On Sunday 3rd June 2018, the Festival of History brought to life the struggle for democracy and freedom in a family-friendly extravaganza. In the heart of Royal Holloway’s iconic Founder’s Building, visitors witnessed suffragette self-defence classes, participated in arts and crafts activities and observed First World War soldiers and Medieval knights in demonstrations and drills. In today’s blog post Abbie Evans, Citizens intern and recent history graduate, interviews Elena Rossi, Michaela Jones and Katie Carpenter to discuss and reflect on how they found working on the Festival of History.
Abbie: Welcome everyone! Let’s start by addressing who you are and what your role was on the day.
Elena: Hi! I’m also a recent history graduate from Royal Holloway and an intern for the Citizens Project. During the Festival of History, I was working on the information desk, welcoming guests as they entered.
Michaela: Hello! I’m a third year PhD student at Royal Holloway; my research is a collaboration between the History Department and the art collections and focuses on the artist Christiana Herringham. I’m also an intern for the Citizens project where I edit the blog articles which appear on the website. On the day, I was also working on the welcome desk, greeting visitors and answering their questions.
Katie: Hi! I am fourth-year PhD student and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of History at Royal Holloway. I’m also an intern with the Citizens Project, researching and writing about pioneering women. During the festival I was hosting talks in the Dining Hall.
Abbie: Lovely. Katie, in three words how would you describe the Festival of History?
Katie: Jam-packed, dynamic and lively!
Abbie: That certainly is true. Elena and Michaela, if you were to be transported to one of the eras presented in the festival, which era would it be and why?
Elena: I would like to be transported to the medieval period because I would love to witness the sealing (not signing!) of Magna Carta. However, the prospect of plague does slightly scare me…
Michaela: For me it would definitely be the Edwardian period so I could get involved with the fight for women’s suffrage. It would also be very exciting to have the opportunity to meet the subject of my research, Christiana Herringham, who was an active member of several suffrage societies.
Abbie: Katie, since you helped to host the talks, can you reflect on how successful they were?
Katie: Peter Barrett’s talk on his great-grandmother, suffragette Alice Hawkins, was hugely popular – he had to stop in the middle as more people had to cram in! It must be very cool to have a suffragette as an ancestor and I was quite jealous…
Abbie: Indeed! And how diverse did you find the talks?
Katie: Overall, I felt we had a great balance of talks, from the intimate, family history of Peter Barrett, to the cutting edge research of Dr Fern Riddell and Dr Naomi Paxton, and the wonderful videos from Digital Drama and Professor Anna Birch.
Abbie: Elena, how satisfied were you with the event on the whole?
Elena: I was very satisfied with the event! Everything ran so smoothly and you could tell all the guests were having a fantastic time. I think the highlight of the day was the March of Time that both opened and closed the festival, as it combined the various eras and everyone enjoyed following the march onto the field and the firing of muskets and rifles. The location of Royal Holloway is also very appropriate for a history festival, as one of the first universities making history as an exclusively women’s college, as well as it being only down the road from Runneymede, where Magna Carta was sealed.
Abbie: And Michaela, what did you enjoy most?
Michaela: It was great getting to talk to so many different people who were excited about history – and especially women’s history! I also greatly enjoyed the suffrage twist on the fayre games, with the Smash-the-Patriarchy tin alley a particular personal favourite!
Abbie: Katie, you also participated in the Festival of History last year and dressed as a suffragette as far as I remember?! Would you say it improved from last year?
Katie: Oh yes! Like Michaela has just mentioned, there were some really fun additions this year like the fayre games. I’m pretty sure there was a queue for Emmallard Pondhurst’s Hook-a-Duck all day! And of course, The Coconut Shy of Democracy and Smash-the-Patriarchy tin-can alley were well-received. The public also seemed to respond really well to the replica First World War bi-plane – when we were cleaning up nearly an hour after the Festival closed, people were still queueing to get in it!
Michaela: I’d also like to add that in addition to the fayre games there was a wider range of activities for children to take part in. For instance, in the Picture Gallery, children could have a go at making their own suffrage rosettes with Egham Museum, or fans inspired by one of the paintings. We also had great performances from Anna Conomos, who told the story of early student and suffragette, Rose Lamartine Yates. Her performances were really engaging and the children (as well as their parents!) were all excited to take part.
Abbie: It seems everyone, of every age, had a wonderful day. Elena, what other responses did you get from the public?
Elena: The public were so enthusiastic both entering and leaving the event – so obviously, our marketing of the festival and the event itself were both a success! When guests were leaving they always said thank you and added a positive comment about the event. I think it is rare you get opportunities to attend events such as this for free, where you get historically themed arts and crafts, alongside re-enactments, together with academic talks. It offers something for everyone, and it was clear that members of the public, regardless of their age, thoroughly enjoyed the festival.
Abbie: And so that our readers don’t just have to take our word for it, here are a couple of quotes from the public’s feedback which confirm our opinions:
“Brilliant! The shows were great, the talks were fab – all excellent!”
“Very enjoyable” and “very well organised”
“It’s really nice that you do this and keep history alive”
Please take a look at our short YouTube video to relive the magical day. We look forward to seeing you at the Festival of History 2019!
