On Saturday 15th October 2016, the Centre for Hidden Histories in partnership with the Imperial War Museum, London held a public workshop on ‘Black People’s Involvement in the First World War’. Convened by Emeritus Professor David Killingray (Goldsmiths), who is a historian of the First World War in Africa and Dr Caroline Bressey (UCL), the workshop included papers from a range of academic experts and community activists. The day also featured contributions from Suzanne Bardgett (Head of Research and Academic Partnerships, IWM) and Lucy Footer (First World War Centenary and Anniversaries Advisor, Heritage Lottery Fund). It attracted approximately fifty audience members who actively participated in the workshop’s question and answer sessions. Copies of the IWM’s AHRC-supported Whose Remembrance? film and guide: ‘Researching the British Empire in the First World War’ was made available to participants (click here for a copy). More resources can be found on the IWM’s Whose Remembrance? webpages and on the First World War Centenary website.
On 19th September 2016, academic and community participants in research projects funded by the Centre for Hidden Histories convened for a ‘Shared Experience Workshop’ at Derby Riverside Centre. The day was organised by Impact Fellow, Dr Larissa Allwork, Community Liaison Officer, Mike Noble and Principle Investigator on the Centre for Hidden Histories project, Professor John Beckett. Participants presented their findings and discussed their experiences of working as part of an AHRC Connected Communities First World War Engagement Centre. The specific focus of the day was the ‘impact’ of their projects or what the AHRC defines as, “…the ‘influence’ of research or its ‘effect on’ an individual, a community, the development of policy, or the creation of a new product or service. It relates to the effects of research on our economic, social and cultural lives.” Academic participants included Professor Jane Chapman (University of Lincoln), Professor Kurt Barling (Middlesex University), Professor Panikos Paniyi (Leicester DeMontfort University), Dr Tim Grady (University of Chester), Professor Paul Elliott (University of Derby) and Dr David Amos. Community group leaders represented included Judith Garfield MBE (Eastside Community Heritage), Alison Jones (Knockaloe & Patrick Visitor Centre), Anne Marie Curtis (St. Werburgh’s Great War Study Group) and David Stowe (‘In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time’ project).
Professor Kurt Barling with student.
The day revealed the wide range of heritage, education and public engagement impacts that Centre for Hidden Histories research development fund projects have encouraged across the UK. These have particularly been in relation to: (1) raising awareness of World War I ‘hidden histories’ such as the experiences of Britain’s diaspora populations and the contribution of members of its colonies to the war effort; (2) the experiences of German and Austrian immigrants living in the UK and the British government’s internment of so-called ‘enemy aliens’ during the First World War; (3) the experiences of refugees during the 1914-1918 conflict.
On Sunday 11th September 2016, members of the public were invited to attend a Heritage Open Day event organised by the ‘In the Wrong Place, Wrong Time’ Centre for Hidden Histories project at the now vanished site of Lofthouse Park Camp, Yorkshire.
