By Amara Thornton

My post for this month on the Beyond Notability website explores the many ways in which we are approaching work, through the life of Welsh antiquarian Gwenllian Morgan. We've had some lively discussions about how we represent work, and I'm sure there are more to come! Read the post "Working with Gwenllian Morgan" here: beyondnotability.org/biographical/working-with-gwenllian-morgan/

By Amara Thornton

This month, the Beyond Notability project had its first (of three) International Women's Day events. It was a twitter takeover, and as part of it I was delighted to be able to arrange some new content - recordings of letters held in the archives of the Victoria County History (VCH). These letters were from two women who are now in our database: historian Eliza Jeffries Davis, and archaeologist Margerie Venables Taylor. Both women worked for the VCH as researchers and writers, contributing the fruits of their labours to the county histories which formed the core product of the VCH. More on the Beyond notability blog: ​beyondnotability.org/biographical/international-womens-day/

By Amara Thornton

This month's Beyond Notability post is a guided tour through the project database. We have been adding individuals, events, organisations, and more to the database over the past few months, and now have a useful set of data to help us think through how we catalogue and what we catalogue to represent women's work in archaeology, history and heritage. 

Read "Introducing Our Database" here. 

By Amara Thornton
​
This month's post for Beyond Notability is a guest post on the Institute of Classical Studies blog. The subject of the post, Gertrude Rachel Levy, was a librarian for the Hellenic and Roman Societies in the 1930s and 1940s, and the ICS now holds a small collection relating to her. The post, however, focuses (thanks to the archives at the Palestine Exploration Fund) on one aspect of her life - the time she spent in Mandate Palestine and Iraq in the 1920s and 1930s. Read on at "Gertrude Rachel Levy in Mandate Palestine".

By Amara Thornton

My post for this month is on the Beyond Notability blog. It explores the Congress of Archaeological Societies (CAS), founded in 1888 as an umbrella organisation for local and regional archaeological and historical societies in Britain. We've been examining the records the Congress produced for women's names and activities. Read "The Congress of Archaeological Societies" here.

By Amara Thornton

At the beginning of the month I started a new position as Co-Investigator on a 3-year AHRC funded project. Through Beyond Notability: Re-Evaluating Women's Work in Archaeology, History and Heritage in Britain 1870-1950, I'll be able to spend time focusing on women's lives and experiences across various heritage-related fields. It's something I've been doing since I started my PhD, but it hasn't been the sole focus of my research - until now!

I've written the first post on the project's newly established blog - you can read about our first project trip to the Society of Antiquaries of London archives here.

Stay tuned for updates!

By Amara Thornton

I came across the magazine Egypt and the Sudan while finishing up Archaeologists in Print. But it wasn't till after the book was published that I had the chance to look at a full run of the magazine, which is held at the Egypt Exploration Society.

You can find my post "A Magazine for the Season" on the Egypt Exploration Society's blog here.

By Amara Thornton

I'm delighted to have an article published in Issue 5 of Hellebore, a zine of essays and art on various gothic and folk-horror related topics, under a general theme. Issue 5's theme is "The Unearthing"; my article "The Stones of Initiation" explores how the history of archaeology in the Caribbean connects to the Caribbean folk-practice Obeah. 

By Amara Thornton

Back in 2016 a colleague tweeted a picture from the 1951 Festival of Britain. It showed an archaeological display in the Festival's Dome of Discovery. I was immediately intrigued, and even bought some vintage Festival ephemera with a plan to write a blog post about it.  

​My planned post never materialised, but luckily I have recently had the opportunity to write about archaeology at the Festival, as a response to Jacquetta Hawkes' book A Land (1951) as part of the Museum of English Rural Life's 51 Voices exhibition.

Read "Jaquetta Hawkes' Festival Lands" here.

By Amara Thornton

One (let's imagine sultry) evening in August 1943, the 6th, to be precise, over two hundred people, so the records say, turned up to the Institute of Archaeology in Regents Park. They were there to hear the opening address of a large-scale two-day conference, ambitiously titled "The Conference on the Future of Archaeology".
 
I've known about this conference for a good while now, ever since a friend of mine acquired a second-hand copy of the subsequent publication. This publication is a historian's dream, because whoever was taking notes at the conference (let's be honest it was probably one of the many women on staff there) did an outstanding job. So, the publication records not only the speakers at the conference, but also the chairs, the people who offered comments at the end of each session, and other people who later wrote in with their thoughts. 
 
Because this document gives such an amazing snapshot into the world of British archaeology (overseas and domestic) in the midst of war, I've taken it upon myself to give you the programme, arranged in such a manner (courtesy of the conference publication Table of Contents which puts the papers in the order given here) as to reflect a conference lineup, including chairs, speakers, discussants and correspondents.  The paper and session titles are as given in the Table of Contents.
 
Where possible, I have linked to Wikipedia entries for individuals (not all of them have Wikipedia entries). For some, I have found alternative online biographies. Others will have to remain link-less for the time being. Links have been provided once only - the first time a name appears in the text. Thanks to the power of Twitter, I've had help from various colleagues to ensure that nearly all of the women whose names are recorded in the publication have first and last names, making them (I hope) easier to trace in future. 
 
I have made a few changes to the names as listed in the conference publication. Frequently I have included first names (or at least the names individuals commonly used) – the programme tends only to include initials and last names for men, and titles and last names (or married names) for women. Where possible I have included maiden names (in parenthesis) for married women. I have also put affiliations as they are listed in the programme. These reflect the affiliations applicable to speakers and chairs at the time of the conference. 
 
