might be:

A story you want to share about Finsbury Park

Something from the past or today that you feel should be in the history books

An observation about what you have seen that’s changed over time

Or anything else…

Dates

Friday - 4th August, 11th August, 18th August, 25th August & 1st September at the Streets Kitchen Solidarity Hub (12noon – 4pm), 48 Seven Sisters Road, N7 6AA

Tuesday 5th September – StreetsFest at Finsbury Park 12noon – 4pm

Access/inclusion

We want to be an accessible and inclusive museum, if you have another way that you would like to contribute to the project, please do let us know (matt@museumofhomelessness.org)