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Survivor History

The theme of the Survivors History Group at the moment is museums,
collections, memorials.

With support from the survivor historians and others, the Marchmont
Association has approved a plaque to the poet and survivor activist,
Charlotte Mew. See http://studymore.org.uk/bio.htm#CharlotteMew -
This is a major victory, but they now need to raise £1,200 to cover
the cost of manufacturing and installing the plaque:
https://marchmontnews.wordpress.com/2016/05/28/mew-appeal-launched/

On Wednesday 27.7.2016 the London meeting of the Survivors History
Group will discuss what a survivor history museum might contain?. The
discussion will begin with an outline of survivor history by Peter
Campbell and then Peter and Andrew will make suggestions about the
possible content of a museum. Should a museum be focused on objects
like ECT machines, asylum notices, bath fittings, and picture
postcards of asylums, or should it be focused on the work of
survivors - art - poetry - politics - expression of experience -
individual and collective action? Or can environmental objects be
combined with survivors' views?

These issues were raised by Sarah Chaney and Peter Campbell in a
workshop exploring the implications of the terms `survivor´ and
`service user´ for today's real life survivors and users and others.
How can survivor history penetrate our culture and be meaningful to
the lives of new generations? What role do or can museums and
collections play in this debate?

This workshop took place at the "radical histories and histories of
radicalism" conference organised by the History Workshop Journal and
others in London a month ago. The conference helped to put survivor
history and culture in context with other movements and raised many
questions about how we pass our heritage on.

The Survivor History Group will continue the discussion and your
contribution, by email or at meetings, will be very welcome.

London meetings of the Survivor History Group are held at Together,
12 Old Street, London, EC1V 9BE on he last Wednesday of every other
month. We meet between 1pm and 4.30pm and refreshments are provided.

The next three meetings are

Wednesday 27.7.2016 What would a survivor history museum contain?

Wednesday 28.9.2016 Talking to Helen Spandler and Anne Plumb about
their work on Madness, Distress and the Politics of Disablement.

Wednesday 30.11.2016 Subject not fixed yet but two books are on our
agenda for discussing sometime:

Peter Beresford's All Our Welfare - Towards participatory social
policy - about the welfare state - and

Searching for a Rose Garden - a collection of articles edited by
Jasna Russo and Angela Sweeney that consider the survivor "rose
gardens" we might look for. Rose gardens here means ways of helping
us survive in the most human way we can imagine.

Both books challenge us to put our survivor thinking caps on and
consider history as the gateway to our future.

Best wishes, Andrew

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