Local History Month 2020
It’s that time of year again when we encourage everyone to look around them and to explore their local history – but like everything at the moment it’s a little different this year compared to usual.
Local History is one of those areas that defies historic time periods and can merge themes and ideas. For instance, if you visit your local churchyard are you exploring the church building or its contents, are you unpicking religious history, or exploring the headstones in the church graveyard (if there is one)? Or you could be looking at the war memorial that's often to be found there.
Of course, it might seem ridiculous to promote something that potentially involves leaving the house at a time when most of us are limited in how often we can do that. However, the great thing about Local History is that it can be done in really simple ways just by going on a walk and by using local online archives. In fact, now that many of us are at home we can spend time looking at the architecture in our street or the streets around us. We can ask questions: what made this place the settlement that it is – industry, railways, farming? What has happened in this area over the years and who are the people that lived here?
There are some great databases for exploring local history including the HA’s RAF project from 2018 which looks at all the RAF airbases there have ever been, or the HA’s suffrage project which contains a database of suffragists from all of the UK (see links below).
One of the outcomes of this current situation is that many organisations are putting things online that wouldn’t normally be there. The National Archives has allowed access to more of its resources, and other local archives are doing the same.
So perhaps now is the perfect time to explore your area’s history, so that when we do get out of lockdown we can look at the streets and communities around us with a whole new wonder.
Home learning resource hub: local history
Our new Key Stages 1 and 2 resource-sharing hubs for home learning have sections on local history with some great resources to use during lockdown:
Free WW2 and VE Day resource for schools and parents
Lots of organisations in the UK had exciting plans to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day, but unfortunately many of them will not now go ahead because of the Covid-19 situation. However, that doesn’t mean that young people can’t begin to understand why the first May bank holiday has moved to a Friday this year and why VE Day is something that still has resonance. The HA has created a free resource for schools suitable for primary and also Key Stage 3, with activities differentiated for different year groups. View the resource here
Local History Primary Teacher Fellowship programme
The HA are pleased to announce a fully funded programme for primary teachers focused on developing the teaching of local history, in partnership with the British Association for Local History.
At the heart of the programme is the concept of integrating local history into the classroom through the stories of the people and places which make the history of your school's community exciting and unique. Through the lens of local history this fellowship will explore a variety of time periods and a range of sources and approaches including the built environment, local museum collections, archival documents and digital resources. Participants will work with historians, archivists and primary education specialists to explore the myriad ways in which local history can be incorporated into their teaching practice. The course will be led by Bev Forrest, Chair of the Historical Association’s primary committee and an experienced primary history teacher and trainer.