Epitaphs of the Great War

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Epitaphs of the Great War: The Somme by Sarah Wearne (Uniform Press) was published on 1 July 2016. Sarah Wearne is the archivist at Abingdon School.

‘If you think Twitter’s 140-character rule restrictive, the families of those killed in the First World War had a mere 66 to compose an inscription, an epitaph, for their relation’s headstone. Throughout the centenary, @wwinscriptions will publish some of these thousands of inscriptions, revealing a voice that has not been heard before, the voice of the bereaved. A voice that speaks of love, sorrow, pride, grief and despair, it quotes the bible, literature, hymns and popular songs, and it tells us something about the dead, who they were, where they lived, what they looked like and how they died.’

For more see information, see www.epitaphsofthegreatwar.com or @WWinscriptions

An article in The Telegraph on the book is available here.

CWGC Living Memory Project

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The Living Memory project remembers the “forgotten front” – the 300,000 war graves and commemorations right here in the UK.

In 2016 the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) in partnership with Big Ideas Company are asking the public in the British Isles to re-connect with the war dead buried in their own communities.

CWGC has 200 large sites in the UK, almost all in big city cemeteries and linked to the hospitals: the majority of these men either died of their wounds in hospital or (in 1918-19) died in the influenza epidemic. In total CWGC graves in the UK are located in over 12,000 locations. They must not be forgotten.

The CWGC Living Memory project is offering funding and resources to community groups to enable them to help us raise awareness of war graves in the UK. They are looking to support activity throughout the 1414 days of the Somme Centenary from the 1st July – 18th November 2016.

They are particularly keen to work with community groups who would like to visit and plan some activities around Oxford Botley Cemetery, one of the most notable sites in the UK. See here for further information on Botley Cemetery.

Living Memory project documents:
Living Memory Resource Pack low res
Living Memory Information for networks
Living Memory Funding Application Form

KCL Conference Report: Jutland, History and the First World War

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King’s College London’s Defence-in-Depth blog has posted a conference report on Jutland, History and the First World War.

This is the fifth in a series of posts connected to a King’s College First World War Research Group and Corbett Centre Event to mark the centenary of the Battle of Jutland. Recordings of all of the papers from the event can be accessed for free on the site.

CfP: Missing Memorials and Absent Bodies: Negotiating Post-conflict Trauma and Memorialisation

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Proposal submissions are welcomed towards this symposium, which will take place on September 20, 2016 at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The event will focus on the impact of absence on mourning work, memorialisation and commemoration, and the implications this bears for effective reconciliation. Drawing on memory, conflict and cultural studies, the area foci will include, but will not be limited to, the Balkans, Central and West Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. In turn, the symposium will consider the following questions:

How is mourning work enacted in the absence of a (complete) body?
How is memorialisation practised in the absence of a memorial site?
How is trauma and postmemory addressed in the absence of mutual acknowledgement?
How is absence represented in the cultural archive?

In addition, proposals should respond to the following themes:

Missing bodies;
Absent sites and ruins;
Acknowledgement and reparations;
Space, place and mapping;
Postmemory and multidirectional memory;
Trauma and post-war recovery.

Submissions from scholars, researchers, art practitioners and activists with a focus on memory, trauma, heritage, and/or transitional justice, will be welcomed equally.

Lastly, funds are available to cover the cost of a return travel ticket and an overnight stay for presenters travelling to and from Amsterdam.

Please submit a title, an abstract of 500 words, and a brief bio, by August 1, 2016 to Luisa Gandolfo (k.luisa.gandolfo@abdn.ac.uk).

CfA: Issues & Controversies in History

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Facts On File is hiring historians and writers on a freelance basis to contribute articles to Issues & Controversies in History, a database in world history targeted to high school and college students. Each article will focus on a specific question encapsulating a debate or conflict in global history. MANY TOPICS ARE STILL AVAILABLE, including Revolution, Slavery, Colonialism, Empires, War, and Technology.

Overview
Issues & Controversies in History places students at the center of the great debates and conflicts in global history. It brings history to life not as a mere recitation of names and dates but as a set of turning points where the future hung in the balance and opinions raged on all sides. By exploring the issues as the key players saw them, or, in some cases, as historians have interpreted them, the database will build a deeper understanding of how historical events and conflicts have shaped world history.

