Major Miss Bell: Gertrude Bell and the First World War – Exhibition Now Online

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The exhibition on Gertrude Bell’s First World War work, previously on display in Newcastle University’s Robinson Library, is now available to view online here. Cartographer, archaeologist, interpreter, photographer, Gertrude Bell (born 1868 at Washington New Hall, County Durham) is perhaps best known as a central figure in British political movements in the Middle East during the early twentieth century. Appointed the appointed Oriental Secretary in 1917, her expertise in the geography of the Middle East led to her involvement in the Cairo Conference of 1921, in which she played a central role in the formation of Iraq. Often overlooked, however, is the range and extent of the work Bell undertook during the First World War, which took her from Boulogne to Baghdad. Curated by Dr Emma Short (School of English, Newcastle University & Living Legacies 1914-1918), this exhibition of material from the Gertrude Bell Papers, held in Newcastle University Robinson Library Special Collections, explores the impact of the First World War on Bell’s life and legacy.

Researching the First World War: Community Project Networking Event

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18 July 2016 @ Research Beehive Rm. 2.21, Newcastle University

We invite you to a networking event for community researchers working on the First World War. The event will take place on Monday 18 July 2016 at Newcastle University, and will offer an opportunity for people to meet and share their work and experiences. Heritage Lottery Fund North East will be at the event to talk about the range of First World War projects being carried out across the region, and we are delighted to welcome the Worker’s Educational Association to showcase their own project researching the WEA in the North East during the First World War.As well as these talks and the networking opportunities throughout the day, we are also offering the chance to take part in an HLF Funding Application workshop for the development of future projects. 

You can download a programme for the day here.

Attendance at the event (including lunch and refreshments) is free of charge, but places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. To reserve a place at this event, please email: fww@ncl.ac.uk by Wednesday 13 July 2016. 

The event is being hosted by the Living Legacies First World War Centenary Engagement Centre, in collaboration with the Heritage Lottery Fund, with support from Newcastle University Institute for Social Renewal, and Newcastle University Humanities Research Institute. Living Legacies is one of five FWW Engagement Centres funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to connect academic and community researchers. Further details of all the Centres can be found here. 

 

Newcastle and Archangel in the First World War

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Public Lecture – 6pm, Thursday 31 March @ The Lit & Phil, 23 Westgate Rd, Newcastle. 

In this lecture, Professor David Saunders of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at Newcastle University discusses the construction of icebreakers for Russia on the Tyne, the work they did in Russia, and what happened to them in the Russian Revolution, Civil War, and in the First World War. The talk is linked to the HLF-funded project Reflections of Newcastle, 1914-1918, and is free and open to all, but you may need to contact the Lit & Phil to reserve a place by calling: (0191) 232 0192.

Major Miss Bell: Gertrude Bell and the First World War

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Exhibition @ Level 2, Newcastle University Robinson Library, November 2015 – January 2016. 

Cartographer, archaeologist, interpreter, photographer, Gertrude Bell (born 1868 at Washington New Hall, County Durham) is perhaps best known as a central figure in British political movements in the Middle East during the early twentieth century. Appointed the appointed Oriental Secretary in 1917, her expertise in the geography of the Middle East led to her involvement in the Cairo Conference of 1921, in which she played a central role in the formation of Iraq. Often overlooked, however, is the range and extent of the work Bell undertook during the First World War, which took her from Boulogne to Baghdad. Curated by Dr Emma Short (School of English, Newcastle University & Living Legacies 1914-1918), this exhibition of material from the Gertrude Bell Papers, held in Newcastle University Robinson Library Special Collections, explores the impact of the First World War on Bell’s life and legacy.

The exhibition can be seen on Level 2 of the Robinson Library, Newcastle University, and all are welcome to visit. Staff on reception will be happy to admit on request visitors who wish to view the exhibition without a Newcastle University Library card.

Dr Short will be speaking on Gertrude Bell and the First World War at the Robinson Library to Friends of the Robinson Library at 6pm on 1 December 2015, and at the Newcastle City Library (as part of the Gender Research Group Evening Lecture Series) at 5.15pm on Wednesday 13 January 2016.  

Photograph courtesy of Newcastle University Robinson Library Special Collections. 

