Dr Andrew McTominey, Leeds Beckett University @123McTom Water has been in the news a fair amount recently. The torrid rains of February 2020 have once again highlighted the inadequate nature of flood defences across the country. Similarly, the partial collapse of Whaley Bridge Dam, Derbyshire in December 2019 reminded us of the fallibility of Victorian … Continued
Dr Gareth Winrow, University of Oxford gareth@garethwinrow.org I knew that my Turkish friend, Ahmet Ceylan, came from an interesting family. His great uncle, known in Turkey as Ahmet Robenson, had introduced basketball and Scouting to the Ottoman Empire and was one of the first goalkeepers to play for the Galatasaray football team. What I did … Continued
Dr Fanny Louvier, University of Oxford fanny.louvier@balliol.ox.ac.uk In the first half of the twentieth century, domestic service was one of the main occupations for women in both France and Britain. We often imagine these women wearing black dresses, white aprons and white caps on their heads. This popular image is not too far from the … Continued
Dr Susan Anderson, Sheffield Hallam University @DrSusanAnderson In around 1490, Leonardo da Vinci sketched a figure in one of his notebooks that has become known as the Vitruvian Man. As Leonardo’s notes record in his characteristic mirror-writing, the sketch is drawn according to the ideal proportions of the human body, as described by the Roman … Continued
Dr Christine Grandy, University of Lincoln cgrandy@lincoln.ac.uk Peter Mandler’s piece, ‘The Problem with Cultural History’, published in Cultural and Social History’s inaugural issue, did what all good methodological interventions in the field should – haunt the historian for years. His use of the term ‘throw’, as an elegant analogy for the transmission of cultural knowledge, … Continued
Dr Jenni Hyde, Lancaster University j.hyde2@lancaster.ac.uk I came to history through music. As a child, I loved folk songs, both traditional and contemporary, about the past. I still do. So you can imagine my delight when I found a set of ballads, or popular songs, on the downfall of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s right-hand man … Continued
Dr Oleg Benesch, University of York oleg.benesch@york.ac.uk In spring 2014, the Social History Society Conference at Northumbria University provided a welcome opportunity to visit Newcastle for the first time in some years, and I extended my stay to explore the city, including the various museums, galleries, and the waterfront. I was most interested, however, in … Continued
Edda Nicolson, Wolverhampton University @Edda_Nicolson The General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) was created at the 1899 Trades Union Congress in Manchester, with a view to collecting and administrating a strike fund that could be accessed by affiliates at times of industrial unrest. Within 5 years, they had a membership of over 500,000; by 1915, … Continued
In April 1947, the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) was authorized to bring 1000 young Holocaust survivors to Canada through the War Orphans Project. The Canadian federal government required all young newcomers to be placed in foster families. This led the CJC to set up a campaign to find potential foster parents. Bringing together scholarship on … Continued
Dr Kate Bradley, University of Kent @katebradleykent Lawyers for the Poor is a project that has a long personal history for me. In 1999, I began volunteering as an archivist at Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in East London, alongside studying for my MA and working in a bookshop. Given my daytime commitments, I … Continued
