Review and Accounts 2018/2019
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Life NATIONAL Review and Accounts 2018/2019 National Life Stories Chair’s Foreword When many people think about history, they think about of innovative interviewing programmes funded almost entirely books and documents, castles or stately homes. In fact history from sponsorship, charitable and individual donations and is all around us, in our own families and communities, in the voluntary effort. living memories and experiences of older people. Everyone has a story to tell about their life which is unique to them. Whilst Each collection comprises recorded in-depth interviews of a some people have been involved in momentous historical high standard, plus content summaries and transcripts to assist events, regardless of age or importance we all have interesting users. Access is provided via the Sound and Moving Image life stories to share. Unfortunately, because memories die Catalogue at sami.bl.uk and a growing number of interviews when people do, if we don’t record what people tell us, that are made available for remote web use through British Library history can be lost forever. Sounds at sounds.bl.uk. Each individual life story interview is several hours long, covering family background, childhood, National Life Stories was established in 1987 and its mission education, work, leisure and later life. is: ‘To record the first-hand experiences of as wide a cross section of society as possible, to preserve the recordings, to Alongside the British Library’s other oral history holdings, make them publicly available and encourage their use’. As an which stretch back to the beginning of the twentieth century, independent charitable trust within the Oral History Section of NLS’s recordings form a unique and invaluable record of the British Library, NLS’s key focus and expertise has been oral people’s lives in Britain today. history fieldwork. For over thirty years it has initiated a series Photograph: Bill Knight FOUNDER ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST FREELANCE ORAL HISTORY TRUSTEES (at 6 June 2019) As part of our core mission ‘to record the first-hand Online access to our collections remains an important Professor Paul Thompson AND ADMINISTRATOR INTERVIEWERS Dame Jenny Abramsky experiences of as wide a cross-section of society as possible’ objective and over the past year we have launched a new web Camille Johnston Kirstie Gregory Professor Jon Agar National Life Stories has always sought to cover myriad resource within the British Library’s web domain – ‘Voices CHAIR (Artists’ Lives) Bob Boas subject areas and I am delighted to report that we have this of art’ – offering over 100 audio clips alongside images, Dame Jenny Abramsky BOOKKEEPER Dr Katharine Haydon Dr Andrew Flinn year launched a new initiative focusing on farming, land specially-commissioned essays, and teachers’ notes focusing Pauline Morrison (British Library Staff Oral Amanda Game management and conservation, thanks to a generous grant on the British art world between the late 1950s and early DIRECTOR History Project) Roger Gavin from the Arcadia Trust. Crucially, we will explore the dialogue 1970s. ‘Voices of art’ was made possible with the support Dr Robert Perks ORAL HISTORIAN Victoria Lane Bill Knight OBE between farmers and science and technology, and build on of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art whose AND RESEARCHER (Artists’ Lives) Dr Robert Perks the excellent previous work in the history of science and involvement was warmly appreciated. Its launch last autumn DEPUTY DIRECTOR Dr Paul Merchant (An Oral Shirley Read Richard Ranft technology, much accessible through our award-winning coincided with the publication of a new book by Michael Bird, Mary Stewart History of Farming, Land (Oral History of British Dr Jo Reilly ‘Voices of Science’ web resource. Many of the key post-war Studio Voices: Art and Life in 20th Century Britain, based on Management and Conservation Photography) Professor Paul Thompson changes in farming that we will be documenting relate to extracts from Artists’ Lives. This was the latest output from ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR in Post-War Britain) Ann Sproat Dr Hodson Thornber national and EC/EU policy and thus the project can claim our successful NLS Goodison Fellowship scheme, for which Jennifer Wingate (Artists’ Lives) Jennifer Wingate significant timeliness and potential to contribute to debates we will once again be seeking applications later this year for FREELANCE PROJECT Paula Thompson around the future for British farming. We have recruited a fellowship in 2020–2021. Meanwhile we look forward to TREASURER INTERVIEWERS (Legal Lives) NLS ADVISORS (at 6 June 2019) a distinguished advisory committee and I look forward to 2018–19 Fellow Rib Davis’s play script, based