My first hello
A welcome from me
Well, this is officially my first newsletter that I am sending out, so thank you to you all for signing up and supporting me, and welcome! I am sure you’ve all had a read of the welcome email, but just in case, here is a little information about me to get you started…
Why this, why now
The favourite part of running my blog has always been chatting directly to my readers. To people who comment on my blog posts saying they’ve learnt something new, to all my regular commenters on Facebook who show their appreciation of my work and who check in from time-to-time, and cheer me on when I announce personal developments. Unfortunately, social media algorithms have been working against me for years, and despite having thousands of followers, only a few hundred people tend to see my posts, meaning I am missing out on a whole bunch of you! Fed up of billionaire tech corporations deciding who I can and can’t reach, I thought a newsletter was a perfect solution. Here is all my writing delivered straight to your inbox - all you have to do is click on it!
Community
This newsletter is a chance for me to really build on the Just History Posts community. I am able to ask questions and run polls and have you respond directly, so I can help to curate my contact more specifically to your interests. It can also be a way for you to connect with others interested in history!
History Time
So now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s get to some history! Each newsletter I send out will be formatted slightly differently depending on what’s going on at that particular time, but generally I hope to share new blog posts from my website, interesting pieces of history I’ve come across, and anything else that might interest you. On that note, let’s begin!
The Blog
In case you missed it, my most recent blog post was about the fantastic museum in London known as Sir John Soane’s. A historic house filled to the brim with artefacts of a Georgian/Victorian architect collected across his lifetime, it is certainly a unique place to visit. The building was intended by Soane to become a museum after his death, to share his life’s work, and it is wonderfully quirky. Have a read about John’s life, and why I love the museum!
Repatriation
I’ve spoken a few times on my blog posts about issues of repatriation indirectly. I often share historical objects that were stolen from countries during a time of colonial expansion which have calls to return to their home countries. A recent example was this beautiful 16th-century Mexican headdress. Earlier today, I read this article on BBC News about the ongoing repatriation of the Benin Bronzes and how Nigeria’s outgoing president has issued a declaration about the ownership of the bronzes. This announcement has ‘put a spanner in the works’ for current plans for repatriation and causes a lot of issues over ownership, public display, and how much all of this matters in the grand scheme of returning lost cultural items. If you’re up for a moral headscratch, check it out!
A giggle from Twitter..
And why not end my first newsletter with an amusing tweet I came across earlier. The link between archaeology and car parks feels well-worn, especially considering one of England’s medieval monarchs was discovered buried underneath one not so long ago. We are used to hearing news of car parks being dug up and fantastic history hiding beneath. But one archaeologist shared the time that they went digging in a field and came across an ancient buried… car park! Jake Wilson humorously shared how his manager wouldn’t believe him! Check it out here.
Thank you for your support and for reading my first newsletter. I will speak to you again in a few weeks!
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