Scrutinising Layers of History at Explore Archive

The History/American Studies/War Studies YSJ blog is back! To start our new series of student work, we have second year student Layla Kershaw, who has been examining the city’s development in the finest detail during her placement at York Explore and learning much about how York has changed. Here, she highlights some of the exciting work she has been doing in the archive.

Volunteering with the York Explore Library and Archives provided a valuable perspective into the history of York and surrounding areas. This enabled me to understand and appreciate the city in multiple ways after being exposed to a range of materials detailing York’s developments and appeal throughout the years. The placement provided an insight into the role of an archivist while teaching plenty about York’s cultural, civic and communal past. I was fortunate to work with a variety of plans and records, each presenting an additional view of the streets and layers to the city of York.

One type of plan that stood out to me the most were the Goad shopping maps that were handled slightly differently to the rest of the archives we had worked on. These were incredibly detailed maps of York from the 1960s and 70s that were essentially a bird’s eye view of York’s retail and businesses. It was fascinating to see how the city had developed to such extent by the surprising amount of both independent and chain business that are no longer around, as well as the emerging of more modern businesses leading to a commercialised York. The maps perfectly detailed the layers of York and how it has developed economically and technologically. It is clear that the city and surrounding areas have advanced in its industry while modernising the retail and tourist aspects to York

We were provided magnifying glasses to aid us in this activity and gain the most out of the intricate plans and maps, making it an enjoyable experience throughout the voluntary hours. This task, though lengthy, was beneficial to gaining a great knowledge of the city of York, by listing each street, road and avenue from left to right. Each feature of the Goad shopping maps describes the fast change and development to York’s businesses and how it gradually became a popular city for tourists. It is evident in the plans how the city prepared and planned for the attractions and sights that are flourishing today.

The collection of plans aided my experience and knowledge of a career as an archivist further, analysing drawings and photographs as well as the maps. The archives offered a great insight into every aspect of York, such as its rivers, bar walls, bridges and churches, presenting their change and developments over time. Identifying York as a symbol of religion, community, history and industry is clearly indicated throughout the archives I worked on throughout the placement. These documents support York’s position and role as a city involved in trade and tourism, indicating how York has become popular as a tourist spot as it is so rich in history. Working on the architect’s and engineer’s plans with the archives at York Explore made it clear that York has plenty to offer to visitors and its community.

Reflecting on the Value and Nature of Public History

Second-year HCC student Caitlin Finn discusses one of the key themes of the module – the values of public history, particularly in light of remembrance and visual monuments.

Public history surrounds us every day. Nearly every village, town and city have monuments, statues and plaques, as well as museums or heritage sites such as stately homes, castles or ruins, and archaeological sites, some of which may well be passed unnoticed as people go about their day. 

These monuments and places provide us with a clear insight into our history, often giving us the opportunity to remember and commemorate some of the most prominent historical events. For example, the now preserved and protected sites of former Nazi Concentration Camps, such as Auschwitz in Poland, remind and inform us of the horrors of The Holocaust, giving the victims the chance to have their story told and ensuring that the world will remember them and learn from this terrible time. Examples of public history such as this keep us in touch with important events from the past regardless of how uncomfortable that may make us feel.

Ground Zero, New York

Another example of public history is Ground Zero. Following the 9/11 attacks, the former site of the World Trade Centre became one of the world’s most famous memorials: “a cemetery in effect”. After the attacks, the area was deliberately not redeveloped and instead left cleared, with just the original tower foundation footings the only remaining parts of the original structure, left as a memorial to the victims. In spirit, the site now it belongs to the people of New York and all the people of the world who were affected on that day, and it exists as a constant reminder to the public of the deadliest terrorist attack to date of the 21st century. 

More recently, the Bristol monument of Edward Colston was toppled, pulled, and defaced from its plinth and thrown into Bristol Harbour by demonstrators supporting the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Regarded by some as vandalism, the protesters justified their actions, highlighting Colston’s involvement in the slave trade, that trade that made him a rich man. Public support the protesters received was overwhelming, clearly a reflection of the ethics and beliefs of people today, in stark contrast to the time, in 1895, when Colston was considered deserving of a public monument in his honour. Colston’s now infamous statue recently became the subject of a public survey to discover where people felt it should be kept, following its recovery from the Bristol Channel. Some believe it should become a museum piece, displayed as a reminder of and memorial to all those so cruelly enslaved and an acknowledgement of our nation’s complicity in the Slave Trade. People are happy to own and admit to mistakes and misdemeanours of the past as long as those mistakes are acknowledged today and can be used for human growth and improvement and as evidence that society has changed. 

