WW1 Plans Unveiled

This week the government unveiled plans to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. The Queen will lead some of the events, including a ceremony at Glasgow Cathedral. Between 1914-1918, nearly ten million soldiers were killed before Armistice Day on 11 November.

Over £10 million is being injected into the arts, including drama and music projects. Trips to WW1 battlefields in France and Belgium are also being planned.

Unsurprisingly, the commemorations are being used for political gains. The Tories are hoping to use the events to raise support for a United Kingdom in the face of debates of Scottish independence.

See some of the plans via this link - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/britain-at-war/10108162/First-World-War-centenary-plans-revealed.html

Mary Rose Museum!

The new museum to the Mary Rose in Portsmouth opened last week. Naval history doesn't exactly thrill me but the museum looks fantastic and I can't wait to have a look round. Conservationists have carefully planned the exhibition for years and after 35million pounds of investment, one hopes that this will be one of the best maritime heritage sites in the country. I'm particularly looking forward to learning more about the crew. Forensic scientists worked with bodies found at the site to sketch a picture of what the crew would have looked like. It's fascinating what the scientists have discovered - their positions on the ship and their health at the time of death, for example. 

The Mary Rose sank five hundred years ago, and legend has it, that Henry VIII watched in horror as his favourite ship was destroyed before his eyes. It was rediscovered in the Solent in the 1980s.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-22639505

New slave quarters to be preserved near White House

First Lady Michelle Obama has praised the decision to preserve slave quarters near the White House, Washington D.C. Decatur House - a National Trust site - is "vital to national memory" and new funds will help develop the house into a museum and educate children about the legacy of slavery not just in D.C., but in the America as a whole.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/michelle-obama-lauds-preservation-of-dc-slave-quarters-says-its-vital-to-national-memory/2013/05/22/f75d276e-c304-11e2-9642-a56177f1cdf7_story.html

Mapping WW1 sites in the UK - a great Public History project

Next year, the centenary of the start of World War One will be marked in various ways across the country. A fantastic public history project (run by the Council for British Archaeology and English Heritage) aims to map the important WW1 sites on British soil, including ammunition factories, hospitals (like Wrest Park in Bedfordshire) and army camps. (Craiglockhart will also feature, as a hospital in this Scottish area treated soldiers with shell shock including the poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.) These sites will be collected in an online database that will be fully accessible to the public throughout 2014-2018. The CBA ran a similar project for World War Two sites, that ended in 2002 (it's a shame this had to 'end', as it would be an excellent resource for schools. Why couldn't this be turned into an online database too?) Quite rightly, historians have said that most people think of WW1 sites as the trenches in France, and this project seeks to challenge this.

This sounds fantastic and I can't wait to see the results!

Slave Cabin to be transported to museum in D.C.

An antebellum slave cabin from South Carolina is being transferred to the new African American museum in Washington D.C. The Edisto Island Historical Society have donated the two-room cabin, and it is a perfect opportunity to "humanise slavery, to personalize the life of the enslaved and frame this story as one that has shaped us all." The cabin is too fragile for visitors to enter it, but curators are working on an exhibit that will allow people to see it from three different levels. The cabin is currently situated on the site of an old cotton plantation that was abandoned during the Civil War; most of the enslaved people escaped to freedom.

As well as the cabin, highlights of the museum will include a Harriet Tubman's shawl, Nat Turner's bible and an aeroplane used by the Tuskegee Airmen. This sounds FANTASTIC.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/antebellum-slave-cabin-in-sc-to-be-restored-for-african-american-history-museum/2013/05/14/6e4458c6-bcbf-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html

A Historic Day Out

I haven't written in my blog for a while, and usually I don't write about 'history days out' although it seems like a sensible thing to do. But today reignited that desire to write some stuff about history, because, not only did I have a really good day nerding out, but there is a lot I can write about.

So, on a freakishly cold Easter morning, my family drove to Windsor Castle. I had never been there before, but it was incredible (albeit very expensive). Walking past the 800 year old walls of the castle, watching the Changing of the Guard and marvelling at the silver-gilted doors and windows made me proud to be British. We have a fantastic history, one that should be recognised as having light and dark moments, but it is fascinating to consider our traditions and how long they have been performed. 

British monarchs have lived at Windsor for a thousand years, and I thought it was quite fitting that on the day we visited, the Royal Standard was flying over the tower, a clear sign that the Queen was present. The State Apartments and the Chapel were incredibly beautiful and interesting, though the best part for me was learning about the Order of the Garter and the traditions that came with it. In the chapel, the sigil of the Knights are placed around the choir, with half drawn swords that symbolise their readiness to aid the Queen at the drop of a shiny helmet.

After a F*!fdjf** cold walk around Windsor, we drove to Basildon Park, a National Trust house and garden. I've been to quite a few properties now - the National Trust does irritate the crap out of me sometimes but I love looking around a large house and learning the history of the people who lived upstairs and downstairs. (My ancestors were farmers and servants, so I'm definitely with the downstairs lot.) It was simple and elegant, in the Palladian style (oh lord I sound like a swot. This style was basically popular in the eighteenth century and is very classical, as opposed to the dark and gothic Victorian style a century later). As per usual, the dining room and bedrooms were hugely expensive and spacious, and the house contained traditional rooms such as a shell room (apparently it was cool to collect shells and fossils from all around the world in the 1700s) and an octagonal room to entertain people. That stab of annoyance I find about the NT always rears its head though - the history of the house is not told very effectively. Granted there are a lot of stories to tell, but there was no information about how the house was transformed into an army convalescence hospital during the First World War, and there were few details about the Americans who were stationed there during the Second World War. Despite this, without a doubt, it was the most beautiful house I ever visited, and I can't wait to go back on a warmer day when I can wear one layer instead of twenty five.

