Olive Morris Collection

The Olive Morris Collection contains personal papers, photographs, ephemera and oral histories relating to the life and work of activist Olive Morris (1952–1979) who was born in Jamaica and immigrated to the UK at the age of nine. She was very active in community activism during the last decade of her life, campaigning for Black and women’s rights. Among her many achievements, she co-founded the Brixton Black Women’s Group in 1974 and the Organisation of Women of Asian and African Descent (OWAAD) in 1978. Shortly before her death at the age of only 27, she graduated with a degree in Social Sciences from Manchester University. The Brixton-based Remembering Olive Collective (ROC) conducted 30 oral history interviews as part of their efforts to honour Olive’s memory, which are preserved in the Olive Morris Collection along with a selection of her personal papers, which were given to the ROC by her partner, Mike McColgan. Anna Colin, Tanisha Ford, Ana Laura López de la Torre and Kimberly Springer (eds.), Do You Remember Olive Morris? (London: Remembering Olive Collective (ROC), 2009). Available for download online at https://rememberolivemorris.wordpress.com/