Permanent Displays
Hackney Museum features exciting new displays on the history of immigration to Hackney over the past 1000 years.
Discover the world on your doorstep
The museum looks at the stories of some of the amazing range of people that have made their homes here from Saxon times onwards. Their stories are brought to life with interviews capturing the experiences of real people which visitors can listen to on handsets situated throughout the display.
Hackney's tradition of welcoming newcomers means that its history encompasses a wide variety of stories. The new displays reveal this diversity through a range of fascinating interviews, images and objects.
Some, like a child's sculpture from Sierra Leone or a propaganda sheet from Nazi Germany, powerfully illustrate the forces that have driven people to leave their homes.
Others, like the contents of a Yiddish printing business, show the opportunities people have found here to make a living and start new lives.
But the museum is not just about objects in glass cases. There are lots of 'hands-on' activities designed to make it a lively and fun place for children to visit. You can have a go at loading a Saxon boat, try on historical costume, bring spooky ghosts to life and try your hand at making Victorian matchboxes against the clock.
The museum is also equipped with the latest computer technology. Touch screen computers let you visit on line exhibitions, map your family history, take a virtual tour of a Victorian home and eavesdrop on the fascinating memories of local people from around the world.
The displays cost nearly £400,000 to build and were entirely funded by a grant from the National Lottery.
Page updated: 17 Jan 2008