6HUM1126 Finding the Past: local and global communities Workshop 1 introduction Dr Katrina Navickas

Community history History of communities History by communities Waltham Forest Oral History project 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.

‘history from below’ – other challenges to mainstream history History Workshop movement Feminist history Black history queer or LGBT history Yet most of these were still directed by academic historians…

‘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,

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) Look at their timeline –