Stories from the Past

I've always been interested in genealogy and during this process have stumbled upon quite a lot of information relating to my family's contribution to the First World War. This got me thinking about how many other untold family stories there must be, unsung heroes that have long been forgotten and deserve to be remembered now, in the WW1 centenary year.

 

I decided to ask my colleagues here at UWTSD libraries if they knew anything of their WW1 ancestry...and was amazed by the response! There were some incredible stories to be told and many people had photographs and memorabilia that they were keen to share (somebody even came forward with an original WW1 shrapnel shell - long since deactivated of course!). This soon gave me the idea to hold an exhibition of our collective First World War story, a chance for us to mark the centenary in our own unique way.

 

After many months of collecting all the photographs and information together, the exhibition is now up and running! It is currently on display at our Swansea Business Campus Library and will be touring all the other campus libraries over the next month, spending a week at each location.

 

We'd love you to come and take a look and maybe be inspired to research your own family's contribution to the Great War.

Library WWI exhibition

It’s World Poetry Day today, everybody shout, “Hurray!”

Ok, so it’s not up there with “I wandered lonely as a cloud…”, but it does rhyme! Yes, today is World Poetry Day, first established in 1999 by UNESCO to celebrate the linguistic diversity and creativity that poems can offer.

We’ve got tons in the way of poetry here at UWTSD Swansea. As well as all the poetry books on our shelves, we have online access to thousands of poems via our database Literature Online. Just click the link to access the database and see what you can find!

This year, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is marking World Poetry Day with an online memorial of First World War poems. They’d like members of the public to get involved by recording themselves reading a favourite Word War I poem and sending it in to add to the archive (details on the website ). You can check out other people’s recordings and choices with the hashtag #WWIpoetry on Twitter. If you’re looking for inspiration, take a look at the war poetry on the shelves at Townhill.

The Welsh Experience of the First World War

Image courtesy of Dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

2014 marks the 100^th anniversary of the start of World War One and to acknowledge this significant occasion a unique digital archive has been launched in Wales. ‘The Welsh Experience of the First World War’ was developed as a collaborative initiative, led by the National Library of Wales, in partnership with the Archives and Special Collections of Wales. Its aim was to digitize and provide access (free of charge) to a virtual collection of primary sources relating to the First World War and its impact on Welsh life, language and culture.

The resources include newspaper articles, archives and manuscripts, photographs, journals and sound recordings, many of which were previously inaccessible to the general public. Bringing all these materials together into one searchable online database provides an invaluable resource for teachers, students, researchers and family historians alike. 

The archive is available in both English and Welsh, so why not take a look at this fantastic resource which marks one of the most important periods in British history.