The Centre for Hidden Histories: Community, Commemoration and the First World War

At the Centre for Hidden Histories led Discovery Day in Leicester (4 September 2017), I was fortunate to catch-up with Associate Professor Nigel Hunt about the ‘Belper in Wartime’ project.  This project arose from a Centre for Hidden Histories event in Chesterfield. Nigel met Adrian Farmer, a representative of Belper’s World War One Working Group.  At the start of the Centenary, this group had won a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to research the individuals listed on the Belper War Memorial and produce a community history book about ‘Belper in Wartime’. Nigel suggested that as a follow-on project, the Belper Working Group should collaborate with the Centre for Hidden Histories and research life in Belper after the First World War.   A key research question would be to consider how men returning from the trenches adapted or struggled to reintegrate into postwar Belper community life. Newspapers have been a key source of information for this project as has witness testimony recorded from descendants.

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On 10th September 2017, the ‘In the Wrong Place, at the Wrong Time’ team held a free heritage open day for the public at Lofthouse Gate Working Men’s Club. The purpose of the day was to explore the hidden history of Lofthouse Park, one of Britain’s internment camps during the First World War. Now comprising a combination of housing estates, car parks and convenience stores, the site of Lofhouse Park is virtually unrecognisable from its World War One era incarnation. Dr Claudia Sternberg and David Stowe organised the day to provide descendants, local people and World War One history enthusiasts with the opportunity to engage with this difficult and often forgotten history.

David Stowe led a guided tour of the sites that would have comprised the former Lofthouse Park Internment camp where Germans, Turks and Austro-Hungarians were interned during the war. Participants in the tour were introduced to the testimony of Paul Cohen Portheim. They were also shown the sites of South Camp, North Camp and West Camp and told about the organisation of the institution, particularly the daily routine of its prisoners, many of whom were from the social elite of early nineteenth century, Anglo-German, German and European society. There is currently no commemorative plaque to mark the camp, but Claudia, Dave and illustrator Louise Atkinson have put together a map of Lofthouse Park to encourage members of the public to engage with its First World War history.

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This conference, hosted by the Centre for Historical Research at the University of Wolverhampton in association with the WFA and the FWW Network for Early Career & Postgraduate Researchers, seeks to spotlight the latest research on the events of 1918 as well as the global significances, consequences, and legacy of this watershed year.

Keynotes: Professor Alison Fell (Leeds), Professor Peter Frankopan (Oxford), Professor John Horne (TCD), Professor Gary Sheffield (Wolverhampton), Professor Sir Hew Strachan (St Andrews), Professor Laura Ugolini (Wolverhampton) & Professor Jay Winter (Yale).

We invite abstracts for 20-minute presentations fitting within the conference topic. Therein we encourage international perspectives and seek a range of historical approaches together with cross-disciplinary insights. Suggested themes may include but are not limited to:

• Warfare in 1918
• The War in 1918
• Women in 1918
• Strategy, Tactics & Technology
• Victory & Defeat
• Winners & Losers
• Peace & (Ongoing) Conflict
• Revolution(s)
• Aftermaths, Legacies & Impacts
• Veterans (Male & Female)
• Civilians & Consequences
• Gender, Class, Race & Ethnicity
• Ends & Beginnings
• Learning/Understanding the War
• Commemoration & Memory
• The Centenary

Abstracts of 250 words should be accompanied by your name, affiliation (if applicable) and a brief biographical statement (c. 100 words). Panel submissions will also be considered.

We welcome submissions from scholars, including ECRs & PGRs, as well as independent researchers, organisations, and community projects. We hope (subject to funding) to offer a limited number of bursaries to assist ECRs/PGRs & community groups to participate.

Submissions should be sent to Dr Oliver Wilkinson (O.Wilkinson@wlv.ac.uk) by 3^rd January 2018

Conference registration is expected to open in spring 2018

Keep up to date at the website (www.wlv.ac.uk/1918to2018) and follow on Twitter (@1918to2018)