DAM and Collections Management for Cultural Heritage 2026
From Archive to Primetime
How One Photograph Transformed Hidden History into Global Impact
A journey from a single photograph to worldwide recognition
The Backstory
In 2018, while researching an 1880s South London wrestler and boxer, Jack Wannop, historian Sarah Elizabeth Cox stumbled upon an unusual name in a newspaper archive: "Ching Hook." A Google search led her to a striking photograph held in The National Archives – a young Black boxer, fists raised, digitised but unidentified. There was no other information publicly available about the man.
What began as curiosity evolved into groundbreaking historical detective work. Using the British Newspaper Archive and Ancestry the boxer was identified as Hezekiah Moscow. His forgotten story was pieced together. Initial blog posts on www.grapplingwithhistory.com garnered thousands of views (now approaching 200,000). The attention of The National Archives Education Team was caught. A collaboration ensued. GCSE teaching resources were created.
Next came a television production company. A single digitised image – stored in a brown envelope for over a century – part-inspired the hit drama A Thousand Blows. A consulting role was offered and accepted, followed by an unaffiliated book deal.
Lessons learned
- The transformative power of digitised collections and discoverability.
- How proper metadata, digital accessibility, and public engagement can unlock the hidden stories within cultural heritage collections.
- How one compelling image can resonate far beyond the archive walls.
- The critical role of digitisation quality and metadata in research discovery.
- Strategies for making collections accessible to non-specialist researchers.
- Unexpected pathways from archive to public impact.
- The art of maximising the reach and relevance of heritage collections.
Sarah Elizabeth Cox, Historian