Category: Articles

  • Intervention and Reflection – Black Atlantic at the Fitzwilliam Museum 

    Intervention and Reflection – Black Atlantic at the Fitzwilliam Museum 

    by Tomas Brown In 1816, Richard Fitzwilliam bequeaths £100,000, his library, and art collection to the University of Cambridge, accumulated through the wealth of his slave trading grandfather. This money supports the Fitzwilliam Museum to this day.[1] Later in the nineteenth century, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is constructed around categories such as ‘social…

  • November 2023 Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon: here we go again!

    November 2023 Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon: here we go again!

    By Zara Kesterton On 22 November, Doing History in Public hosted our second Wikipedia edit-a-thon in collaboration with Wikimedia UK, Cambridge University Library, and Cambridge Digital Humanities. After the great success of our first edit-a-thon in May, we were excited to build on the skills we’ve learned and introduce new students and staff to Wikipedia editing.…

  • 1. Count Down Through Time: The Advent Calendar as a Primary Text for Public History

    1. Count Down Through Time: The Advent Calendar as a Primary Text for Public History

    By Daniel Gilman, @DanielGilmanHQ Ever wondered about the Advent calendars history, from its origin as a religious countdown to Christmas, to its present-day iteration, featuring little surprises behind little cardboard doors? You’re not alone. Here is what I’ve found as I traced the history of Advent calendars for Doing History in Public. Public history enables…

  • 3. Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi: A Site of Transregional Cultural Flows 

    3. Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi: A Site of Transregional Cultural Flows 

    By Loong Dien Min, @dmloong Cover image: Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi, or Khoo Kongsi Clan House in Georgetown, Penang. Elwiz Low. 2013. https://www.flickr.com/photos/55317041@N02/7854424908/  In 1851, while the first documented wooden Advent calendar was being crafted in Germany [1], the island of Penang, situated 5260 nautical miles away, witnessed the inception of the Leong San…

  • 4. The History of Pantomime

    4. The History of Pantomime

    By Zara Kesterton (@ZaraKesterton) In 1728, the English dancer and writer John Weaver published The History of the Mimes and Pantomimes. Weaver has been widely credited with introducing the pantomime to England – although his pantomime of the eighteenth century is not what we would recognise today. Audiences at a modern British pantomime expect a…