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8NEWS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25 2013 WESTERN MORNING NEWS WMN-E01-S2 westernmorningnews.co.uk 2002, living in the same house in Wonford for over 50 years and developing a broad Devon- Project reveals shire accent. Her story has been brought to life by Ghee and volunteer Crystal Carter, originally from California but a resident of multicultural Exeter since 2005 after mar- rying an Englishman while studying here for her degree. Dorothea was something of a heroine, risking her own life history behind to look for casualties during the 1942 blitz of Exeter. It’s this wartime era that is of special interest to Crystal, whose father and grandfather Devon city were black servicemen in the US military; her grandfather served during the Second BY LAURA JOINT about people from minority World War. backgrounds, people from Crystal, 30, researched stor- It’s thought to be the most elsewhere who’ve made their ies of black GIs stationed in comprehensive local history homes here or visited for a Exeter in 1943-44. project of its kind nationally – short time and been part of the She said: “The American and it reveals a rich seam of life of the city. army was still operating se- multiculturalism that has run “It’s not re-writing the his- gregation so when they came through Exeter for longer tory, but adding another over here, they were essen- than you might expect. chapter; it’s like we have a tially two separate armies –a A group of volunteers has white picture and we’re col- black army and a white army. charted the lives of the city’s ouring it in. The black GIs were based in black and ethnic minority res- “And it’s a community his- tents at the County Ground in idents, producing a timeline of tory; it’s not from scholars or the St Thomas area on the its multicultural history with old textbooks.” west of the River Exe; the stories about the people and That community consists of white soldiers were at Top- places at its heart. 22 local residents whose back- sham Barracks on the other Telling Our Stories, Finding grounds are diverse but whose side of the river. They had Our Roots has been produced stories have all converged in military police on the Exe by a group of local volunteer Exeter. Among them is Sand- Above: American ex-pat Crystal Carter researched stories of black GIs stationed in Exeter in 1943-44 for Telling Bridge to make sure they researchers, over half of them hya Dave. London-born Sand- Our Stories, Finding Our Roots. Below: Dorothea Hendy was born in Cornwall and lived in Exeter for 63 years d i d n’t cross. But there were from Exeter’s black and ethnic hya is a second generation regular fights at the river. minority community. British-born Gujarati Indian. –bronze bracelets that were “The British were baffled by This new chapter in the She has researched a number used for trading, especially in this segregation and were quite city’s history took 12 months of stories featuring people and West Africa. friendly towards the black to produce, but really the story places from Exeter’s multicul- “A manilla would have been Americans. Black soldiers has been 2,000 years in the tural past, including the used to trade in things like talked of how important their making. statue of the Hindu God ivory, gold, pepper and also relationships were with Eng- The timeline can be found Ganesh which is at the Royal people –s l ave s, ”she said. lish people; they seemed to get on the project’s website, Albert Memorial Museum. “We now think that the on quite well and the English t e l l i n g o u r s t o r i e s e xe t e r. o r g . u k , “Here was an object that was ‘Devon foundry in St Thomas is prob- people were interested in their where people can also add collected in the days of the might ably the oldest foundry that experiences. On the whole, their own stories. Download- Empire; we have no idea was making manillas, so there was sympathy for these able resources are available whether it was gifted, bought possibly Devon might possibly have oppressed men whom they felt for all the city’s schools to or simply stolen,”she said. had earlier trade links with deserved a bit of fair play.” access and there is a self- “Because of my background have had Africa than anywhere else.” The next stage of the project guided ‘Multicultural Exeter’ I looked at this object with a earlier The website timeline and is to involve the city’s primary tour. Regular guided tours and different perspective and city walk feature what is and secondary schools. storytelling events are also raised questions. Yes, it’sa trade known about some of Exeter’s Not everyone has welcomed planned. beautiful piece but where does links minority communities down the project though. The charity behind the Her- it come from? And for us, it’s the years, including those “There has been a minority itage Lottery-funded project, not an object; it’s something of with with Chinese, Asian, Jewish, of people, far right activists, Devon Development Educa- reverence and it’s very alive Africa Muslim, African and West who see this as being anti- tion, believes the results will for us today.” Indian origins. English,”said Ghee. “T hey’ve change people’s perceptions of Sandhya also did a bit of than Among the personalities the said I’m a traitor to my race. Exeter forever. digging into the site that now anywhere project has ‘d i s c ove re d ’is But this is why the project is so Project leader Ghee houses the Pizza Hut restaur- Dorothea Hendy, who was important, in order to edu- Bowman said: “T here’s much ant in the St Thomas area. It else’ born in Cornwall to a Cornish c at e. ” more to Exeter than the was formerly the Birdall mother and Jamaican father. Cathedral and the Blitz in 1942 foundry, which dates back to Sandhya Dave She was a resident of Exeter For more information, see and part of that hidden stuff is the 1500s and it made manillas from 1939 until her death in tellingourstoriesexeter.org.uk THIS IS YOUR FREE CAR WASH FREE CAR WASH COUPON Why not save time and money and make your cars bright and shiny with this rs cal ca Find lo fantastic offer. Get a FREE top of the range car wash worth up to £7.99. line ✁ r sale on The free car wash offer is valid at the local petrol fo ng How to claim: Simply cut out this voucher and present at nmorni stations listed below. wester any of the petrol stations listed to claim a top of the range car ws.co.uk TEXACO. Birchy Barton, Honiton Road, Exeter, Devon EX1 3EB wash absolutely free. Please note the value varies between ne £4.99 to £7.99 per individual petrol station. /motors BP. Bridgwater, 9-11 Taunton Road, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 3LP BP. 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