Items
Subject is exactly
Imperial and Colonial History
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Bees in the Collections The University of Reading houses one of the largest collections of bee-related material in the United Kingdom. The works contained within provide vital insights into historic social and political perceptions of the world’s most important pollinators. This online exhibition showcases some of the most significant apian-related works, held by the University and beyond, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century which demonstrate how social and cultural perceptions of bees and hives changed as British society evolved. The online exhibition curated by Olivia Blackburn, as part of a student project, ‘Bees in the Collections’, which was supervised by Professor Helen Parish and Dr Rohan Deb Roy from the Department of History, University of Reading. -
Exploring the Gavin Stamp Archive Gavin Stamp (1948–2017) was a British architectural historian, writer and campaigner. His archive, which is held by the Centre, illustrates a prolific career and wide-ranging interests. It includes material related to the Scott family architectural dynasty; inter-war period architecture; telephone boxes; war memorials; power stations; Victorian churches; ecclesiastical design; and colonial architecture. -
George Lansbury Archives Personal papers and correspondence covering many political and social issues of the early 20th century. -
H. T. Alexander: A British Officer Serving in a Newly Independent African Country 2024 thus marks the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives 60th anniversary. In those intervening years we have gathered the personal papers of over 800 senior defence personnel, and we thought this birthday year was a great opportunity to showcase just some of the items from the collection. This blog spotlights The Archive of Major-General Henry Templer Alexander (1911-1977) from this collection. -
History in the Making – Beilby Porteus and the Abolition of Slavery This blog post was written by Dr Karen Attar, Curator of Rare Books and University Art at Senate House Library, University of London. -
Imperial designs: technology and empire in the 19th century This exhibition covers the period when Britain experienced the peak of her imperial and industrial power. In the years 1815 to 1870 she was undoubtedly the ‘workshop of the world’, and there was no rival posing both a military and an economic threat. -
Reclaiming a Language: Contextualizing John Eliot’s Genesis This blog focuses on how both The Eliot Genesis and Bible were used by European colonisers to enact what Indigenous theologian Tink Tinker describes as a cultural genocide. It also highlights the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project. -
The Groundnut Scheme: a colonial failure The ill-fated Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme was planned and put into practice in the mid-twentieth century, coming to an abrupt end in 1951. The story of its collapse is a powerful example of why top-down, colonial approaches to agricultural development often struggled to produce the desired results. It raises important questions about why the voices of local agricultural workers and communities were often ignored, and how this contributed to the Scheme’s demise. This online exhibition has been devised to make sense of scattered holdings throughout The MERL collection. Together these groundnut and East Africa-related farming resources can help shed light on this infamous project and its failings. This exhibition was compiled in partnership with undergraduate History students from the University of Reading, including Charles Clemens, Rebekah Fry, Katie Crook, Jakob Longden, and others. We are also grateful for the support of Atenchong Talleh Nkobou from the School of Agriculture, Policy, and Development who provided support and expertise, and to Tim Jerrome and Dr Ollie Douglas for editorial and technical input. You can watch the 1948 film, 'The Groundnut Scheme at Kongwa' via the University of Reading's Virtual Reading Room. -
The history of the Wardian case in Kew Gardens' collections This video features our Assistant Archivist and our Economic Botany Collections Manager discussing the history of the Wardian case and its role in plant transportation. -
Two centuries on: Following the path of Hovell and Hume -
War Memoirs of a Nonentity: Creating Archives 2024 thus marks the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives 60th anniversary. In those intervening years we have gathered the personal papers of over 800 senior defence personnel, and we thought this birthday year was a great opportunity to showcase just some of the items from the collection. This blog spotlights the Vlieland, Charles Archibald's personal memoirs “DISASTER IN THE FAR EAST 1941-2” from this collection.