Histories, Communities and Feelings in the Centenary of the First World War

The Royal Historical Society

'In memory of my Great Grandfather and his infant son’: Histories, communities and feelings in the centenary of the First World War

Burghfield House

<h2>'"In memory of my Great Grandfather and his infant son": Histories, communities and feelings in the centenary of the First World War'</h2><h2></h2><h2>5:00﻿pm BST, Monday 18 September 2023</h2><h2></h2><h2>W﻿ith Professor Lucy Noakes (University of Essex)</h2><h2></h2><h3><strong>Note: This is the in person booking page for this RHS sponsored lecture, taking place at the University of the Highlands and Islands, Burghfield House, Cnoc-an-Lobht, Dornoch, IV25 3HN</strong></h3><h3><strong>I﻿f you would prefer to book for the online lecture, </strong><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/online-histories-communities-feelings-in-the-centenary-of-wwi-tickets-686558885107?aff=oddtdtcreator"><strong>please register here</strong></a></h3><p></p><h3>About this lecture</h3><p>On November 11 2018, which was both Remembrance Sunday and the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day 1918, the British state commemorated the dead of its past wars in its usual fashion: a wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall attended by the representatives of the Royal family, British political parties, Commonwealth Heads of State and the military, a widely observed two-minute silence in remembrance of the dead, and a military march-past of the Cenotaph by veterans and serving members of the forces. However, there was one significant difference in this ceremony, so carefully choreographed and enacted on every Armistice Day until 1939 and on every Remembrance Sunday since 1945: the formal participation of some 10,000 of the civilian descendants of those who fought and sometimes died in the First World War, and of others who wanted to commemorate them.</p><p>Taking this ‘people’s procession’ as its starting point, this talk reflects on the continued emotional appeal of the First World War in British heritage and memory. Focusing on some of the many public history events and projects that were produced as a response to the war’s centenary, it will consider the ways in which the conflict and its multiple legacies were remembered in families, in communities and in other social groupings and heritage sites. It will explore the centrality of an emotional connection to the past, and the ways that commemorative activities were often shaped by this connection.  Finally, it will think about the ways that an emotional attachment to the past can shape the present and the future.</p><p></p><h3>This is an RHS Sponsored Lecture held as part of the Society’s visit to historians at  the University of the Highlands and Islands, Dornoch, on 18 September 2023.</h3>

<h3></h3><h3>Speaker biography</h3><p><a href="https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/noake11404/lucy-noakes" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><strong>Lucy Noakes</strong></a> is the Rab Butler Chair and Professor of Modern History at the University of Essex. Her research focuses on the experience and memory of modern warfare n Britain and Europe, and publications include <em>Dying for the Nation: Death, Grief and Bereavement in Second World War Britain</em> (Manchester: 2020) which was the winner of the Social History Society Book Award. </p><p>During the First World War centenary Lucy worked with multiple public history projects and between 2017 and 2021 she led the Arts and Humanities Research Council project Reflections on the Centenary of the First World War. Learning and Legacies for the Future. </p><p></p><p>HEADER IMAGE: 'Pages of the Sea', Danny Boyle 14-18NOW,Folkestone 2018. Photograph courtesy of Emma Hanna.</p>

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