Voices Activity
Exhibition:
Voices of the First World War: community projects from Birmingham and the Midlands
5 October 2018 – 5 January 2019
Library of Birmingham
November 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the armistice of the Great War. To commemorate this, the Voices of War & Peace WW1 Engagement Centre and the Library of Birmingham are hosting an exhibition showing the work that has been carried out by regional community organisations since the commemorations began in August 2014. The exhibition will focus on untold stories or new knowledge that has surfaced through the work of communities, which have enriched and added to our knowledge about the First World War.
Exhibition:
Beyond the Battlefields:
Käthe Buchler’s Photographs of Germany in the Great War
20 October 2017 – 14 January 2018
University of Birmingham and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Beyond the Battlefields is assembled from a unique series of images made by photographer Käthe Buchler (1876-1930) before and during the First World War in Germany and which are part of the collection of the Museum of Photography, Braunschweig, where Buchler lived and worked. This is the first time that Buchler’s work has been displayed outside Germany.
Conference: Home, Food and Family
5 March 2016, Avoncroft
The conference was organised by the Women’s History Network (Midlands Region) and took place at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings. The event was supported by Voices of War & Peace, the Economic History Society, the University of Worcester and Worcestershire WW100. See conference videos on Voices’ Youtube.
Study Day: Whose War? Whose Memory?
19 November 2015, University of Birmingham
This study day explored ‘Teaching the First World War in International Perspective’. Speakers included: Dr Catriona Pennell (University of Exeter); Peter Glasgow (Peace Pledge Union), and; Professor Eckhardt Fuchs, Dr Barbara Christophe and Dr. Kerstin Schwedes (TU Braunschweig).
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Exhibition: Soldier Stories: Birmingham and the Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1914 – 1918
19 July – 31 August 2015, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham was the main recruiting area for the Royal Warwickshire Regiment at the beginning of the 20th century. This exhibition focused on the stories of some of the Birmingham men who served in the Regiment in the First World War, bringing together loans from Royal Warwickshire Regiment collector Dave Vaux and objects from Birmingham’s collection.
Study Day: Making sense of Community Engagement in and with History and Heritage Based Research
22 June 2015, Birmingham City University
This event was part of the Arts & Humanities Research Council’s Connected Communities Festival. It brought together Heritage Lottery Funded projects (completed or live) to have conversations around the legacy of the First World War and working with academics and the HLF.
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Study Day: Women and the Great War
11 April 2015, Library of Birmingham
This study day explored women and the Great War. Speakers included; Professor Maggie Andrews (University of Worcester); Jo-Ann Curtis (Birmingham Museums Trust); Annabel Oxford (Friends of Castle Green); Catherine Pitt (Women & Theatre); Dr Sian Roberts (University of Birmingham); and Dr Richenda Roberts (University of Birmingham).
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Conference: Organising Women in WW1
21 March 2015, Bantock Museum, Wolverhampton
A conference to commemorate the centenary of the formation of the Women’s Institute Movement in Britain and the publication of the Maternity Letters by the Women’s Co-operatvie Guild. Subjects of talks included Striking Women, Women and Trade Unionism, Women’s Agricultural Education and Research, and the Women’s Co-operative Guild and state maternity care.
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Study Day: the Asian Contribution to the Great War
21 February 2015, Library of Birmingham
This study day explored the Asian contribution to the Great War. Prof Ian Grosvenor (Director of Voices of War & Peace) introduced speakers; Michael Noble (Hidden Histories); Colonel Richard Maybery (Deputy Commander for the Army in the West Midlands); Dr Irfan Malik; Stephen Ballinger (British Future); Haroon Ravat (Project Manager; We Also Served) and; Amerdeep Singh Panesar (University of Huddersfield).
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Study Day: Britain’s Black Community and the Great War
31 January 2015, Library of Birmingham
This discussion event was aimed at community groups and individuals who are already involved with, or would like to become part of, projects that focus on the contribution of people from Africa and the Caribbean. Participants shared their work, met others working on projects, and discussed ideas for developing projects and research. See videos of talks given on the day.
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Exhibition: Voices of War: Birmingham People, 1914-19
29 September 2014 – January 2015, Library of Birmingham
The Voices of War exhibition showed how WW1 was experienced by people in Birmingham, drawing on the rich collections of the Library of Birmingham. The exhibition explored a number of themes including the experiences of men at the Front, the war’s impact on children and families, the contribution of black and Asian soldiers, the role of women on the Home Front, Birmingham’s industrial support, and debates around patriotism and pacifism.
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Study Day: First World War and injury, medicine, disability
6 December 2014, Library of Birmingham
A study day to consider different aspects of First World War medicine, injury and disability and its legacy. Speakers included a Consultant Burns and Plastic Surgeon at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Director of the University of Birmingham’s History of Medicine Unit, and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham.
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Author Talk: Black Poppies
29 November 2014, Library of Birmingham
A talk and discussion by the author Stephen Bourne to celebrate the publication of his book Black Poppies, Britain’s Black Community and the Great War, published in 2014 by The History Press.
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Workshops: Voices of the First World War: creative writing, conflict and reconciliation
11 October 2014, Library of Birmingham
Local writer Fiona Joseph and poets Garrie Fletcher and Antony Owen led creative writing workshops which used archive material about the First World War to inspire the writing. The event was held in partnership with Writing West Midlands and the Birmingham Literature Festival.
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