Transmit/Receive: Making and Experimenting with First World War Sound Technologies

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2 x Workshops, Sunday 25 October & Sunday 8 November 2015 @ Discovery Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne

Join Newcastle University sound recording professionals Tim Shaw, John Bowers and Tom Schofield (all School of Arts and Cultures) over two workshops to explore and rebuild sound technologies of the First World War. The First World War was a period of great technological innovation. Many of the communication devices were developed to generate or listen to sound. From radio broadcasts to early underwater microphones, listening was a key strategy in the war effort.

Workshop One – Hydrophones and Morse Code Transmitters

Sunday 25 October, 12-3pm

At the first event you will build and use your own hydrophone (underwater microphone) and morse code transmitter. You will also explore their use during the First World War.

Workshop Two – Short-range radio transmitters and carbon granule microphones

Sunday 8 November, 12-3pm

At the second workshop you will build and use your own short-range radio transmitter and carbon granule microphone. You will also explore their use during the First World War.

Price
Workshops are £6 each (plus online booking fee). Advance booking is essential.

Places for workshops are limited. Each session covers different making activities – you are encouraged to attend both although you can also attend one or the other.

No prior specialist or technical knowledge is needed to attend and materials are included in the price.

All attendees must be aged 16 and over to attend. 

For more information and to book tickets, please visit: 

https://discoverymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/transmit-receive

Sing and Dance for King and Country

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Installation – Rachael Hales, Newcastle University

3pm, Friday 11 September @ Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum

Sound artist Rachael Hales will be presenting her audio-visual installation exploring the experiences of local people during the First World War, through the lens of local folk traditions and practices. Rachael will be presenting the findings of her research into Rapper Dancing, Clog Dancing and Children’s Song on Tyneside during the First World War, alongside the three audio-visual artworks that she created in response to this research. This project is part of Decoded 1914-18, commissioned by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and the Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice, which involved seven artists producing creative responses to the First World War collections held by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.

The event is presented as part of the Heritage Open Days at Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum: The Chantry, Bridge Street, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 1PJ.

About the Installation:

Sing and Dance for King and Country is an audio-visual installation exploring the experiences of the people of Tyneside during the First World War, through the lens of local folk traditions and practices. It explores how various folk practices – including rapper dancing, clog dancing, and folksong – can be used to investigate the experiences of war of three groups of people: the rapper dancers of the North East, female munitions workers, and children. Move through the installation in the footsteps of the singers and dancers of 100 years ago, uncovering forgotten and untold stories of how the ordinary people of Tyneside danced and sang their way through the First World War. This installation was presented in collaboration with Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums at the Discovery Museum, Newcastle Upon Tyne in February 2015, and at the Chantry Bagpipe Museum, Morpeth in April 2015 as part of the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering.

About the composer:

Rachael Hales is a sound artist, composer and performer, currently studying for a Ph.D. in composition at Newcastle University. Her work investigates ways in which environmental and everyday sounds can interact with musics of place, particularly folk and traditional music, to perform, represent or portray a sense of place. Recent work has included a commission for the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering, exploring the Anglo-Saxon history of Morpeth; an audio-visual piece portraying Rachael’s experience of the High Level Bridge in Newcastle Upon Tyne; and a sound installation entitled ‘Listening to the Border: a sonic exploration of the construction and performance of identity in the Scottish borders’. Rachael is also a busy folk musician, performing regularly at ceilidhs.

Thomas Baker Brown FWW Comic and Anthology

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Newcastle University Library Education Outreach Team have teamed up with comic artist Terry Wiley, Lydia Wysocki from Applied Comics Etc and local secondary school students to explore the true war story of Thomas Baker Brown from North Shields, Tyne & Wear, who served as a signaller in the First World War. Wiley used the letters, documents, artefacts and other material in Baker Brown’s Archive, which was donated to Newcastle University by his family, to create a comic telling Tommy’s wartime story. The comic follows Baker Brown’s experiences as a soldier on the Western Front and in Prisoner of War camps, as a ‘typical Tommy’ from our local area.  