Goal
The goal of Issues & Controversies in History is to present history as a dynamic process of controversies, conflicts, and issues that people debated and experienced and ultimately made choices about. The “issues and controversies” approach will help personalize the engagement with global perspectives, reminding students and teachers that world history doesn’t have to take a distanced point of view, but rather can also be about linking local individual actions and events to the larger global experience. Students will learn that in spite of the vastness of the past, the daily lives of individuals also comprise the building blocks of world history and that the choices made by individuals—be they merchants, rulers, farmers, or slaves—have shaped world history for thousands of years.

Format
Each article poses a single historical question and is presented in pro/con format. Some of these focus on specific controversies and events (e.g., Did Constantine’s conversion to Christianity transform the Roman Empire? Should Tsar Alexander emancipate the serfs? Should La Malinche have helped Cortés in the Spanish conquest of Mexico? Should West African states have rejected the importation of European guns? Should Britain and France intervene during the U.S. Civil War?). Other articles focus on broader historical issues and comparative questions (e.g., Did the spread of world religions benefit women in ancient societies? Did resistance to slavery shape ideas of freedom? Were merchants or missionaries more important in the spread of early religions? Did the Mayan Empire decline because of internal dissent or environmental change?).

Each article provides all the essential information to enable a student to both understand the issue and its significance and answer the question in specific world history contexts. Every article contains an introductory highlight box summarizing the issue and the two competing positions; a narrative essay providing historical background of the issue/event; an argument section presenting both sides of the controversy, with quotations from primary sources used as evidence to support each position; a selection of primary sources (on which the arguments are based and which are referenced and quoted in the article); a chronology; a sidebar; discussion questions; bibliography; and a “what if” section contemplating what could or might have happened had the alternative side prevailed.

Scope
As a whole, articles are designed with an aim toward achieving a narrative balance among historical eras and the broadest possible coverage of global geographical regions and peoples.

Contact
Facts On File is currently seeking authors for this exciting new database, and many articles are still available. If you are interested in being an author or would like more information, please contact Andrew Gyory, Ph.D. at agyory@infobaselearning.com; or Facts On File, 132 West 31st Street, New York, N.Y. 10001.

Wolvercote WW1 Aerodrome Memorial

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The community project, Wolvercote WW1 Aerodrome Memorial, aims to establish a new memorial to 17 airmen who died in accidents associated with this WW1 aerodrome on Port Meadow. The project is a repository for photographs and information about Wolvercote Aerodrome and its WW1 heritage. Pembroke College has some affiliation with pilot training undertaken at the aerodrome, accommodating RFC/RAF cadets undergoing theoretical/ground based training at the No.2 School of Military Aeronautics, before a posting to a flying school such as Port Meadow.

The project’s latest development is the decision over an agreed memorial design and location. They have now commenced fund raising.

A very brief overview of the history of aviation on Port Meadow, which had its peak from mid 1916 to mid 1919 is here: Aerodrome history overview July 2015

Their project Facebook page has an overview of the project and lots of other information.

A BBC WW1 At Home feature, entitled ‘Port Meadow Aerodrome, Oxfordshire: Challenges of Training with the Royal Flying Corps‘, was broadcast in June 2014. The casualty list has expanded slightly since then with two airmen identified who were killed near Ascot while on an official flight from Port Meadow.

Call for volunteers: ‘FWW Family Day’, Museum of Oxford, 1 August 2016

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The Museum of Oxford has an exciting opportunity for PhDs or postdocs interested in a very short-term community engagement project. They’re hosting a “FWW Family Day” on August 1st, and are looking for some help in planning the activities and writing information sheets. The museum is centrally located in the Town Hall (right near Carfax Tower).

This would at most involve attending four short planning sessions before August 1st, with optional (but very welcome) attendance on the day itself. A good opportunity for anyone looking to add some FWW-related community engagement to their CV.

They are fairly desperate for assistance with this, and we’re hoping that with such a strong community of FWW experts in Oxford, including ~20 PhDs and postdocs, that someone will be able to help them out!

If interested, please contact Chloe Cadge at the Museum of Oxford, ccadge@oxford.gov.uk.