Anger at Proposals to Sell Wounded Knee

In 2006, I visited Wounded Knee, South Dakota. It was a grim few hours, as the site is part of the Pineridge Indian Reservation, and home to hundreds of impoverished Native Americans. In 1890, three hundred men, women and children were massacred by General Custer's old regiment, the US 7th Cavalry in what is widely regarded as the last battle in the 'Indian Wars'. Little remains at the Wounded Knee site today, apart from a lone cemetery on top of a small hill. A museum dedicated to the massacre, lies several miles away.

In recent months, there have been several calls to sell the land, much to the anger of the Native Americans on the reservation. The asking price of $3million will never be enough to compensate for the lives lost on that cold, December day in 1890.

But what should the local residents do? The Oglala Sioux tribe, who live on the reservation, are millions of dollars in debt and would have to borrow money to fight off investors. Should they develop the land for tourism, or continue to use the land in memoriam of those that died?

When visiting historic sites, you can sense that something took place there. That feeling is ever present at Wounded Knee, but there is an added weight to it: a heavy realisation that the conflicts of the past are ever present today. Driving through that dusty reservation is not something I am likely to forget. Thousands of Native Americans live in poverty, as a direct result of the government's policies in the nineteenth century. These debates show that in all corners of the world, history is very much alive, and often, it is painful and difficult.

Remembering Lincoln...well, his Chiropodist

This is a very bizarre story, but one that demonstrates the immense power of the media industry on public history. Spielberg's Lincoln has inspired Highgate Cemetery to remember Lincoln's chiropodist, Dr Isachar Zacherie. Hundreds would have walked past his grave, with no clue of who he was, but now the cemetery are putting him on the map. Literally. The graveyard guide is now being updated to include Dr Zacherie, who worked on Lincoln's feet in 1862 and treated Union soldiers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/footnote-to-history-lincolns-chiropodist-gets-star-treatment-at-londons-highgate-cemetery/2013/02/28/5019e4d8-81af-11e2-a671-0307392de8de_story.html

Frederick Douglass statue

In the Capitol building in Washington D.C., every state is represented by a statue of a famous individual. In most cases, the individual was born in that state, or sometimes, they made that state their home. The District of Columbia will be recognised this month, and the statue will be of Frederick Douglass! Another public recognition of this great man. Douglass made D.C. his home, and was appointed Marshal of the District. He bought a house in Anacostia, and on a clear day, you can see for miles as the city stretches out beneath you.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/house-divided/post/frederick-douglass-statue-moves-to-capitol-today/2013/02/04/56382610-6ee3-11e2-ac36-3d8d9dcaa2e2_blog.html

They Fought Like Demons - Women in the Civil War

STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND BUY THIS BOOK, IMMEDIATELY:

De Anne Blanton and Lauren Cook, 'They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War." 

This is probably one of the most fascinating books I have read. Not only is it an incredibly important and overlooked subject - i.e., women who fought in the Civil War - the authors manage to weave a fascinating tale of courage, heartache and loss in less than 200 pages. The book is rich with information, detailing why some women joined up, how they managed to outsmart their superiors and what happened if they were caught. Most women were exposed, literally, after a serious disease or wound and were sent back home. Others were not discovered until they could hide their identity no longer, i.e., they gave birth in camp.

Some women joined up to escape a male-dominated patriarchal society, many more followed their lovers or husbands into battle, determined to stay by their side. Frances Clayton joined up for love and country, refusing to leave her husband. At the battle of Murfreesboro, he was gunned down in front of her, and Clayton stepped over his body to seek revenge on the Rebels. Albert Cashier, real name Jennifer, donned a soldier's uniform, survived the war and lived out the rest of her life as a man, astonishing friends when an injury led to the discovery 'he' was actually a 'she'.

One male soldier wrote home to describe some of these female soldiers. "They fought like demons...I saw three or four rebel women soldiers in the heap of bodies." Far from a rarity, this letter shows that women played an important part in America's most divisive conflict.

One anecdote that stuck with me was the tale of a female soldier demanding pay. After it was revealed she was a woman, the military refused to give her what she earned. This caught the attention of President Lincoln, who was said to "blaze with anger" and decreed that she be paid at once.

Most of all though, the book managed to be inspiring and sad at the same time. These women risked social ostracism for joining up, and were prepared to give up everything. For those that died, buried in unknown graves across the United States, we will never know who they were, and what inspired them to join up and throw themselves in the valley of death. We will never even know their names. They are lost to history. When we glance down the records of the soldiers of the Civil War, how many were women? We will never know.

Mississippi FINALLY ratifies amendment banning slavery

The state of Mississippi has finally ratified the 13th amendment to the constitution, which banned slavery in 1865. (Yeah, only 148 years late). This glaring oversight was noticed by a historian, who was inspired to check the legislative records after seeing Spielburg's Lincoln. (Which is an incredible film by the way, Daniel Day Lewis is unreal). In the nineteenth century, Mississippi had refused to accept the bill, and while it was passed through both legislative chambers one hundred years later in 1995, it was never put on the statute books. So, it was unofficial.

I think it's interesting this was forgotten about. What does it tell us about Mississippi? The state that still bears the Confederate emblem? And what does this tell us about the legacy of slavery and the Civil War in the Southern States? I'm so excited to travel to the South this summer, and hopefully, find out the answers to some of these questions.

Frederick Douglass and his blue plaque! :-D

Check out my website post on Frederick Douglass's heritage plaque!

https://sites.google.com/site/frederickdouglassinbritain/a-plaque-to-frederick-douglass