Americas Collections Blog

As a historian I get very excited about old letters, diaries, account books and inventories – but once in a while there are other ‘records’ that trump almost everything else. I had one of those moments this week when I returned to George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Over the past six years I have been many times to Washington’s estate in Virginia (just south of Washington DC) – first to research my book Founding Gardeners and then to give talks about the book. By now I go there to see the changes in the gardens (of which there are many, such as the fabulous restoration of the Upper Garden) and to meet my friend Dean Norton who is the Director of Horticulture there. Dean always makes a huge effort to entertain me – for example, by taking me out on the Potomac in a boat or letting me drive around the estate with a gator [A John Deere utility vehicle, not a reptile - ed.]. Last Wednesday’s visit, however, was one of the most memorable. It took four days to take the giant down – with a crane.

British Records on the Atlantic World, 1700-1900 from Microform Academic Publishers Indian Office Materials The main focus of the catalogues is on the countries of South Asia, although there are also considerable holdings relevant to other parts of Asia and the Middle East. You can: • search the Prints & drawings or Photographs collections separately. • search for visual material in any medium by selecting All images. • read about the scope and history of the two collections. For details of how to use the system, see our search tips. The catalogues for the India Office Private Papers that were searchable on this site are now available on the Search our Catalogues: Archive and Manuscripts service. These catalogues are currently being updated. Please note that these catalogues contain no images at present.

Endangered Archives Programme Sound Recordings Blog Cheryl Tipp, Natural Sounds Curator writes: Over the past 5 weeks, listeners of BBC Radio 4 have been treated to a series dedicated entirely to sound and its many roles in human culture over the past 100,000 years. Noise: a Human History, written and presented by Professor David Hendy and made in collaboration with the British Library's Sound Archive, has explored a multitude of subjects, from the power of great orators to the significance of resonant spaces. Episode 25, Capturing Sound, looks at new technologies that emerged during the latter half of the 19th Century, making it possible to record and thereby transform sound from something previously transient and elusive. The British Library has an extensive collection of both early recordings and the equipment used to record and playback these sounds. Edison Home Phonograph (1900) Don Bradman, Australian cricketer - How it's Done Amy Johnson, pioneer aviator - The Story of my Flight Franklin D.

Sport and Society Blog Simone Bacchini writes: It sometimes feels like the case for sport as a vehicle for social change is a bit overstated. Yet, the announcement that London has bid to host the 2018 Gay Games ( might be, well, a game changer. The Gay Games was started in San Francisco, in 1982. Originally, it was called “Gay Olympics” but a lawsuit filed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meant that the name had to be changed. Sporting events for minority groups, some of them facing varying degrees of discrimination have a double function. Sport is one of the favourite arenas in which socially approved norms of gender behaviour are displayed, learned, and reinforced. Obviously, for many LGBT people sport has never been an issue: they simply aren’t interested. The Paralympics has been an important tool in changing views of and attitudes towards disability. References Journal of Homosexuality. London Reference Collection: SPIS Journals Display (open access) Anderson, E. (2009).