April-July – Living Memory Days
Over 250 former employees, those with an association or interest in AI Welders, McDermotts of Ardersier or nursing in the Highlands, attended three ‘living memory’ days held at the Highland Archive Centre. It was wonderful to see former colleagues, who hadn’t seen each other in many years, meet up and reminisce, with the archives on display helping to prompt memories and uncover fascinating stories of work and play.
November – Commemorating the 1715 Jacobite Uprising
On the 14th of November we had a wonderful day of talks commemorating the 1715 Jacobite Uprising accompanied by an exhibition of original archives highlighting the impact of the Uprising on Inverness and surrounding areas. An audience of 60 listened intently to two humorous, knowledgeable and fascinating talks on the ’15 and its effect on the local area. Again, the highlight of the day was the display of original archives relating to the Uprising as well as display panels which had been researched and produced by members of the Archive staff.
A comment from one attendee was, “Highland History told by both speakers with a verve backed by familiar and easy knowledge of their subject with fascinating exhibition”. A great day all round!
June and October-Landscapes and Lifescapes Project
Over two days in June we hosted a symposium, as part of an interdisciplinary and collaborative project, looking at the connections between the Highlands and slavery in the Caribbean during the 18th and 19th centuries and the lasting legacy on the Highland landscape. The event was a major success with the public lecture by Dr Nicholas Draper, University College London, being attended by over 100 people, while the academic conference was attended by 45 people, involved a wide range of speakers and featured an extensive display of documents from the Highland Archive Service’s collections. A second public event was held on Saturday 17th October, which included presentations from some of the symposium speakers. Over 55 people attended with the exhibition of original documents from the Archive Service’s collections proving the highlight.
Fiona MacLeod, Senior Archivist
