‘Histories of Childhood: Uncovering New Heritage Narratives’

Lamb, Gillian; Pooley, Sià¢n

‘Histories of Childhood: Uncovering New Heritage Narratives’

Resource type

Research report

Creator (person)

Lamb, Gillian

Pooley, Sià¢n

Date published

2023

Abstract

This report has been written to highlight how histories of childhood offer fresh perspectives on collections and properties now in the care of heritage organisations. Over the last twenty years both heritage professionals and academics have developed expertise in researching, understanding and communicating histories of children’s experiences. Yet there have been few spaces to reflect on or share these insights. The report offers a range of tools to inspire and support others to develop this work. It is structured around six main approaches to examining children’s lives as part of British history. Each section introduces the latest academic research into the history of childhood and combines this with detailed case studies of heritage sites that have pioneered these approaches to children’s narratives. Members of National Trust staff have made contributions to the following chapters in this report: The Museum at the Children's Country House at Sudbury Listening to children's voices The Beatles' Childhood Homes The toolkit is part of an on-going collaborative project that draws on the work of the Centre for the History of Childhood at the University of Oxford, the UK’s only centre for this research since 2003. The project aims both to enrich heritage by incorporating the latest research into histories of childhood and to enhance academic research by drawing on collections and expertise within heritage organisations. The project is supported by the Oxford National Trust Partnership and funded by a Knowledge Exchange Innovation Fund Award awarded to Sià¢n Pooley by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) in 2022-23.

Contributor (person)

Newman, Charlotte

Lewis, Ruth

Parkinson, Edith

Taylor, Katie