On the 15th January our Empire, Faith & War project kicked off the first of its Archive Access Workshops at the Imperial War Museums in London. This was a chance for our crack(pot) band of Citizen Historians to learn more about how to research the story of Sikh sacrifice in the Great War.
That's a big pair
The day kicked off with our project historian, Parmjit Singh, giving a 'Baseline' History Workshop to bring the chaps up to speed on the types of resources he and his team of volunteer researchers had already uncovered in their trawls through various public and private archives from around the world.
Pay attention, I shall say this only once
Take notes or just listen? The students' eternal dilemma
After a quick lunch Sarah Paterson, the IWM's Head of Collections Access, gave an introduction to the different collecting departments at the museum, highlighting Sikh connections and explaining how these could be accessed by visitors.
High five for Sarah Paterson
Our team got to see all manner of fascinating resources including books, official records, artefacts and more.
I read it in a book
There were various clips of archive film footage on show too.
Want to see what they're seeing? Get yourself along to the IWM!
And the IWM have also got sound archives and some fascinating original recordings from the period.
We're gonna need some bigger headphones
Don't worry if you missed this session, there are three more to attend. Or failing that, you can sign up to be a Citizen Historian and we will contact you with guides and tips to help you do your research in your own time.
The most important thing to do if you want to be involved in this once-in-a-lifetime project is to sign up! Simply go to the Contact page at the project website, www.empirefaithwar.com.
Is the footie on?