Charting Time and Visualising Race in Europe’s Enlightenment
In this, the first in a new series of posts in the ‘Writing Race’ series, Professor Bruce Buchan considers the prominence of race in Enlightenment thought, and the legacies of eighteenth-century moral philosophy for modern racism: questions considered here with reference to the teaching of Adam Ferguson (1723-1816) and the ‘Historical Chart’, attributed to Ferguson on its publication in 1780.
Introducing ‘Writing Race’, Series Two
In this post Dr Diya Gupta, commissioning editor for ‘Writing Race’, introduces the start of a new series of posts and reflects on Series One which ran on the RHS blog, ‘Historical Transactions’, in 2021. Here Diya reflects on Series One, looks ahead to forthcoming posts – starting in early February – and invites you to get involved.
Cataloguing the Papers of George W. Prothero – A Personal Reflection
In January 2022 we launched a new catalogue of the papers of George W. Prothero (1848-1922). The collection, one of the largest in the RHS Archive, charts the life of a pioneering historian and the emergence of the modern historical profession. Here Dr Eilish Gregory, who led the first phase of the project, reflects on Prothero as a scholar and champion of History.
New Catalogue for the Society’s George W. Prothero papers (1866-1922)
We’ve recently created and published a new Catalogue for the papers of George W. Prothero (1848-1922), historian, literary editor and President of the RHS between 1901 and 1905. Here we introduce the collection, the largest in the RHS archive, with highlights and images from Prothero’s correspondence and professional papers.
Creating Public History: a Guide to Co-production and Community Engagement
In December 2021 the Society held a Workshop on how to create and run a Public History project. The event brought together academics, curators and public historians with extensive experience of designing and managing projects involving community history groups. The panellists provide practical advice on planning sustainable and effective projects, with examples from their own work.
Marking 5 years and 50,000 downloads of ‘New Historical Perspectives’, 2016-21
In this final post of 2021 we mark 5 years since the creation of ‘New Historical Perspectives’, the Society’s Open Access book series for early career historians. Here we invite four people involved with the Series – two series editors (past and present), a publisher and an author – to comment on their experience of NHP between 2016 and 2021.
New Associate Fellowship and Postgraduate categories for RHS membership
Changes to the Society’s membership structure see the introduction of new Associate Fellowship and Postgraduate categories. From now, there will be four ways to be part of the Royal Historical Society: as a Fellow, an Associate Fellow, a Postgraduate or a Member. This post explains these changes which were announced at the Society’s AGM, held on 26 November 2021.
The Politics of Women’s Suffrage. Local, National and International Dimensions
In this post, Dr Alexandra Hughes-Johnson and Dr Lyndsey Jenkins introduce their new, edited collection, ‘The Politics of Women’s Suffrage. Local, National and International Dimensions’: the tenth title in the RHS’s ‘New Historical Perspectives’ book series, published by University of London Press. The collection shows how women encountered and battled a hostile political climate, but pushed forward with determination, skill, tenacity and optimism: resonating with the renewed interest in women’s history and feminist politics today.
Counting the cost of war
Published on 9 November, the latest volume in the RHS Camden Series is ‘British Financial Diplomacy with North America, 1944-46. The Diary of Frederic Harmer and the Washington Reports of Robert Brand’. Here, the volume’s editor, Michael F. Hopkins, introduces the wartime careers of Harmer, a close aide to John Maynard Keynes, and Brand, head of the Treasury team at the British embassy in Washington. Both sources vividly convey the priorities and tactics in post-war British financial diplomacy – together with acute observations on broader Anglo-American relations.
Goldsmiths, Aston, Kingston, LSBU …. Confronting History’s cuts and closures in 2021
In this post Professor Emma Griffin—President of the Royal Historical Society—considers recent cuts at UK History departments and the current defence of History and historians at Goldsmiths, University of London. 2021 has proved a year of considerable turmoil for academic History, with closures and staffing reductions at a number of institutions: how do we best prepare for the year ahead?
Precarious Professionals: Gender, identities and social change in modern Britain
Dr Heidi Egginton and Dr Zoë Thomas introduce their new, edited collection: ‘Precarious Professionals: Gender, Identities and Social Change in Modern Britain’ — the latest title in the RHS’s ‘New Historical Perspectives’ book series. The collection, available as a free Open Access edition, expands conceptions of professional identity for different women and men in the past and shows how working lives might be more equitably reimagined in the future.
Can we unlearn imperialism in photographic research?
How should historians engage with the source materials that record and communicate empire from the perspective of imperial rule? Are there ways of working with sources that enable researchers to free themselves from the intellectual constraints imposed by historical imagery and its categorisation? Maria Creech explores her methodological approach to ‘unlearning’ imperialism.
