HA project to mark our patron the Queen's Platinum Jubilee

Would you nominate the laptop computer or the mobile phone? Is it an image of the Maze Prison or of a map of Berlin that you would include on your list as objects that tell the story of the last 70 years?

The Historical Association is putting togethera collection of 70 ‘things’ that tell the story of the last 70 years: how the UK and the world have changed; how they have developed; how they have remained the same; the people who have left an impact; and the things that have led to changes or continuity. Each of the things is to be represented in one image.

It might be a portrait of someone who is doing or has done something, and that someone is the important ‘thing’ and their action had a significant impact during the last 70 years; a personal item that represents an event or idea; a specific piece of technology, rather than just a generic product; a place on a map; or just a ‘thing’.

In the spring of 2022 we invited members of the HA, school groups, historians and interested members of the public to send us their entries for what should be included in the ‘70 years – 70 things that tell our story’ project.

Thank you so much to everybody who took part. The suggestions are currently being sifted and collated and the final 70 items will be selected by a panel of historians and educators, chaired by respected historian and author Professor Anna Whitelock. The 70 things will be announced in the autumn of 2022.

You can find out more about some of the entries we received and the selection process so far in this update from The Historian 154.