The Historical Association Honorary Fellows 2021

The HA has a number of Fellowships and Fellows. Some are for teaching achievements, some are from participation on a course or similar, others are for lengthy membership such as our Jubilee Fellows – and then we have our Honorary Fellows. These are awarded to people who have shown dedication to history teaching, to the study of history, to the support of other history professionals and to the HA and its remit.

A limited number of people are made Honorary Fellows each year following nominations from the HA Branches and committees, with final approval coming from the governing body of the HA. It is therefore a prestigious award amongst the history and teaching communities.

After the last year, being able to celebrate some of what is great about history and learning seems all the more pertinent.

This year we are delighted to announce that 16 Honorary Fellowships have been awarded. They are:

• Sally Burnham
• Elizabeth Carr
• Jim Carroll
• Ailsa Fidler
• Professor Margot Finn
• Ailsa Fidler
• Dr Toby Green
• Dr Jenni Hyde
• Darius Jackson
• Rich Kennett
• Paula Lobo
• Dr James Ross
• Paul Salmons
• Sally Thorne
• Dr Jason Todd
• Chris Trevor
• Maggie Wilson

All the recipients are delighted and below are a few words on their award or on why they are involved with the HA. We hope to be able to present the award to the Honorary Fellows in person this autumn. Over the summer we will reveal their history pen pals in the next edition of HA News. 

Sally Burnham
I always try to support the HA and History teachers in any way that I can but you never know whether what you do makes a difference – to be recognised by the HA in this way means so much.

Elizabeth Carr
It's a wonderful community of people who love History and who will inspire and challenge you and refresh your view of the subject, in and outside the classroom; and at a practical level, whatever you're trying to do, there's definitely a Teaching History article or a podcast or a webinar, or several, that will help! 

Jim Carroll
My involvement in the HA has allowed me to tap into a vast amount of institutional knowledge that has not only helped me immeasurably as a teacher but has fuelled my love of history.

Paula Lobo
I feel really honoured to receive this award. My husband often asks why I choose to spend my evenings reading, writing or editing ‘Teaching History’ articles, or participating in conferences. I tell him that History is my work and my passion. How lucky is that? 

Ailsa Fidler
Participation in the HA opens up a network of support for history education. It is an organisation which encourages dialogue about the subject from all history educators.

Professor Margot Finn FBA (former President of the Royal Historical Society)
I'm a huge fan of the HA's work with schools and teachers and am very honoured indeed to receive this award. We're all a part of (not apart from) history, but that's not the message we all receive. This makes supporting the history community all the more important.

Dr Toby Green
It is a great honour -- it really means a lot to me for African history and for work I have done too to be recognised in this way.

Dr Jenni Hyde
This award is important to me because it recognises my contribution to the wider field of history beyond the university system – and not just for myself but for others. I might work in a university, but the research we do is nothing if no-one knows about it. So if I've helped other academics to get history out beyond the ivory towers, helped put students in touch with the people who do the research, and given ordinary people the opportunity to understand the complexities of the past, then that makes me happy. It's always nice to get noticed for the work that goes on in the background!

Dr Darius Jackson
The HA provides a professional voice that defends history and history teaching as enquiry and understanding rather the memorising of discrete atomised convenient facts.

Rich Kennett
The history community has always been strong and I hope will continue to do so. This matters as solidarity means we can tackle issues that come up together, whether that is how to teach following a long lockdown or how to deal with more rigorous GCSEs. Together we are stronger.

Dr James Ross
I am very honoured to receive the award. It's an unexpected bonus for doing something I would have happily done anyway! Engaging with audiences all over the country and meeting like-minded historians and enthusiasts is a pleasure.

Paul Salmons
I am truly honoured to be awarded this Fellowship by the Historical Association. I have been so inspired by the excellent work of the HA over the years and have learned so much from colleagues across the history community, so it means a great deal to have been recognised by my peers as having made a contribution to the field, and I am deeply touched by this recognition of my work.

Sally Thorne
Even though it feels as though we are all better connected these days, I don't think we should sleep on the work that goes into building a community and I'd really love to think that I am putting back in something comparable to what I have taken out over the years. I've been empowered by the support of other history professionals and feel a sense of responsibility to pay that forward. 

Dr Jason Todd
Typically I am not an award type of person believing that our achievements are always the sum of a range of people and experiences. Nevertheless it is the Historical Association’s way of saying thank you, a gift. So I will draw on the Māori idea of gift a ‘taonga’. What is key here is the Hau, that I understand to be the energy inherent in the taonga/gift you have shared with me, and that this can and should be shared with others. Central to this is a system of mutual trust, obligation and solidarity, this is what it means to be to receive this award. 

Chris Trevor
I couldn't do my work without the support of the Historical Association – I rely on the website for the best advice on all that is history! No one can be an expert in everything in the past – it’s too vast!

Image: our 2018 Honorary Fellows.