The BASA collection of Parish Records in the UK
BASA is a nationwide voluntary organisation established to
foster research and to disseminate information on the history of
Black peoples in Britain. BASA publishes a Newsletter and take up
issues with government departments and quangoes, such as English
Heritage re-Blue Plaques, with the QCA on school curricula, and MLA
regarding archives, libraries and museums. They have also worked on
specific projects with other organisations. e.g. in the past with
CASBAH, and the National Archives' website on the history of Black
peoples in Britain since the mid 16th century. BASA has also
collaborated with family historians to investigate the black presence
in the many everyday archives held across the country. This has
resulted in over two thousand 'sightings' of black individuals being
sent to BASA. These sightings are currently held by the Equiano
Centre.
The Equiano Centre is developing grant
applications with BASA to complete the cataloguing of the
records and to combine it with research on the black presence in
Britain before 1945 to create a public and freely available database.
BASA Project research volunteers