Digital Collection Day – wartime memorabilia and stories wanted
University of Edinburgh is looking for people to bring their stories and objects relating to the Second World War to their Digital Collection Day at Rainy Hall, New College on Saturday 25 November from 10am-4pm.
Do you have any Second World War related stories and objects passed down to you from your parents, grandparents and other family members? Would you like to share and preserve these objects and stories for future generations?
The event is part of a nationwide campaign organised by Their Finest Hour, a team based at the University of Oxford that is collecting and preserving the everyday stories and objects of the Second World War.
At the Digital Collection Day, stories about your family’s wartime experience – and associated objects such as diaries, letters, medals, journals and ration books – will be recorded, digitised, and then uploaded to the Their Finest Hour online archive, which will be free-to-use and launch in June 2024.
Organisers are looking for ANY war-related stories and objects, from the extraordinary to the seemingly ‘ordinary’.
Dr Stuart Lee, project leader at the University of Oxford, said “we’re delighted to be able to create an archive of memories of the Second World War. We know from previous projects that people have so many wonderful objects, photos, and anecdotes which have been passed down from family members which are at risk of getting lost or being forgotten. Our aim is to empower local communities to digitally preserve these stories and objects before they are lost to posterity.”
Dr Melissa Highton, Assistant Principal at the University of Edinburgh, said “I am delighted that the University of Edinburgh is hosting this community project to collect and preserve precious memories. I hope we will be able to find some of the stories, which might usually go untold, of the wide and diverse impact of the Second World War and ensure that the experience of Scots, and the people of Edinburgh, is archived and made available online.”
Please note that photographs of objects will be taken for an online archive and any objects brought to us will be returned on the day. You are asked not to bring any loaded weapons or potentially dangerous objects to the Digital Collection Day.