Our monthly roundup of oral history happenings from the East Midlands Oral History Archive

As we continue our way into 2020, our old style newsletter is being retired and we will instead be using our blog for monthly updates. EMOHA has been sending out updates since the early 2000s, highlighting a huge number of projects, schemes, training sessions, and talks related to oral history. Many thanks to all of you have responded to these bulletins over the years. We hope you continue to follow us for news updates on our social media channels.

• Keep an eye on our website: https://www.le.ac.uk/emoha/
• Follow our blog: https://eastmidsoha.home.blog
• Follow us on Twitter: @eastmidsoha
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EMOHA secures Heritage Lottery Funding for menopause Project

The big news at EMOHA is that we have successfully obtained grant funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a new project! ‘The Silent Archive: Oral Histories of Menopause’ will be working with women in communities across the East Midlands to capture and record experiences and perceptions of this important life stage which is often silent in the oral history archives. You can read more about this in our Silent Archive blog post. Contact us for more information if you are interested in participating or knowing more about the project.

Menopause is a natural part of every woman’s life and yet historically regarded as a taboo subject. In the early 20th century, women reached menopause at around 57 years of age with an average life expectancy of 59. In the early 21st century, women can expect to reach menopause at around 51 years of age, to work until their late 60s and live until their 80s. Alongside physical symptoms, menopause can impact women’s mental health leading to feelings of anxiety and isolation.

There is, however, limited oral testimony in the archives documenting women’s lives during menopause. This project will address this ‘silence’ by establishing an oral history collection around this life stage. Participants will explore women’s stories as heritage. They will receive training in oral history interviewing from EMOHA to help us record people’s accounts and also become interviewees, contributing their own stories to the archives. The resulting collection will offer an accessible resource for researchers to consider menopause within a wider historical context. It will form the basis for future collecting projects around other ‘silent’ areas in the archives. EMOHA will also develop a student volunteer archiving programme towards the end of the project.

If you are interested in getting involved or would like to find out more information please get in touch: h.l.foster@leicester.ac.uk.

Textile Tales

Over recent months, EMOHA has been providing oral history training and support to a project focusing on memories of the regions textile industry. Textile Tales is a project looking at the decline of the textile industries across the East Midlands in the latter half of the 20th century. In the 1980s, Marks and Spencer sourced 90% of its supplies from British Companies, by 2000 this had reduced to 40%.  As a result, companies disappeared along with the clubs and social groups that existed within and alongside these workplaces. With funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project is working with a range of partners including Erewash Museum, Mansfield Museum, Ruddington Framework Knitters Museum and John Smedley’s Mill in Derbyshire. It is capturing stories through oral history from people who worked in textiles, in whatever role they played, shining a light on experiences, characteristic sights, sounds, humour and anecdotes. These stories will be saved through oral history and shared with generations to come. Further details https://www.textiletales.co.uk/.Email textiletales@ntu.ac.uk. Follow on twitter @TalesTextile.

The Millfield Link

The Millfield Link is collecting oral histories to celebrate a much loved mural on the Link Road in the Millfield area of Peterborough. The project hopes to uncover stories of Millfield’s residents past and present as well as restore the mural. The project will culminate in April 2020 with a community created exhibition. For more information email josie.stone@vivacity.org / kety.hawkins@vivacity.org. Website https://www.peterboroughpresents.org/millfield-link.

Poshak Puralekh l The Centre for Indian Classical Dance

Oral history gathering is also a key element of a project being run by the Centre for Indian Classical Dance in Leicester, celebrating the rich history of Indian dance and costume. The Centre was established in Leicester in 1981 with a view to promoting knowledge, understanding and appreciation for Indian dance and culture and has trained hundreds of students in dance over the years. The Centre holds an archive of about 300 costumes, most of them handmade from intricate Indian silk. Further details http://www.cicd.org.uk/ | follow on twitter @cicduk.

Get in touch

If you have any oral history news or events you’d like to us to promote through our updates, please get in touch. Email EMOHA@leicester.ac.uk.