By Iraz Akkus
A new library within Aylesbury has officially opened by the Southwark Council to honour Una Marson, the BBC’s first Black radio producer. This announcement comes with a larger commitment to improving the Aylesbury area, where Europe’s biggest housing estate was once situated.
Marson is the first Black woman in Britain to have a library named after her. Born in rural Jamaica, she was already a seasoned writer when she started to work for the BBC in 1939, having written a collection of poems challenging traditional notions of womanhood and a play named ‘At What Price’ about a mixed-race relationship. This would later be performed on the West End.
When she first moved to England, Marson lived in Peckham with Dr Harold Moody, a Black activist and founder of The League of Coloured Peoples. Marson was heavily involved within this effort, attending meetings and receptions, and supporting their fight against the pervasive racism of the mid-1900s. She was also an important advocate for women’s rights.
Shefirst started at the television studios and later transferred full-time to a programme assistant role in the Empire Programmes department, due to the suspension of BBC TV when the war began.
Her interest in poetry positioned her as a pivotal figure in elevating authors from the Caribbean; the Southwark council commented that to “honour Southwark’s rich cultural tradition”, Marson’s name was the perfect representative.
Marson also had a weekly series, ‘Calling the West Indies’, which collated a space for music, interviews and war-time stories. Importantly, it was here that she created air-time for servicemen and women to send messages to families in the Caribbean during the broadcast.
In 1942, she took part in George Orwell’s ‘Voice’ series, a platform for writers to read their work. She later incorporated a similar version of this onto her episodes of Calling the West Indies, labelling the section ‘Caribbean Voices’, tailored to spotlight authors from the West Indies. This helped the authors reach opportunities that were previously inaccessible and allowed them to build a portfolio.
Marson was previously honoured with a Blue Plaque at her home in Camberwell in 2009 and featured in Imaobong D. Umoren, an LSE professor in the International History department, influential book ‘Race Women Internationalists: Activist-Intellectuals and Global Freedom Struggles’.
LSE Library are celebrating their 10-year anniversary of The Women’s Library Reading Room, situated in The Women’s Library which is the the largest and oldest library covering women’s activism and campaigning in Britain. The celebrations will be on 7 March 6-9pm in the Women’s Library Reading Room.
