View resource
About Morgan
Morgan was a research and sewing volunteer in TURNING POINT heritage programme’s “Sunday Best” – sewing skills and heritage research workshops.
Morgan (they/ them) is a Drama and Theatre Arts student at Goldsmiths University, specialising in backstage disciplines. With a background in costume design, their interests centre on fashion history, particularly that of minority communities, and research-driven approaches to accurate period representation. As a mixed-race Black Caribbean individual, they are deeply engaged with Black British history and the stories of those who came before them and are keen to further develop their research skills to inform and enrich their creative practice.
Mapping 1920s & 1930s Queer Caribbean Journeys
The aim of this research is to contextualise and visualise the lives of queer people with Caribbean heritage that found a home in Britain, in the early 1900s. Many of them travelled around Europe, with those who were performers or artists often travelling and living in Paris as it became a hub for the arts, and a mixing pot for people of different racial backgrounds. The research highlights a point in time when black entertainer would mix with the upper classes often ending in scandal.
As a mixed race queer person, growing up in Britain I slowly began to realise I did not know much about the lives of those queer people who came before me. This research has taught me so and helped me realise even further just how interconnected the lives and histories of queer people are. It has made me even more proud to be a queer mixed Caribbean Briton and has inspired me to keep learning and inspired me to keep living as authentically as I can. What is highlighted is how small the queer community is, how we all flock in numbers, leaving our own stamp on where we visit. These people were living their lives to the best of the ability despite living in a time that did not welcome them.
The web I have created is made of research surrounding three primary people. Dr Cecil Belfield Clarke, Patrick Nelson and Leslie Hutchinson. I know that when I am researching I struggle to contextualise and understand the whole picture. So this graph documents, to the best of my ability, the lives, movements of these queer men and a few other men and women. This will be an ongoing project to carry on documenting and I hope that I can keep developing this graph to become wider. I do acknowledge that there is very few queer women on the graph but in the future I hope to change this.
Under all pages there are links, to more resources. This graph is hopefully the start of something bigger and I encourage you to not be afraid to fall down a rabbit hole and get invested!
Many of these people died alone, and with very minimal recognition despite entertaining the masses. It’s our job to keep speaking their name and relighting their legacies in whatever way we can.
Morgan Tucker
