Professor Carl Chinn MBE Ph.D. is well-known throughout Birmingham and the Black Country as a historian, broadcaster, newspaper columnist and author. The Director of the BirminghamLives multimedia people's history project at South Birmingham College, he is also professor in community history at The University of Birmingham and through his work in the community he has gained a high public profile. Because of his popularity, in March 1994 the editor of the Birmingham Evening Mail asked Carl to write a two-page feature on Birmingham's history in the Saturday edition of the newspaper for a trial period. This proved to be very successful with the readers and over nine years later Carl is still writing each week in the Mail. For the past nine years he has also presented and produced a Sunday afternoon radio show on BBC WM which focuses on local history and which has very high listening figures; and for the last three years he has presented a popular two-hour show each weekday afternoon on BBC WM.

Over the last three years Carl has edited Carl Chinn's Brummagem Magazine, a monthly publication which includes evocative photos and stirring recollections of Brum in the past. In connection with this publication, his column in the Mail, his community work at the university and his broadcasting, Carl receives over 100 letters, 300 e-mails and 150 phone calls each week. The letters are usually about people's lives and often are accompanied by valuable historical photos. Consequently, now Carl has what is probably the biggest archive of working-class life stories in the world. This archive is at South Birmingham College and consists of over 40,000 letters and thousands of photos.

Carl is the author of 21 books, many of which focus on various aspects of Birmingham's history. His latest book, The Streets of Brum. Part One is likely to be as popular as his other works. Deeply researched it looks into the origins of almost 800 street names. Carl's books on Birmingham include Homes For People: Council Housing and Urban Renewal in Birmingham 1840-1999 (first published Birmingham Books: 1989, expanded and revised edition Brewin Books: 1999), a book that has been influential on research into housing elsewhere in the country; Keeping the City Alive. Twenty-one years of Urban Renewal in Birmingham (Birmingham City Council: 1993); Birmingham: The Great Working City (Birmingham City Council: 1994; reprinted 2001); a ground-breaking work that analyses Birmingham's history through its trades and its peoples; Brum Undaunted: Birmingham During the Blitz (Birmingham Library Services: 1996), the first academic study on the second most heavily-bombed city in Britain during the Second World War; Our Brum (Birmingham Evening Mail: 1997); The Cadbury Story. A Short History (Brewin Books: 1998); Our Brum. Volume 2 (Birmingham Evening Mail: 1998); 1,000 Years of Brum (Birmingham Evening Mail: 1999), a pioneering work that looks at Birmingham's history through its place names and extends from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day; Our Brum. Volume 3 (Birmingham Evening Mail: 1999); Brum and Brummies (Brewin Books: 2000); Proper Brummie: A Dictionary of Birmingham Words and Sayings, co-authored with Steve Thorne and the first academic book that addresses the speech of Birmingham and places it in its historical and linguistic contexts (Brewin Books: 2001); and Brum and Brummies. Volume 2 (Brewin Books: 2001) and Brum Brummies. Volume 3. (Brewin Books: 2002).

Carl's popularity with Brummies is shown not only through his book sales, the readership of his articles and the listening figures for his radio shows but also in other ways. He is booked until the end of 2005 for his talks on Birmingham and the Black Country, with an average of at least 1 talk a week over 45 weeks of the year. In 1989, when Birmingham was celebrating its centenary as a city, he was voted as one of the 100 Famous Brummies by readers of the Evening Mail; and in 2000 he was voted West Midland Man of the year by listeners to the award-winning Ed Doolan Show on BBC WM and BBC Coventry and Warwickshire. Of the hundreds of votes cast, he gained 25%. His nearest rival gained 18% and the next closest person gained 7%. Carl was one of only 200 citizens of Birmingham who were invited to meet President Clinton during the G8 summit in the city and during this time he gave a talk on Birmingham to the G8 ambassadors. He has also been presented to Mary Robinson, the President of the Republic of Ireland. Many people will also be aware of the major role Carl played in galvanising public support for the Longbridge car plant in the Rover crisis of March to May 2000. Indeed, it was Carl who called for the Great March for Longbridge which drew 80,000 people on to the streets of Birmingham.