History News
Anniversary fever? History and the culture of NHS celebration
Congratulations to Professor Roberta Bivins and Professor Mathew Thomson who have had their article about NHS anniversaries published in Modern British History.
This was drawn from reflections from The Cultural History of the NHS research project.
Abstract
Delivered a day after Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) reached its 75th year since its opening on the Appointed Day of 5 July 1948, the Pimlott Lecture for 2023 explored the culture of NHS anniversary-making. What can the marking of these anniversaries tell us about changing attitudes towards the service, and indeed, the British state? Here, examining evidence from the media, government archives, and Mass Observation, we argue that NHS anniversaries have long functioned as points of reflection but that their role as moments of national celebration and even communion has come to the fore only recently and culminated in the apparent ‘anniversary fever’ of 2018. We will explore the reasons behind the growing public fervour, what it can tell us, and the lessons offered by our work on this (still) best-loved of British institutions for historians working on highly politicized objects in ‘fevered’ times.
Historical Journal Early Career Prize news
Congratulations to Dr Jack Bowman, Teaching Fellow in Modern History, who has been given an Honourable Mention in the inaugural Historical Journal Early Career Prize! Jack gives an insight into their article 'The Early Political Thought and Publishing Career of V. K. Krishna Menon, 1928–1938', which was published last year.
Historic Venetian record restored
BBC News have published an article on the restoration of a historic Venetian record featuring History's Professor Luca Mola.
Prof Mola, who rediscovered the document, said it was a "unique window into the active trade routes that brought east and west together" between the 13th and 15th centuries.
Early Alistair Cooke episodes found on B-side of old opera recordings
Head of Department, Professor Tim Lockley MBE, features in a Times article about the discovery of three complete and two partial copies of Alistair Cooke’s famous ‘Letter from America’ series, dating from the late 1940s and the early 1950s, which were missing from the BBC archives.
Read the article in full here.
Prof Lockley has also been interviewed by Vic Minnett of BBC CWR for their feature ‘Vicapedia’ discussing why cricketers wear white jumpers.
Listen again on BBC Sounds from 2:40.
Disability History Month: Dr Fred Reid
Dr Fred Reid, Emeritus Reader and former Head of Department for History, features in the 13 November dated edition of 'insite', the Warwick staff hub, for Disability History month.
Fred, who was 14 years old when he went blind, is known for his work to support blind and disabled people across the UK. He and his wife Etta have even been presented with honorary Warwick degrees to recognise their efforts.
UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) is an annual event which aims to promote disabled people's rights and their struggle for equality now and in the past. This year, UKDHM will take place from 14 November – 20 December 2024. Every year, UKDHM focuses on a theme. This year, the theme is Disability, Livelihood and Employment.
Professor J.E. Smyth on BBC 4's Woman's Hour
Professor J.E. Smyth appeared on BBC 4's Woman's Hour, 30 October 2024, to talk about her 'fiery, page-turning biography' [Sight & Sound] of pioneering American screenwriter and labour leader Mary C. McCall Jr.
Listen to the show at the following link: Woman's Hour - Online scams, US election, Mary McCall Jr - BBC Sounds
Dr Martha McGill features in new documentary series
Dr Martha McGill, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow for the project "Bodies, Selves and the Supernatural in early Modern Britain", will be appearing in a six-part documentary series, 'Witches: Truth Behind the Trials', airing on the National Geographic channel weekly from 8pm today, Wednesday 30 October.
100 ballads prize announcement
The 100 ballads website has won the prestigious Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Creativity in Digital History, awarded by the American Historical Association. Dr Angela McShane, Department of History Honorary Reader, and Professor Christopher Marsh, Queens University Belfast, identified 100 of the biggest musical hits from 17th-century England in the '100 Ballads' project.
Visit the 100 ballads website.
Dr McShane and Prof Marsh will be attending the awards ceremony in New York on 3 January 2025. Congratulations to everyone involved in the project!
American Historical Association Announces 2024 Prize Winners – AHA