The story of what happened to Colston’s statue is more significant and important than Colston could ever have been. His status as a slave trader and the destruction of his statue is now the story that defines him. It is another story that exemplifies the evolutionary nature of public history. It cannot be denied that history is unchangeable, but it is human nature to question and challenge interpretation and opinion from the past. Public history gives us the tools we need to engage with the past. 

Further reading list:

Burch-Brown, Joanna M., The Colston Statue: What Next? (2021),<https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/the-colston-statue-what-next&gt; [accessed 15 January 2022] 

Silverman, Helaine, ‘Learning from Ground Zero: The Presence of Absence at Two Sites of Destruction’, The Future of the Bamiyan Buddha Statues (2020), pp.187-201, <https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-51316-0_12#citeas&gt; [accessed 18 January 2022] 

To Preserve Authenticity, The Conservation of Two Blocks at the Former KL Auschwitz I, (Oświęcimiu, Poland: Państwowe Museum, 2013) 

Independence and interest: Improving skills and learning with the Yorkshire Film Archive

Second-year student Kama Clifford reflects here on their placement with the Yorkshire Film Archive, and what it’s brought to their skills as a researcher and historian.

My placement at the Yorkshire Film Archives has taught me a lot about myself, my work and, of course, the archives themselves. I’ve found it to be a brilliant opportunity that’s given me insight into my future. But I have three favourite things about my placement.

Firstly, the independence of it all. I’m a very independent person so being able to choose what film I contextualised, and just the general lack of pressure from the archive has been brilliant. The archive leaves you to it and that’s the best part; you feel like it’s all yours and like you aren’t being babysat. Of course, they’re always there if you have a question or need some direction, but the overall independence of the placement has been amazing.

Secondly, I’ve learnt so much from the archives. As a part of their People and Nature collection I watched some films on the relationships between people and nature, I then realised how much humanity views nature as a commodity; from animal testing to zoos and even to agricultural shows. Humanity views nature as something to monetise and this can be seen through the films and the entire collection the archives hold.

Lastly, the placement has helped me refine my research skills. At the beginning of placement my notes on the films were very long and I was finding it difficult to decide what information was important and relevant. However, throughout the course of the placement I began to find my way and realised how to find the most important and relevant information on what I was researching. This is going to be a big blessing when it comes to assignments in the future as I will be able to take what I’ve learnt and reuse it again and again. I also particularly enjoyed bringing the information up to date, for example, if I was writing about the first National Food Kitchen in York, I would discuss the context behind why it was set up and at the end of the context I brought it up to date by discussing the increase in food banks over the last ten years. 

This placement has also helped me learn lots about the archival and film industry, for example our introductory session taught us how film began and how the technology developed over the years, by showing us old films and the technology used. Another part of our introduction was a tour and explanation of the archives, we were shown the vaults in which the films are stored, and we were given an explanation of the formation of the archives. 

A fascinating public exhibition from the National Railway Museum archives

As part of our ongoing series about work placements and public history, second-year HCC student Jack Leather reflects on one of his favourite memories of his time with the National Railway Museum.

During my time on placement at the National Railway Museum there was one exhibit on display that continually caught my attention and has made me interested about the First World War from a different angle I had not considered before. This exhibit was about hospital trains and their usage throughout the First World War in transporting soldiers all across Britain when they had to come home for treatment. 

I found the exhibit fascinating. Firstly, in the respect of what I was able to learn about ambulance trains. Secondly, now with the knowledge of how much work goes into maintaining archives, I have been able to gain such a level of respect for the industry in how the museum was able to put together such a thought-provoking exhibit. 

The exhibit itself consisted of a train carriage which had been re-purposed by the team at the museum to look and show to visitors what an ambulance train during the First World War was like, this ultimately made the exhibit immersive and full credit has to go to the team at the museum for creating such an authentic carriage. Also, on the walls surrounding the carriage was a range of statistics, diary entries, letters, etc. These all helped to explain the importance of ambulance trains during the First World War, not just on a scale in numbers, but also at a personal level with diary entries showing how greatly some soldiers appreciated the treatment they received whilst aboard these trains. 

Whilst my placement was solely focused on working in the archives at the museum, I still got a chance to take in everything the museum does and to appreciate how much work goes into each and everyone of their displays. Without the work of archives and museums I don’t believe that I would have been able to find out about such interesting parts of history that I would never have considered before. Personally, I have always been interested in the First World War but this sort of exhibit has allowed me to be able to learn more about the impact of the war at home and on a personal level through the soldiers and their experiences. 

What interests me even more is knowing that there are so many more parts of history that most people are probably unaware of, such as the ambulance trains, that are just waiting to be uncovered. This thought is something that ultimately drives me in why I enjoy history so much, the thought of finding out something completely unseen before and being the first person to do so. In my opinion, I fell that is what makes working in history so fascinating. 

