Statement on potentially harmful language in our catalogues and collections

Hull History Centre holds archive collections dating back to the 11th century. These enable audiences to discover the stories of the people and city of Hull, as well as the histories of people from around the United Kingdom and the world.

These collections can contain outdated language, judgements and opinions relating to race, sexuality, disability, religion, nationality, class and gender. Researchers should be aware that they may encounter outdated or offensive language and attitudes when using archive materials.

In our catalogues we usually consider it important to retain a record's original terminology for its title. Where necessary, we will also include original terminology in descriptive texts. This is not an endorsement of these terms and judgments. Rather, it is a way to reflect the context in which the documents were originally created. We understand that it can be difficult to read content like this, and Hull History Centre is committed to an ongoing process of reassessing our approach to cataloguing. We are also committed to including statements in our catalogues to put any potentially offensive content, language or attitudes into context.