News: Archive Awareness Campaign 2008 - Take your place in history

This year’s ‘Take Your Place in History’ theme focuses on the importance of communities and their role in the making of this country’s history. Archives have teamed up with community groups, organisations and artists to help them bring to life their history.

Throughout the autumn archives across the country will be hosting special events to celebrate the fantastic wealth of their collections and to highlight the importance of archives as guardians of history.

Take Your Place In History archive events offer a fantastic chance for people to connect with their local history and learn more about their community. For example Slavery and Banana Cake, Northampton Archive, will highlight the issue of slavery and its impact locally. Also Cumbria Archive Service will be marking the 90th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice through talks, open days and an exhibition, displayed in a number of libraries throughout Cumbria.

To find out more about the record number of events taking place in archives across the UK over the next few months log onto www.archiveawareness.com/events.

Jeff Pick, Chairman of the National Council on Archives said:
“Archives have something for everyone. We hope this year’s campaign will help the public discover the history of their community and enable many more people to realize the role and contributions women and black and ethnic minorities have played in making that history”.