Students from four local schools (St John’s Catholic School, Monkseaton High School, Benfield School, and St Aidan’s Catholic Academy) then visited Newcastle University to work with the Baker Brown archive. They handled primary sources to understand how to use archives and how to be an historian. They also focused on how to plan, make, and read old and new comics. The students were given copies of True War Stories No.1: Thomas Baker Brown, both to share Thomas’ story and to start a discussion on how to write and draw an historical story. Then each group of students was given a resources pack (reproductions) of extracts from materials from the archive and instructions on how to use these to plan, pencil, and ink a one-page comic of their own. All students completed the task to a high standard and their comics are published in an anthology of all comics from this project, entitled ‘Draw More Comics: The Thomas Baker Brown World War One Comics Anthology’.  All students will receive a free printed copy of the book in the new academic year. The students’ comics and Wiley’s comic are  all available to view online here, along with free resources to use and share.

Women and the First World War Symposium – Programme, Registration and Website

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17 September 2015 @ Newcastle University

Keynote Address: Professor Alison Fell (Leeds), ‘Back to the Front: French and British Female Veteran Groups in the 1920s’

Registration is now open for this interdisciplinary symposium on women’s history in relation to the First World War. This event is supported by the North East Research Forum for First World War Studies, the Living Legacies 1914-18 Engagement Centre, the Gender Research Group (Newcastle) and theMilitary, War & Security Research Group (Newcastle).

Further details on the event, including information on how to register, and the latest programme, are available on the Women and the First World War Symposium website. 

Your Community in the First World War: A Roadshow

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10 September 2015 @ Lindisfarne Room, Newcastle University

How did the First World War affect your community? Do you know where the people named on your war memorial fought and died? What was life like for those who went away to fight? What happened to those who stayed at home? Did the First World War change things for women? Industry? Social welfare? What was its global impact and how did colonial troops experience it?

We invite you to explore your community’s connection with the First World War and meet up with others already doing so. This event will bring together community groups and other organisations who are working on projects around the heritage of the First World War, or who are interested in developing such a project. There will be an opportunity to share experiences, explore possible sources of funding (especially the Heritage Lottery Fund), exchange ideas, and learn about free support and resources, including how and where you can showcase your findings online.

This roadshow is co-hosted by the five First World War engagement centres funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Each centre represents a network of academic support and has various areas of expertise regarding First World War research. You can access their support when developing your own projects. For further information on these centres see here: http://ww1engage.org.uk

We will also be offering an opportunity at this event to learn how to digitise, record and preserve your community’s stories and memorabilia. The availability of this opportunity will be based on demand, so if you are interested in taking part in this digitisation workshop, please register for this when booking the event. You will be asked to submit a short statement of what materials (photographs, letters, diaries etc.) you would like to have digitised and how it would benefit you and/or your community group.

Places at this event is free, but limited, so book early to ensure a place.
Go to: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/first-world-war-engagement-centres-8220847914

For more information or to book a place on a digitisation workshop after booking an event contact Dr Sam Carroll, Community Heritage Researcher, Gateways to the First World War. Email: S.J.Carroll@kent.ac.uk

Download the flyer for the Roadshow here.

Women & the First World War (1910-1930) – Call for Papers

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17 September 2015 @ Newcastle University

Keynote Address: Professor Alison Fell (Leeds), ‘Back to the Front: French and British Female Veteran Groups in the 1920s’

This interdisciplinary symposium will showcase research on any aspect of women’s history in relation to the First World War. We welcome papers on the role and place of girls and women both during the war and also in the years leading up to the outbreak of hostilities and in the decade after. For example, how did literature for girls before the war prepare children for war? How were women involved in pacifist groups? What kinds of work did women do during the war? How were women and girls involved in memorialisation activities? What is the relationship between spiritualism, war and gender politics? Do new transnational paradigms complicate our understanding of women and war? What role did women play in journalism during the war? These are indicative questions only – the symposium is intended to share and develop research on women and the First World War. Papers from a range of fields – including Literature, History, Archaeology, Geography, Politics, Film and Media, Modern Languages, History of Medicine, and Law – are encouraged.

Please send abstracts of 150 words for 20-minute papers to fww@ncl.ac.uk by 15 July 2015.

This event is supported by the North East Research Forum for First World War Studies, the Living Legacies 1914-18 Engagement Centre, the Gender Research Group (Newcastle) and the Military, War & Security Research Group (Newcastle).

Conference Organisers: Stacy Gillis & Emma Short

Download a PDF version of the Call for Papers here.