A new exhibition that explores the history of racial equality during the time of the League of Nations is set to open in London and make its way to Nottingham later this month.
Dr Jake Hodder, who received funding from a British Academy Wolfson Foundation fellowship, will launch a week-long exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society on Exhibition Road, London, on September 25.
The exhibition, using documents and items from the United Nations' archives in Geneva, will explore how the League of Nations confronted the issue of racial equality. The League, founded after the First World War, was the first worldwide, intergovernmental organisation and served as the precursor to the United Nations.
Dr Hodder was granted a fellowship from the British Academy to explore the impact of the League of Nations on the early African American civil rights movement in the United States, and the role of Black activists.
The exhibition celebrates the centenary anniversary of Ethiopia becoming a League member state, on September 28, and it is expected to arrive in Nottingham in time for Black History Month in October.
This exhibition speaks to two of today's most important challenges: confronting the legacies of colonialism and reaffirming the role of international cooperation and collective security. As we face an increasingly uncertain global outlook, the story of the rise and fall of the League of Nations offers valuable lessons to today's policy makers."
