A proud and historic week for the George Garrett Archive project was
tinged with sadness at the death the previous week of Derek Garrett. Derek was
the youngest, and the last surviving son of George Garrett. Derek was a great
supporter of our project; his daughter Eloise told me her ‘dad was extremely
proud of the project and the renewed interest in granddad’s works.’ Derek,
along with his brother Roy, gave us one of our greatest moments of magic during
the project when they spontaneously broke into singing the old Wobbly song,
‘Hallelujah I’m a bum’; proof if ever there was of George’s links to the United
States, the union movement and the Industrial workers of the World (IWW, also
known as The Wobblies’), as who else’s sons would have been taught ‘Hallelujah’
as a child? We are grateful to Derek, and Roy, for their support for the
project and for being so generous, particularly when fighting serious illness,
with their time. We were particularly touched that, as at Roy’s funeral, the
George Garrett Archive and the pleasure it brought him, was also mentioned
during the eulogy at Derek’s funeral. It was a pleasure getting to know them
both and are sorry for their family’s loss.
On Saturday 28th February the family formally presented the
George Garrett Archive to the Liverpool record office at Central Library. This
is both a major achievement and a major addition to the city’s archives. It is
also a key contribution to the record of working class literature and
radicalism in the city.
Project Leader and writing on the Wall Co-Director Mike Morris
introduced the afternoon events, which included time for the family to have a
look at the archive before it was deposited. This led to much reading and
discussion, with our ‘Garretteers’ on hand to discuss various aspects of the
archive with the family. WoW Co-Director, Madeline Heneghan, spoke on the
impact of the archive on WoW’s work, and how it has led to a new heritage
Lottery funded project concerning a series of documents relating to Black
seamen, soldiers and workers stranded in Liverpool and suffering racial abuse
following WWI. Course tutor and project worker Tony Wailey spoke about the new
writing developing from the project, and we were delighted to welcome Liverpool
City Council Cabinet Member for Culture and Tourism, Cllr. Wendy Simon, who
complimented the work of the project and welcomed the archive in to the city’s
records.
It is just over two years since we won Heritage Lottery Funding to
start the project, which was launched after one of Michael Garrett,
George’s Grandson, brought WoW a
suitcase full of material which included among other things his Merchant
Seaman’s his discharge books, marriage certificates and original writing.
Since then we have delivered a range of events and activities linked to
the archive:
•
A 16 week course on Garrett’s Life and work
attended by 20 people
•
A short film narrated by Alexei Sayle
•
A book – an introduction to George Garrett
•
An Installation designed by Liverpool John mores
University Students that has been placed in various parts of the city, and was
in the Albert Dock for two months, and seen by thousands of people
•
A two month exhibition of his archive at Central
Library, again seen by thousands of people
•
Staged the debut of two of Garrett’s plays – Two
Tides and Flowers and Candles
•
Held a series of public talks and visited
schools and history groups
•
A comprehensive website
A key part of this project has been the engagement with and the support
of a number of volunteers. They have taken part in the taught course and
thereby gained knowledge of Liverpool’s maritime history and Garrett’s life,
worked on the archive and gained skills in research, writing, curation,
preservation, cataloguing and display, and have delivered the public workshops,
and have gained skills and experience in public speaking and presentation. They
have been a key part of the project and have earned their own collective
moniker, ‘The Garretteers’. Without them we would not have been able to achieve
all that we have done.
Although the Heritage Lottery funding has ended, we plan to continue
the work on the archive. In May 2015. With the support of Culture Liverpool, we
are:
Holding a series of Public talks about Garrett and his links to
America, and then in June, in the basement of The Cunard Building:
Staging an adaptation of his short story, ‘the Maurie’, set aboard the
Cunard White Star Liner, The Mauretania.
We also are working to get financial support to publish his completed
but as yet unpublished autobiography, Ten years On The Parish, which is an
outstanding account of his life and that of the Liverpool unemployed in the
1930’s. More details on these activities will follow shortly.
The handing over of the archive to the Liverpool Record office was a
very satisfying day for all involved – WoW, the family, the ‘Garretteers’, and
all those who worked on the various aspects of the project. We feel privileged
to have played a part in preserving and disseminating the memory of the work
and life of this this great writer, playwright and radical activist. Though George
Garrett was a humble man, who, though proud of his achievements, went out of
his way to avoid the limelight, we feel sure he would approve of the work of
the George Garrett Archive Project.
