About the Project

A Night Out in Coventry is an interactive project working with the older generation of Coventry. Objects from The Herbert's permanent collections have been explored and discussed, handled and observed, to create this website showcasing the fifties era in Coventry.

In February 2006, The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum enrolled 5 Coventrians to work on the project and contribute their stories to the rich history of Coventry on the World Wide Web. This website documents their stories and looks at 'A Night Out in Coventry' for each one of the participants.

The project began by looking at objects from The Herbert's permanent collection, and discussing possible links and connections to the objects that each participant may have had. Items such as cocktail dresses, record players, shoes and hats enabled the participants to reminisce about similar items they may have had, and to use the objects in the sessions as tools of inspiration. The stories that came out of the sessions were many and varied, and often hilarious! Each member of the group had a different story about a particular 'Night Out', and the result is shown on these pages.

Following the collections-based sessions, the group then photographed the objects, some even bringing in their own items to use to 'tell' their story. Objects chosen range from stilleto shoes to 1950s records, and all of them connect to a story in some way. The participants, Sheila, John, Audrey, Gerry and Syd, all had different experiences of living and going out in Coventry, and the different objects and stories reflect this. In these pages you can meet all of the group, see the objects they chose, read their stories and see images of the group themselves from the 1950s and more recent mugshots!

The final phase of the project was ICT workshops, where each member of the group was able to learn image editing, writing for the web and basic elements of web design. The result is an exciting and creative resource that displays some of the more colourful and exciting elements of living in Coventry in the 1950s, and showcases objects from The Herbert's permanent collection in an accessible and interesting way. Syd

The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive service to all its users. We hope you find this website as enjoyable as the time we have spent producing it. The aim is to provide a 'real' reminiscence-based resource for the people of Coventry to have access to, and to encourage future generations to engage with the history of Coventry by having the opportunity to hear it from the people who were there.

If you are interested in participating in similar projects or have further information or stories about the 1950s in Coventry please contact info@theherbert.org or call 024 7683 2386