The Department of Sound Records at the Imperial War Museum, London, in the 1970s
Collaborative Doctoral Award student, Rebecca Coll, writes about the IWM's historic commitment to progressive methods of research and collecting.
Imperial War Museums Blog
Queuing for Popular Exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum
When IWM London’s First World War Galleries re-opened on 19th July 2014, the queues extended past the big naval guns and out of the gates to the north of the building. On the first day, over 8,000 people came to visit the museum and 60,134 people had come to visit within the first week. Timed entry was also allocated to visitors to prevent overcrowding within the new exhibition. Photographs from 40 years ago show almost identical queues. However, these were for the Radio Times Colditz Escape Exhibition.
Discovering the Experiences of Indian Soldiers in the First World War using the Indian Soldiers' Fund reports
IWM's Parveen Sodhi investigates the reports of the Indian Soldiers' Fund to find a new point of access for the history of Indian troops during the First World War.
Recent News from the Research Team
A triumphant flinging of mortar boards as the 2014 graduates of the University of East Anglia’s School of World Art Studies and Museology received their degrees recently. Among them was IWM Research Manager Emily Peirson-Webber, who graduated with a Master of Arts with Distinction in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies. Emily’s dissertation focused on the uses of Great War memory in the construction of modern British identity. Congratulations Emily!
Guest Post: Black Poppies – Britain’s Black Community and the Great War
To mark the publication of his new book, 'Black Poppies', Stephen Bourne reflects on researching Britain's black community and the First World War.
The Challenges of Remembering: Researching Empire and War
To mark the publication of IWM's guide to Researching the British Empire in the First World War, Anna Maguire reflects on the challenges of remembering war and empire.
IWM First World War Exhibitions – Then and Now
‘The description ‘permanent exhibitions’ is perhaps misleading for our main displays, since it is not the exhibitions which we regard as permanent but rather their themes and content’
Uncovering Budapest's Hospital in the Rock
Research Manager at IWM London, Emily Peirson-Webber, describes the history of Budapest's Hospital in the Rock after a recent trip to the Hugarian capital.
Guest Post: Tracing the Leningrad Siege
Visiting researcher, Dr Yvonne Pörzgen, writes about uncovering stories of the Siege of Leningrad in IWM's collections.
Play Up! Play Up! And Play The Game! Football and the First World War
During this World Cup year, it is worth reflecting on the role of football and sport in general during the First World War. Local football teams volunteered as pals’ battalions, most famously the 17th Service Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, also known as the Football Battalion. Walter Tull was both the first black professional footballer and the first black officer in the British Army.