Lou Kushnick Collection

This collection mainly covers Lou Kushnick's work and research relating to race relations in the UK and US. This includes published articles and chapters, correspondence, working papers and notes, and newspaper clippings. Notable items include the 95 interviews with key figures who discuss American politics, economics, health and welfare and racial polarisation in the 1980s and 1990s. These recordings include interviews of key politicians, academics and community leaders in New York, Boston and Chicago.

The collection has been arranged into six series:
GB3228.30/1 - Articles and Publications
GB3228.30/2 - Newspaper Cuttings
GB3228.30/3 - Correspondence
GB3228.30/4 - Working Papers
GB3228.30/5 - Personal Papers
GB3228.30/6 - Interviews, Lectures and Radio Programmes

Available for research purposes only, in-person at the AIU RACE Centre. 24 hours notice is required to view this collection. Material will then be accessible through the Search Room, Manchester Central Library, St. Peters Square, Manchester, M2 5PD. To access this collection please contact: rrarchive@manchester.ac.uk

Lou Kushnick, OBE, is the founder of the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Research Centre and of the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Lou received his first degree from Columbia University before receiving a scholarship to complete his PhD in political science at Yale University. He then moved to the University of Manchester on a further scholarship, where he settled permanently and lectured in American Studies while living with his wife, Pat. Lou moved to the UK before the main US Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, and therefore it was racial discrimination in the UK that sparked his own interest in race and inequality.

Lou became a Professor of Sociology and later Honorary Professorial Fellow in Race Relations, lecturing at the University of Manchester for more than 40 years. He was also the editor of the journal "Sage Race Relations Abstracts" and continues to deliver guest lectures and contribute to race-related research.

Lou founded the AIU Centre in 1999, following the need to house the large collection of books and other material he had been collecting on the topic of race relations since the 1960s. As a researcher, he focused on exposing the perseverance and consequences of racial inequality in both the US and UK, which included interviewing significant figures with experience and knowledge of the political, social and economic aspects of racial discrimination. For Lou, it was important that the material held in the AIU centre was available to the public as well as students, as this meant it would be both valuable for research and instrumental in combating racism and celebrating cultures within Manchester?s communities.