6HUM1126 Finding the Past: local and global

communitiesWorkshop 1 introduction

Dr Katrina Navickas

Community history

• History of communities• History by communities

http://www.hackney.gov.uk/hackney-the-place-diversity.htm

http://www.wforalhistory.org.uk/ - Waltham Forest Oral History project

http://www.queerinbrighton.co.uk/ Brighton LGBT community project

‘History from below’• Developments in social history since the 1960s – challenging

‘mainstream’ history• moving the emphasis away from for example ‘high politics’ to the

history of everyday life• Key influence – E. P. Thompson – not just The Making of the English

Working Class (1963) but also his work with the W. E. A.

http://www.london.wea.org.uk/component/content/article/209 http://www.wea.org.uk/news/lukefowler.aspx

‘history from below’ – other challenges to mainstream historyHistory Workshop movementFeminist historyBlack historyqueer or LGBT history

Yet most of these were still directed by academic historians…

http://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/

‘people’s history’ – community projects

• Role of the Heritage Lottery Fund – again challenging mainstream funding by English Heritage, National Trust, etc • Move away from ‘castles and

stately homes’ to community heritage• Often started by pre-existing local

groups such as WEA, Historical Association, residents’ associations• For example, St Luke’s Community

History Group, Finsbury, www.stlukescommunityhistorygroup.co.uk/

Community history in the media

• Who do you think you are? – builds on the huge rise in interest in family history or genealogy

Online resources & digitisation transforming access to community history• Church of the Latter Day

Saints – ‘I.C.I’ index to births, marriages and deaths – previously on paper & microfilm• Ancestry.com and

findmypast.co.uk = the census, parish records, military records from The National Archives and local record offices - what are the advantages of such sites?

- what are their disadvantages?

Community ‘co-production’ of histories• Own websites• Specific needs and communities – sharing globally – from local to

global• E.g. ‘Deaf in New South Wales’ (Australia)• http://deafinnsw.com/• Look at their timeline – • http://deafinnswtimeline.com/#timeline2