Museum calls for Bengali families' memories

Mohammed Abdul Hakim, pictured with his wife Amina and three of his children in the early 1970s. His story is to form part of a new feature planned for the museum.

A museum is appealing for local Bangladeshi and Bengali communities to share their memories as part of South Asian Heritage Month.

The Black Country Living Museum, in Dudley, said it was currently seeking to add to its cast by developing brand new characters who could reflect those histories.

It wants to hear from people of Bangladeshi and Bengali heritage, particularly those with memories of the 1960s or earlier, to find out how their past has intertwined with Black Country identity.

People looking to share their experiences have been asked to make contact with the museum through email.

A new industrial quarter opened at the Black Country Living Museum in March

A spokesperson for the museum said Mohammed Abdul Hakim, a "well-known and well-loved figure" in Wednesbury after arriving from Bangladesh in 1957, would soon be introduced as a historic character at the attraction.

Mr Hakim, who died in 2016, worked for more than three decades at J.H. Lavender Aluminium Foundry, in West Bromwich.

A new industrial quarter featuring the foundry, and other historic buildings such as Joe H. Smith & Sons (Oldbury) Ltd and the Cricket Field Brickworks, opened at the museum in March.

"His story is one of many Black Country Bangladeshi stories, and it is our ambition to collect and celebrate the full range of Bangladeshi experiences in our region," the spokesperson explained.

After Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, immigration became easier and Britain’s Bangladeshi community grew from just 6,000 in 1961 to almost 650,000 in 2021, with about 20,000 in the Black Country, said the museum.