Moulded by migration

Southampton is a city shaped by migration. For hundreds of years, immigrants have influenced the city’s makeup. Professor Tony Kushner has dedicated his recent research to understanding Southampton’s colourful past and present.

Today, a quarter of the population of Southampton was born overseas. It’s a statistic that reflects the city’s vibrant culture – through history and into the present.

Tony Kushner, James Parkes Professor in the History Department and Parkes Institute, explained: “Southampton is really interesting. It’s a city of migration from hundreds of years ago to today, but it’s not necessarily the first city you think of in terms of immigration.”

Hailing from Manchester and arriving in Southampton 36 years ago, Tony’s research into the history of migration in Southampton has been spurred on by his own experiences. “I saw – and still do see – myself as a migrant from the north,” he said.

The University itself is shaped by a history of migration. Tony outlined a couple of examples: “The University is part of this migrant history. There is the Zepler Institute, reflecting the contribution of electronic expert and refugee from Nazism, Erich Zepler, and the plaque commemorating prominent chemist, Martin Fleischmann, another refugee from the Third Reich who became a Professor of Electrochemistry at Southampton in the ‘60s.

“Another notable migrant is Edgar Feuchtwanger, who came to the UK in 1939 as a child refugee from a German Jewish family and took up a scholarship at Winchester College. Then from 1959 to 1989, he taught History at the University of Southampton.”

Migrant moments

Last year, Tony published some of the fascinating trials and tribulations of migrant Southampton in a new book, Southampton’s Migrant Past and Present. To coincide with this, he has developed a walking tour of the city to highlight migration from medieval times to today.

The book and the tour feature notable clues to the city’s migrant history, outlining what has happened and where. Tony produced these in partnership with Southampton City Council as part of 2020’s Mayflower 400 commemorations (marking the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower ship’s sailing from England to America), and with a range of community groups in the city.

One example of Southampton’s migrant history is a brick wall in front of the Grand Harbour Hotel which features graffiti by American soldiers waiting to go to Normandy in 1944. “Over one million American GIs went through Southampton to France during the Second World War,” said Tony. “Some of them scratched their initials and the date on that wall. It’s a metaphor for Southampton’s migrant past – it’s something that was there and is now hidden.

“The millionth American GI who left Southampton in October 1944, Private Paul Shimer, was celebrated and met the Mayor. He was sadly hit by a German landmine just weeks before the end of the war and was one of the tens of thousands who died in Normandy.”

Below right: ‘The Millionth Yank’: Private Paul Shimer, the millionth American soldier to leave for the D-Day invasions from Southampton, with the Mayor, 2o October 1944

Another period outlined in the book is the 1920s when Southampton was home to the largest trans-migrant camp in the world. On the site that is now Southampton Airport, was a mini-city full of migrants trying to get to America. Some of them lived in this temporary camp – known as Atlantic Park Hostel (pictured at the top of this article) – for up to nine years.

Tony explained: “This camp became home to Ukrainian Jewish refugees who had escaped civil war and famine in Ukraine in the early 1920s and were looking to reach America. But America closed its doors from 1921 to 1924.”

A large American naval base was set up at what is now Southampton Airport. Refugees were supposed to stay there for a week to be checked, then go to America. But on arrival in America, they were refused entry and sent back to their port of departure. Consequently, Atlantic Park Hostel became a temporary home to up to 1,000 people at a time.

“It was a whole mini-city,” said Tony. “But there is nothing in the busy airport that would recognise that history now. It’s a national memory that locally is largely forgotten.”

Professor Tony Kushner in the Parkes Library at the University of Southampton

Tony’s book also profiles the history of Canal Walk, a hub of vibrant immigrant communities from the late 19th century through to the late 1930s.

“Canal Walk has an interesting history,” Tony outlined. “It was a place of excitement and danger. It was full of lock-up shops, market stalls and prostitutes. It was a hyperimmigrant street, selling cheap food and cheap clothing.

“Tommy Cooper performed in an Italian restaurant in Canal Walk in his early days, and Benny Hill’s father owned a rubber shop, selling primitive contraception, there. Benny Hill could famously speak about eight languages – some of which he picked up from his links to Canal Walk’s multiculturalism.”

Parkes Institute support

Southampton’s Migrant Past and Present was published with support from the University’s Parkes Institute for the study of Jewish/nonJewish Relations.

Dr Claire Le Foll, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Parkes Institute, said: “James Parkes was a reverend and did a lot for refugees in the early ‘30s. He was a scholar and researched Jewish-Christian relations, and he gave his archives to the University of Southampton in the ‘60s.”

Southampton’s Migrant Past and Present, with artwork and printing by the Design and Print Centre at the University of Southampton, was published in 2021 and is available to buy here: tinyurl.com/3b3a6wya

Below left: Bathers in Southampton Water, disturbed by the wash of a passing steamer bound for America, with first class, second class, third class and steerage passengers: by local artist Sam Smith. Image courtesy of Southampton City Art Gallery