Unlock stories, discover documents, and be inspired by information during Explore Your Archive Week 2022. The annual event is an Archives and Records Association (UK and Ireland) campaign to encourage everyone, everywhere, to visit, use and be inspired by archives.
Explore Your Archive Week 2022 is from 28 November to 6 December, run by Portsmouth City Council’s Portsmouth History Centre and Library Service. To celebrate Portsmouth History Centre will be offering three free talks on varying subjects relative to the city.
All talks are approximately one hour long and include a question-and-answer section.
- Tuesday 29 November 2022 10.30am, Lindy Delpenha by Gareth Edwards
Portsmouth Football Club’s first black player, and the first Jamaican to play professional football in England. This talk explores Delapenha’s time at Fratton Park from 1948-50
- Wednesday 30 November 2022 10:30am, Unwrapping the Valerie Bacon Archive by Nigel and Wendy Gossop
A talk in conjunction with the Living with War in Emsworth exhibition, focusing on the wartime diaries of Valerie Bacon and the collection of letters she wrote to her father 1940 – 1945. The talk will explore the range and scope of this archive and how it may be used in the future.
The Living with War in Emsworth exhibition will be on the second floor of Portsmouth Central Library until mid-December 2022. - Thursday 1 December 2022 10.30am, Archives and the Stories They Tell by Michael Gunton
See how using the Census can unlock some of the stories held within the archive, with an introduction to the Portsmouth History Centre archive collection.
Cllr Steve Pitt, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Economic Development said: “History is an incredible map that gives us invaluable directions for the future. Through its joy and sadness, history can teach us and inspire us.
The dedicated historians at Portsmouth History Centre have a wealth of knowledge and passion and always put on interesting events. I hope many people enjoy the fantastically free talks they are putting on.”
All talks will take place on the Third Floor of Portsmouth Central Library in Guildhall Square.
To book your place at any of these talks email portsmouthhistorycentre@portsmouthcc.gov.uk, telephone 02392 688046 or ask in person at Portsmouth History Centre.