Unfortunately, the exhibit was taken down during my last week on placement at the museum but I am sure I will be going back at some point to visit and learn about whichever part of history they choose to uncover next. 

Challenges to the Education System in 2021-2022

As part of our History, Community and Culture module, second-year students are encouraged to reflect on the current issues facing their prospective career sectors and industries. Here, William Cox writes a think piece about the challenges facing the education system.

I have been doing research on the education sector as this is a possible area of work that I may pursue after university. One piece of research that I came across is the challenges that the education sector is facing at this current moment in time.

One problem being Covid-19; this has impacted teachers and students alike in the last 2 years whether this be at primary school level or university level. One of the main problems being that all teaching has been online at some point in the last 2 years, so that the teacher-student relationship has been strained as students have been forced to attend school from their homes. This creates the problem of some students not having access to the internet or the technology needed to engage in online lesson which means that they are not getting the full education that they need. Another challenge Covid-19 has bought is that there is a lack of interaction between teacher and student which will affect a student’s learning as they do not get the same support as they would do if they could go and see their teacher in school to ask about problems.

Another challenge the education sector is facing is that post-graduate university students are finding it harder to find jobs in the specific area that they want to go into. This is leading to more students deciding to take apprenticeships. This would mean that they are learning on the job whilst getting paid without picking up any loans to pay back, leading to apprenticeships becoming more favourable and leading to certain sectors of work lacking staff such as doctors, teachers etc.

Another issue that the education sector is facing is that the government keep cutting the budget to the education sector. This is leading to schools becoming underfunded leading to either not enough learning resources for students or schools being forced to downsize their staff. This has led to teachers taking on further responsibilities adding to their ever-growing workload which intern would make going into teaching look less appeasing. This shortage of staff alongside an ever-growing student population is causing a real issue and outcry for more teachers.

Another challenge the education sector is facing is the lack of qualified teachers for subjects such as maths, English etc are being enticed into jobs that offer more money. The lack of access to technology is also a problem as students are having to share computers to do work and teachers are asking for more training to get the full use out of the technology available to them. This has been an issue due to budget cuts by the government in recent years and the affect that Covid-19 has had on the economy. It is hard for the government to give schools more money to update theIR technology, this causes students to be at a disadvantage using out of date technology which could be unreliable or not up to the standard of technology that you would find at the workplace. 

The Nature and Value of Public History

Jamie Martin, one of our second-year HCC students, is next in our series of student blogs, writing a think piece about the nature and value of public history.

Public history is, by definition, the application of history outside of an academic angle. Examples of public history include local buildings, monuments and artefacts. It’s applications in society include, building preservations, museum curating and archival work. 

The nature of public history is not quite as complicated as some may think. The focus on public history is for the general public rather than any one subject. Through the use of historical methods and professional standards, public history places an emphasis on the use of historical knowledge beyond academic purposes and ultimately aims to deepen and strengthen the publics connection and relationship to the past. 

The US based National Council of Public History defined public history as “a movement, methodology and approach that promotes the collaborative study and practice of history; it’s practitioners embrace a mission to make their special insights accessible and useful to the public.” 

However, it is worth mentioning that this isn’t the only definition of public history, very much the topic itself is open to vast interpretation. For example, the historian Peter Novick has argued that much of what is referred to as public history could be determined as different things, for example ‘private history’ when referring to archives or the records of institutions. Simply put, the nature of public history is open to interpretation, though this does not necessarily mean that its importance is any lesser. 

“Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it” is a quote you’ve probably heard before, and I would argue that its application to public history is extremely important. People’s knowledge of the past is important. It allows to remember how things where and how things have changed, in this day and age it’s easy to remember the ‘good old days’, points of interest and importance of the past that we remember lovingly and fondly. However, it’s also important that we remember the issues and the problems of the time, some of these problems have long lasting effects that still affect us to this day.

It’s easy to assume that the issue then must have been solved by now, and more often than not it has, but that doesn’t mean the aftershocks aren’t felt by particular groups or certain groups still haven’t fully grasped the enormity that the problem represented. Public history allows us to see how things have changed, improved or gotten worse, and what we need to do to improve not only society but ourselves. There are many uncomfortable and often upsetting aspects of our history many would argue we could or should ignore or at the very least not place any emphasis on, through public history we can not only come to terms with murky pasts and uncomfortable truths but aspire to move beyond them and to transform our history into something truly worth praising, teaching and remembering. 

‘The Fallen Heroes of Normandy’ project – an emotive experience of public history.

Continuing with reflections on work placement and research experiences during our HCC module, Sian Ayre discusses her time working with Carl Shilleto’s Fallen Heroes of Normandy project, and what it’s taught her about working in public history, as well as the historical subjects themselves.

