Sarah Admans and Lara Short are the current Graduate Trainee Librarians at the Institute of Historical Research. In this blog they highlight the wide variety of online contributions which are a valuable addition to our History Day 2024 event.
Sign up here to attend the fair in-person on 5 November.

Image shared by Catherine Clarke, the Director of the Centre for the History of People, Place and Community with first home computer, a BBC Micro (c. 1984), for History Day 2022
We started our roles at the Institute of Historical Research just two months ago, but already we have been involved in a variety of important and engaging projects within the university. History Day is a wonderful event which allows history enthusiasts to connect with a variety of national (and even some international) collections. Creating a place for these discussions to take place has led to many fascinating discoveries. However, History Day is not an exclusively in-person event – we also have many online contributions which shouldn’t be overlooked.
In this blog we wanted to highlight some of these submissions. Whether you can come in-person on the day or not, there is something for everyone.
Borthwick Institute for Archives

The Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York Archive is an online collection which tells the story of a medieval guild and its place in York’s history, covering the 650-year social, economic, religious and architectural development of the Company. It features documents and artifacts which illustrate their role in shaping local and global trade. The project aims to engage the public with this historical narrative and enhance understanding of the social, economic, religious, and architectural effects of trade.
Borthwick Institute for Archives

The Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York Archive is an online collection which tells the story of a medieval guild and its place in York’s history, covering the 650-year social, economic, religious and architectural development of the Company. It features documents and artifacts which illustrate their role in shaping local and global trade. The project aims to engage the public with this historical narrative and enhance understanding of the social, economic, religious, and architectural effects of trade.
De Montfort University’s online exhibition ‘Shoe-perpower: 90 Years of Footwear Design at De Montfort University’ features sketches, records and notable contributions relating to the university’s 90-year legacy in footwear design. From exploring the city’s booming shoe industry which led to the creation of the Boot and Shoe Trade Course in the 19th century, to the post-war development of the course which was renamed as Footwear Design, this exhibition is a fun and unique way to follow the history of shoemaking in Leicester.
De Montfort University Special Collections

De Montfort University Special Collections

De Montfort University’s online exhibition ‘Shoe-perpower: 90 Years of Footwear Design at De Montfort University’ features sketches, records and notable contributions relating to the university’s 90-year legacy in footwear design. From exploring the city’s booming shoe industry which led to the creation of the Boot and Shoe Trade Course in the 19th century, to the post-war development of the course which was renamed as Footwear Design, this exhibition is a fun and unique way to follow the history of shoemaking in Leicester.
Teesside Archives

One element of Teesside Archives’ contribution which particularly sparked joy amongst the IHR team is their blog post, ‘Marvellous Maureen.’ This celebrates the life of Maureen, a dedicated environmental campaigner who was active on Teesside but left little behind in their archive. It was after a conversation with representatives of Borthwick Institute for Archives that they discovered her story and have since been able to piece bits of it together. This kind of interaction and partnership is what History Day is all about!
Teesside Archives

One element of Teesside Archives’ contribution which particularly sparked joy amongst the IHR team is their blog post, ‘Marvellous Maureen.’ This celebrates the life of Maureen, a dedicated environmental campaigner who was active on Teesside but left little behind in their archive. It was after a conversation with representatives of Borthwick Institute for Archives that they discovered her story and have since been able to piece bits of it together. This kind of interaction and partnership is what History Day is all about!
Tyne & Wear Archives have shared a video titled ‘Unlocking North East Jewish Heritage’, which highlights the importance of keeping and retrieving as many documents related to the history of the Jewish community as possible and explains the role that the archive plays in this. They are digitising as much of their material as possible and recording oral histories with the aim of providing easy online access for anyone interested in the history of the local community.
Tyne & Wear Archives

Tyne & Wear Archives

Tyne & Wear Archives have shared a video titled ‘Unlocking North East Jewish Heritage’, which highlights the importance of keeping and retrieving as many documents related to the history of the Jewish community as possible and explains the role that the archive plays in this. They are digitising as much of their material as possible and recording oral histories with the aim of providing easy online access for anyone interested in the history of the local community.
Further Online Contributions
In this blog, we’ve only highlighted a small snapshot of online contributions. This year, we have received over 30 online submissions. Make sure to check out our Discover Collections page to see the full list of organisations participating in History Day 2024.
More online contributions to explore:
- Archives Hub
- Archives of IT
- Barts Health NHS Trust Archives
- British Records Association
- Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge
- The Digital Archive of the International Bomber Command Centre
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore
- The Gardens Trust
- Guardian News & Media Archive
- Imperial War Museums
- Institute of Classical Studies
- The Ismaili Special Collections Unit, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
- King’s College London Libraries and Collections
- The King’s Fund Library Service
- Linnean Society of London
- London Metropolitan University Special Collections
- LSE Library
- National Paralympic Heritage Trust
- North East Wales Archives
- Oxford Brookes University – History Collections
- Oxfordshire Record Society
- The Postal Museum (includes The Royal Mail Archive)
- Their Finest Hour
- RIBA Collections
- Royal Astronomical Society
- Royal College of Surgeons of England
- The Royal Institution of Great Britain
- Senate House Library
- SOAS Library
- Society of Antiquaries of London
- University of Bedfordshire and Flitwick Library
- University of Reading Special Collections, The Location Register and WATCH
- UoL Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
- Warburg Institute