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Archives offer a peek into the past
 EVER wondered when your ancestors came to Britain or what the Irish community was like in your area during the 1900s?
Well now is your chance to find out.
The Archive Awareness Campaign (AAC) is offering a season of events across Britain and Ireland encouraging people to investigate a little bit more about their history and heritage.
Libraries and archive centres up and down the country will be opening their doors to the public for a multitude of exhibitions and events.
The AAC wants to move away from the image of archives being dry and dusty and promote a vision of them containing life and colour.
Over 2,000 archives in Britain and Ireland hold a vast array of material from moving film and images, documents and artefacts — all of which tell us something about our own history, how we have lived, learned, worked and played.
The ACC is working in conjunction with the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are — a series that helps people trace their family tree and family history.
The campaign wants to encourage people from all cultures and backgrounds to discover more about their shared and individual history and heritage.
Exhibitions like the Maritime Records for Family Historians at the Maritime Archives and Library in Liverpool could help a
member of the Irish community trace their family’s route from Ireland to Britain.
Or you could take a behind the scenes tour of the National Archives in London for a chance to see the dark vaults where they keep the nation’s secrets or learn how to use the archive to trace the family history.
The list of events is vast with many running until December.
The National Council on Archives Policy and Development Officer Katie Norgrove said: “The number of people using archives has increased significantly over the last 10 years and as our fascination with all areas of history continues to grow so will the popularity of archives.
“People enjoy using archive material because it is raw and unchanged and speaks directly to them.
“Archive Awareness Campaign is a brilliant opportunity for people to experience that feeling of discovery that comes from looking at an original document, film or artefact for the first time.”
To find an Archive Awareness Campaign in your area visit www.archiveawareness.com
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