Birmingham residents are being offered the chance to secure a place in the city’s history when a new museum gallery opens next year.

As part of the £9.7 million Birmingham history galleries, which will open in autumn 2012, staff  at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery have been developing a number of oral history projects on aspects of Birmingham life.

The ‘Your Birmingham’ gallery will explore the histories and stories of a wide range of local people through objects, text, photographs, audio and film. The new gallery will also play host to Birmingham’s iconic HP factory sign – saved when the Aston factory was demolished in 2007.

Staff are currently collecting stories on the following:

Suburban Birmingham in the first half of the twentieth century

• Working at Austin Motor Works, Longbridge
• Working at Cadbury’s
• Working at ChadValley, Harborne
• Moving to Kingstanding or WeoleyCastle estates

1945 onwards

• 40s - 90s Lewis's Store: shoppers/employees
• 50s The Duddeston Four or Prefabs: first residents
• 60s Birmingham Nightclubs in the 1950s/60s: People who owned/went out to Birmingham nightclubs
• 1964 The Bull Ring: shoppers/shopkeepers
• 2000 - 2003 Bullring: shoppers/shopkeepers
• HP Factory: Workers/HP Sauce enthusiasts
• Duran Duran: fans
• 1947 Winter: Birmingham people who experienced the winter in Birmingham
• 1953 End of the Trams: Birmingham people who remember travelling on the last trams in the city
• 1968 Rivers of Blood Speech: people present at speech or affected in aftermath
• 1977 Silver Jubilee: Birmingham people who celebrated in Birmingham
• 1986 / 1987 / 1988 / 1989 Super Prix: Birmingham spectators/participants

How to tell your story:

Use our on-line form 

Go to the the Your Birmingham group on Flickr to upload photos of your objects and tell your story.

Contact: Mariyam Ali 0121 303 4585, 07920576831