on our Living Bob Boas Dr Niamh Dillon Robert Wilkinson Sir Peter Bazalgette reporting further about these new interviews next year. Memory of the Jewish Community collection. (Architects’ Lives) (An Oral History of Oral Eric de Bellaigue PROJECT DIRECTOR Dr Thomas Lean History in the UK) Lord Bragg Interdisciplinarity is a growing feature of our work. Our Cathy Courtney (An Oral History of British Dr Jon Wood Professor Mary Chamberlain new series of interviews around infrastructure – Britain (Artists’ Lives, Architects’ Lives) Science and Britain Building (Artists’ Lives) Sir John Craven Building the World – has developed with further funding the World) Dr Mark Girouard and embraces technology and policy, planning and the built SENIOR ACADEMIC ADVISOR Sarah O’Reilly TRANSCRIBERS Sir Nicholas Goodison environment. We are seeking funding for a related interview Dr Sally Horrocks (Authors’ Lives) Susan Hutton Professor Leslie Hannah programme about London’s Broadgate development, which Dame Jenny Abramsky (An Oral History of British Dr Hester Westley Susan Nicholls Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield would include architects and engineers, City planners, Chair of Trustees Science and An Oral History (Artists’ Lives) Business Friend Lesley Knox lawyers and financiers, the developers themselves, those who of Farming, Land Management Dr Elizabeth Wright Lord Rees of Ludlow OM contructed the buildings, some of the artists whose work and Conservation in Post- (Crafts Lives) UNLOCKING OUR SOUND Professor Linda Mulcahy contributes to the environment and some of the tenants. We War Britain) HERITAGE VOLUNTEERS Ian Prideaux also continue to pursue our City Lives Revisited project and a COLLABORATIVE Laurie Green-Eames Professor Dorothy Sheridan MBE proposal around the concept of risk. Finally, work is underway ARCHIVIST DOCTORAL STUDENT Anna Savory Jonathan Taylor CBE to scope a new series of interviews around design, embracing David Govier (until May 2018) Emmeline Ledgerwood industrial design, transportation, and graphic design as well Charlie Morgan (from August as fashion, textile and digital design, following on from Crafts 2018) Lives which we paused this year. 1 Review of 2018 Rob Perks Director of National Life Stories Collections and projects cultivator – produced by the company Bomford and Evershed; and George Mackay, who developed new varieties of potatoes An oral history of farming, land management and through innovative breeding experiments at the Scottish conservation in post-war Britain Plant Breeding Station and the Scottish Crop Research We are pleased to announce a new project in the area of Institute. Paul Merchant introduces the project in more farming and science, thanks to significant funding from the detail later in this Review. Arcadia Charitable Trust. An oral history of farming, land management and conservation in post-war Britain will focus on the experience of changes in farming practice, patterns of landownership, and approaches to land management bound up with the development and incorporation of various kinds of scientific knowledge and technology. Over the next three years a full-time project interviewer (Paul Merchant) will record fifty life story interviews with farmers and land owners engaged in food production and stewardship of land at a time of transformation in agricultural practices; scientists involved in the development of new knowledge and technologies – Courtesy of Susan James Susan James at work in the acoustics lab, Royal Aircraft Establishment, 18 October 1985. such as plant breeding, the development of agrochemicals and ecology for nature conservation – that impacted on the experience of farming; and representatives of organisations expensive scientific instrument, was designed at Daresbury, but Britain building the world: an oral history of involved in exchange of knowledge and expertise between ultimately built at Harwell instead, despite a major campaign infrastructure and the built environment farmers, landowners and scientists. The aim is to record ways for Diamond at Daresbury. This has been a revealing set of Straddling engineering and architecture, we have been in which environmental knowledge has been developed, interviews looking at the politics of funding big science and further developing our new interview series, Britain building promoted, marginalised and revived as part of dramatic the role of scientists as activists. Tom has also concluded an the world: an oral history of infrastructure and the built changes in British farming and landowning since the Second interview with distinguished particle physicist Professor Lord environment. With generous funding from Chris and Gilda World War. As many of these changes relate to national and John Dainton, whose career at Daresbury, Liverpool, CERN Haskins and the Royal Commission for