Photographing Fairies

Dr Alice Sage, Goldsmiths, University of London @aliceemmasage This blogpost explains Alice Sage’s winning Pamela Cox Public History Prize project. You can read the announcement and watch an interview between the SHS and Alice here. This exhibition and engagement project was inspired by the 100th anniversary of the publication of the Cottingley Fairy Photographs in … Continued

War Graves in the United Kingdom

Rows of white headstones set into bright green grass

Megan Kelleher, University of Kent @MeganEKelleher Each year, individuals make pilgrimages to the former battlefields of the two World Wars to pay their respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. However, in light of the Coronavirus pandemic members of the public are now turning to their local area to research those … Continued

Shopping for a Cause: What are your memories of charity shopping?

Georgina Brewis, University College London and George Gosling, University of Wolverhampton @DrGinaB @gcgosling On 18 November 2020 we are running a virtual tour of charity shop history as part of the Being Human Festival of the Humanities. Chaired by journalist and author of How to Break up with Fast Fashion Lauren Bravo, the event will walk … Continued

Personalization of Modern Mourning in Museums and Public Spaces

Dr Siobhán Doyle, Technological University Dublin @thekickart Museums and public spaces have shifted from generic, anonymous war memorialization to the public personalized memorialization of victims in which no individual victim is forgotten or deprived of remembrance. Using examples from museums and public spaces in different cultural and international contexts, this blog demonstrates how mourning is … Continued

Turning a 13C Jewish Manuscript into Public History through Comics

Kremena Dimitrova, University of Portsmouth @KremieDimitrova This blog by Kremena Dimitrova was commended in the 2020 SHS Postgraduate Prize. At the end of 2019, I was commissioned by Professor Alex Samely and Dr Stefania Silvestri to work on the 50 Jewish Objects project. The commission involved researching and visually investigating, employing a graphic narrative format, … Continued

Still Seeing Things

Freya Taylor and Louise Bell, Glasgow Women’s Library @FreyaMay3 @LouBell This blog explores the ‘(Still) Seeing Things’ project run by the Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL). We’re lucky to have perspectives from two volunteers: one (Freya) who was involved in the project in its initial format and helped bring it online during lockdown; and another (Louise) … Continued

Artefacts, Not History

Dr W. Jack Rhoden, Bishop Grosseteste University wilfred.rhoden@bisopg.ac.uk  @Rhoden_le_petit A debate has been raging amongst historians, politicians, perpetually antagonised opinion writers in the press and Twitter content providers (these categories are not mutually exclusive) about the importance of history and what it means to be honest/proud/ashamed (delete as appropriate) of Britain’s imperial past. This old … Continued

Holocaust Remembrance from ‘a practical point of view’: James Parkes, the Parkes Institute, and Public History

Dr Chad McDonald, University of Southampton c.d.mcdonald@soton.ac.uk @Chad_McDonald In this blogpost, Dr Chad McDonald discusses the work that led to him winning the inaugural Pamela Cox Public History Prize. He focuses on his travelling exhibition, James Parkes and the Age of Intolerance, whilst also reflecting on his social media and school outreach activities. On 27 April … Continued

Legacy or Residue? Rethinking Imperial and Colonial History during a Racial Crisis

Weiao Xing, University of Cambridge @WeiaoX While statues are being discussed and changes blocked, black people have to pass them daily, seeing the congratulation of slave trading, their horror and pain.” Kate Williams, Professor of Public Engagement with History, University of Reading   In a long thread on Twitter, Kate Williams elucidated the convoluted (and … Continued