History Day intern, Katherine Chapman, takes a closer look at why History Day is so special and what to look forward to at this year’s event.

Participants at the History Day fair

In a matter of weeks, on 5 November, Senate House, University of London, will be opening its doors to students, researchers, and history enthusiasts to experience History Day 2024. This year History Day is also celebrating its 10th anniversary. But what is History Day? History Day is a free event, held both in person and online, that brings together libraries, museums, galleries, archives, and other collections from around the UK. It highlights the amazing collections available to researchers and the incredible, but often overlooked, role of collections professionals. History Day showcases the variety of collections in the UK and encourages historians to make connections with organisations which could significantly help with their research. 

This year, I’ve been working with the Institute of Historical Research and Senate House Library as a History Day intern to help organisers Kate Wilcox and Argula Rublack bring the event to life. As a part of my internship I’ve helped get organisations involved, planned our promotional outreach and social media marketing and helped develop plans for the day, including some new activities to celebrate the 10th anniversary. More than that, my internship has provided me with an opportunity to peek behind the curtain of History Day and recognise its significance to both collections professionals and academic and independent researchers.  

Universiry of Cambridge Museums History Day stand with 'Rummage Box'

For the 10th anniversary, we’ve strived to make it the best event yet! With our combination of online and in-person content for participants to engage with on the day, over 90 participating organisations, and new activities, this year is not one to miss. Part of my role has been working with Kate and Argula to develop activities that encourage people to explore and celebrate the variety of what these collections have to offer. One exciting element is the scavenger hunt that will run throughout the day, with prizes! For me, the great joy of creating these activities has been engaging with the participating organisations and learning more about their wonderful collections. Organisations have shared examples of the most curious, amusing, or inspiring stories from their collections (such as a 100yearold bread roll or the story of two plane crashes (with no casualties) at Kew Gardens).  

Reading through everyone’s entries has particularly reminded me why this event is so important, something that is reflected in our slogan for this year: ‘What will you discover? For both researchers and organisations, History Day really gets to the heart of collections and research subjects. As a participant from previous years commented, ‘Some of the time, it can be about meeting or connecting with that one researcher for whom this collection is absolutely perfect. Some of the time, it’s about connecting with someone who is two, or three, or four removed from that person for whom these collections are absolutely perfect.’ You might not expect research bodies like Senate House Library to have a kit for hunting poltergeists, or the Churchill Archives Centre to hold Margaret Thatcher’s handbag, or The Postal Museum archives to house ‘human letters’ in their collectionbut they do! History Day encourages conversations which show the depth and variety of these collections, which may be the missing piece that brings your research together or opens up a new line of enquiry. 

Working with Kate and Argula has been especially eye-opening about the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes for an event like this. For months we’ve been working to bring together organisations, advertise the event, and prepare logistics. What continues to motivate me, aside from their ongoing, excellent support, is seeing, through responses from previous years and engagement with our social media posts, how much people are looking forward to the event and the impact that it’s had on their research. 

But don’t just take my word for it … come and see for yourself! History Day is taking place this year on 5 November and is free to attend. Do be sure to sign up using the link below. We can’t wait to see everyone joining us in person and online this November and look forward to asking the question ‘What will you discover?’