Latest Posts
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#BLM Finding ‘sanctuary’ with the US Army, by Liz Barnes
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), hundreds of thousands of enslaved men, women, and children fled farms and plantations across the South to secure their freedom. Frequently, this flight was towards the camps of soldiers fighting for the US Army,… Continue reading
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#BHM ‘The different meaning of HMT Empire Windrush’ by Dr Daniel Renshaw
On a rainy June morning in the summer of 1948 a British troopship, itself requisitioned from the German navy during the Second World War, arrived at Tilbury docks in Essex, carrying a number of Polish ex-soldiers, some Jamaican pilots who… Continue reading
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#BHM ‘the backbone of Mau Mau’: Women’s Contributions in Conflict, Kenya by Beth Rebisz
(Photograph taken by author) On 12th September 2015, a memorial in honour of Kenya’s freedom fighters was unveiled in Uhuru Park, Nairobi. The memorial was part of an out-of-court settlement reached between the British government and a group of Kenyans who… Continue reading
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#BHM ‘A visit to the countryside is always accompanied by a feeling of unease; dread.’ by Lottie Jacob and Jeremy Burchardt
The countryside has long been a place intrinsic to the British national identity, from the Romantic movement through to the present day. And yet, it has remained largely inaccessible to people of colour, both literally in rural landscapes – for… Continue reading
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#BHM ‘She hits massa with de hoe:’ The Weaponization of Plantation Labour Equipment by Enslaved Women in the Antebellum American South, by Erin Shearer
Three women and one man hoeing in field, (1899), Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91785649/] This photograph, titled Three women and one man hoeing in a field, depicts the agricultural labour of unidentified African Americans in the late nineteenth century.… Continue reading
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Welcome to Black History Month in the Department of History by Professor David Stack #BHM
2020 marks the 33rd anniversary of Black History Month (BHM) in the UK, and it has never seemed more relevant. One outstanding feature of the wave of protests, conversations, and questioning that has followed the murder of George Floyd has… Continue reading
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Merlin by Professor Anne Lawrence-Mathers #HistorialDesertIslandDiscs
As we head towards the last bank holiday of the summer and the start of a new academic year, the History Department at the University of Reading ‘Historical Desert Island Discs’ series comes to magical end with our Professor of… Continue reading
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1986 Teenage Girl by Amy Gower #HistoricalDesertIslandDiscs
We are delighted that our penultimate #HistoricalDesertIslandDiscs is by Amy Gower. This fictional account inspired by her PhD research into teenage girls’ experiences of secondary school between 1970 and 2000 (see end of page). We’ve had the Desert Island Discs… Continue reading
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Sigmund Freud by Sigmund Freud and Dr Melani Schroeter #HistoricalDesertIslandDiscs
We are delighted that our colleague Dr Melani Schroeter from the Department of Languages and Culture has colluded with Sigmund Freud himself to present his Historical Desert Island Discs … We are honoured to host Dr Sigmund Freud in today’s… Continue reading
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Richard Nixon by Dr Dafydd Townley #HistoricalDesertIslandDiscs
After a short hiatus we are back with #HistoricalDesertIland Discs to see you out of lockdown (hopefully) and on into the summer. Today Dr Dafydd Townley presents the eclectic musical choices of Richard Nixon… Richard Milhous Nixon (1913 – 1994)… Continue reading
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