My time working as a student volunteer for the Fallen Heroes of Normandy Exhibition has been nothing short of both enlightening and engaging. Having the opportunity to help to preserve some personal and essential artefacts of World War II history has really opened my eyes to the world of freelance historians and their exhibition work. From successfully submitting my application and starting the process of meeting the other volunteers, exhibition co-ordinator and project manager, it was a great opportunity to meet like-minded people with a passion for history and wanting to gain experience for their future careers in the field. 

WWI trenches

One of the first contributions that the students made to this project was the opportunity of moving, preserving and setting up the exhibition on the York St John University Campus at the Chapel. With our gloves at hand and our interest in learning the stories of the personal artefacts that were on display in the cabinets, our exhibition coordinator divulged his immense understanding and knowledge of the origins of the photo-frames, shaving kits, helmets and war equipment that we were handling. It was a great experience on seeing the delicate nature of handling historical artefacts and how much time and effort it takes to orchestrate an exhibition. Once we managed to get all the artefacts over to the Chapel, we had the experience to help set up the display cabinets, information panels and lights throughout the whole exhibition.

What was most beneficial about this experience was that we began to understand the commitment, prior planning and time management side of orchestrating an exhibition. With the advice and guidance of the leadership team, the students were able to ask questions about pursuing their own careers in history and what the future looks like for freelance historians who are starting their own funded projects. It was valuable for the students to understand the ultimate process of setting up a public exhibition: from the planning and research into the individual artefacts, to the displaying of the pieces, to planning the times we would all meet up to plan our next moves before opening night of the exhibition. 

Another way that this exhibition work placement has been so insightful is how much work you do with the general public as a historian. The opening night of the exhibition was fascinating because it was an opportunity for the specially invited guests to meet with all of the team that had helped to put the exhibition together and ask us about our aspirations for the future. From speaking to the Lord Mayor and Mayoress of York about the amazing stories behind the artefacts they were asking about, the students were able to share their enthusiasm and passion for the project.

One part of the experience that has been the most memorable is meeting the veterans and hearing about their careers. All of the veterans that we had the opportunity to speak to were so pleased and grateful that their service and that of their fallen comrades had been remembered throughout our exhibition in such as respectful way and overall, it was an honour to meet them. I would encourage anyone who is hoping to work in history and exhibition work to take on these work experiences to gain insider knowledge and experience. It has really helped me to pursue my passion for the subject. 

Public History: A Valuable Form of History?

Our History, Community and Culture student blogs are back! Our brilliant 2021-2022 second-year students have written about their experiences on the module and on their placements, with fantastic heritage organisations across York. First up is Aimee Swiers, reflecting on one of the key themes in HCC: public history, and its value in public life.

Public history is a very important and valuable thing. Usually, history is a thing reserved purely for academics, those with pre-existing knowledge of the time period or the topic, but public history and the methods that it uses makes history something that everyone can enjoy and the past something that everyone can learn about. 

Ludmilla Jordanova says that ‘public history is popular history’ (History in Practice, ‘Public History’). They say that it is history that is seen or read by many people, essentially making it history that has been absorbed by a wide audience. It is made specifically for this wide audience and puts specific emphasis on the role of community in history. This element of community perhaps makes it more appealing to the masses. 

This is part of what makes public history important. The emphasis on community makes this history more meaningful to people. During my group’s research for the History, Community and Culture Conference, we learned that heritage’s appeal comes largely in the form of personal connections to history. If history has a personal meaning to someone, it becomes more interesting. Heritage is a form of public history. Public history helps people learn about and engage with their pasts. Websites such as Ancestry and public records are ways that anyone can learn about their ancestors or their communities. 

Something else that makes public history important is that it makes history more applicable and accessible to a general audience. Most history is specifically produced for academics, as a method of education or research, but public history is made for everyone. Musuems, magazines, websites and social media are all ways that history becomes more accessible to a mass audience. 

However, there are also downsides to public history that are important to consider when thinking about public history’s value. Often when making history more accessible to the public the facts or environments can become inaccurate. It can also convey stereotypes about specific periods of history. An example of this is the idea that everybody in a specific time period lived a certain way. The Vikings are a good example of this, as conflicting ideas of them are evident: one that that all of them were incredibly violent and murderers, the other that they had a very strong sense of community and gave everyone in their villages equal rights years before any other culture. Both of these stereotypes are simultaneously correct and incorrect. Yet this is not the case for all conveyors of public history. Places like Jorvik Viking Centre in York give a good picture of the reality of the Viking age and make it accessible to people of all ages. 

Public history is incredibly valuable despite its faults as it makes history something to be shared with everyone rather than a select few individuals, and in some cases makes it a form of entertainment too. When history can be accessed by everyone it becomes something that people can learn from, as well as learn about. Public history is a great way for people to engage with history, and is a great way for people to become further interested in history too.