Southwark Council has named the borough’s latest public library after the trailblazing Una Marson, the BBC’s first black female programme maker.
The new library will be in Walworth, on the north side of the Old Kent Road. It will open in spring next year. This news comes years after a Blue Plaque was unveiled for Una in Southwark, a scheme run by the News, Southwark Heritage Association and the council.
Una Marson, who was also a writer and feminist activist, moved to London from Jamaica in 1932, settling in Peckham. She moved back to Jamaica after four years before returning to London in 1938. She left again after the Second World War.
She became friends with Dr Harold Moody, the founder of the League of Coloured Peoples, and wrote extensively in poetry, fiction and non-fiction.
In 1942 she was hired by the BBC to work on Calling the West Indies, which encouraged Caribbean soldiers in the British army to send in messages to their families, which were read out on the radio. She was promoted to producer in 1942.
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Cllr Alice Macdonald, Cabinet Member for equalities, neighbourhoods and leisure, said: “Una Marson is a wonderful example to the people of Southwark and beyond. She overcame the challenges of arriving in a new country, and those presented by both her race and gender, in a time that was even more challenging than today.
“We hope that our Una Marson Library will inspire people to learn, grow, seek help and embark on new adventures, as well.”
Southwark Council already runs twelve libraries. To find your nearest library in the borough, click here.