Most of the sessions were followed by discussions. These were recorded after the end of the abridged conference papers in the publication – I have listed the names of the "Discussants" after each session where they are given. The publication also included extracts from letters from people who were unable to attend (due to war-related duties overseas, for example) so these "Correspondents" I have listed underneath discussants.
 
For more information on the conference, please see Gabriel Moshenska's article in Archaeology International.  
 
Opening Presentations
 
Charles Peers (University of London) - Opening Address 

Grahame Clark (Cambridge) -" The Contribution of Archaeology to the Post-War World" 
 
Session 1: "The Future of Discovery: Archaeology at Home"
Chair: AW Clapham (Society of Antiquaries)
 
Christopher Hawkes (British Museum) – "Prehistoric Archaeology"
Ian Richmond (Durham) –"Romano-British Archaeology"
TD Kendrick (British Museum) – "Mediaeval Archaeology"
 
Discussants: John Linton Myres, Dina (Portway) Dobson, Marjorie Venables Taylor, Mr Glendenning, EC Curwen, Mr Hockheimer, N. Bradfer Lawrence, Jacquetta (Hopkins) Hawkes, Mr Bromhead, Margaret Murray, WF Grimes, Kathleen Kenyon, Kenneth Oakley, H St George Gray, Cyril Fox
 
Correspondents: CH Desch, AHA Hogg
 
Session 2: "The Unity of Archaeology"
Chair: Gertrude Caton-Thompson (Prehistoric Society)
 
Gordon Childe (Edinburgh)
 
Session 3: "The Future of Archaeology: Archaeology Overseas"
Chair: John Winter Crowfoot (British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem)
 
John Linton Myres (Oxford/British School at Athens) – "Greek and Roman Archaeology"
Claude Schaeffer (French National Museum) – "Syrian, Palestinian and Turkish Archaeology"
Ernest Mackay (Independent Excavation Director) – "The Archaeology of Iraq, Baluchistan and India"
HAR Gibb (Oxford) – "Islamic Archaeology"
 
Discussants: Kathleen Kenyon, CFA Schaeffer, OGS Crawford, Olga Tufnell, Hilda Lorimer, Mr Bushnell, Leonard Woolley, Mr Shuttleworth, Norman Baynes, Gordon Childe, AW Lawrence, Dorothy (Simmons) Mackay
 
Correspondents: Guy Brunton, Hilda Lorimer, George Kirk
 
Session 4: "The Training of Archaeologists"
Chair: Gordon Childe (Edinburgh)
 
Kathleen Kenyon (University of London) – "Training for Field Work"
John D. Beazley (Oxford) – "University Training"
DB Harden (Ashmolean Museum) – "Training in Interpretation and Presentation"
Frederick Zeuner (University of London) – "Training in the Subsidiary Sciences"
 
Discussants: Margaret Murray, Margaret Whinney, ND Lacaille, Claude Schaeffer, Edith Stiassna [Stiassny], Sylvia Benton, Margot Eates, Alexander Keiller, Kathleen Kenyon, Aileen (Henderson) Fox
 
Correspondents: AHA Hogg
 
Session 5: "Records and Discovery – Local and National"
Chair: TD Kendrick (British Museum)
 
Cyril Fox (National Museum of Wales)
 
Discussants: H St George Gray, Agnes (Conway) Horsfield, WF Grimes, John Linton Myres, Christopher Hawkes, EC Curwen, Mr Swede, Mary (Kitson-Clark) Chitty, Cyril Fox
 
Session 6: "Planning and the Independence of Societies"
Chair: Frederick Kenyon (British Academy)
 
John Nowell Linton Myres (Oxford) – "The Need for Planning"
H St George Gray (Somerset County Museum) - "Societies Working at Home"
Alan Gardiner (Egypt Exploration Society) – "Societies Working Overseas"
 
Discussants: Grahame Clark, Margaret Whitley, Mr Turner, Phoebe Keef, Mr Faulkner, Joan du Plat Taylor, Margaret Murray, Mary (Kitson-Clark) Chitty, Claude Schaeffer, Miss M. E. Shaw, Jacquetta (Hopkins) Hawkes, Dorothy (Simmons) Mackay
 
Correspondents: CFA Schaeffer
 
Session 7: "Archaeology and the State at Home"
Chair: OGS Crawford (Ordnance Survey Department)
 
WF Grimes (Ordnance Survey Department)
 
Discussants: Claude Schaeffer, Elise (Goldschmidt) Baumgartel, Mr Dunning, Mr Glendenning, Dr Clark, Kathleen Kenyon, OGS Crawford, Peter Shinnie
 
Session 8: "Archaeology and the State Overseas"
Chair: John Linton Myres (Oxford/British School at Athens)
 
Leonard Woolley (Independent Excavations Director)
 
Discussants: JH Iliffe, AJ Arkell, Seton Lloyd, Kathleen Kenyon, Alan Gardiner, Mr Swede, Dr le May, Gertrude Caton-Thompson, CFA Schaeffer, Frederic Kenyon
 
Session 9: "Museums and the Public"
Chair: DA Allan (Liverpool Public Museums/Museums Association)
 
Christopher Hawkes (British Museum) – "National Museums"
FS Wallis (Bristol Museum and Art Gallery) – "Other Museums"
 
Discussants: Jacqueline Tyrwhitt, Norman Baynes, Fritz Saxl, WF Grimes, Mary (Kitson-Clark) Chitty
 
Correspondents: Stuart Piggott 
 
Session 10: "Archaeology and Education"
Chair: Janet Ruth Bacon (Royal Holloway)
 
Dina (Portway) Dobson (Independent Scholar) – "Elementary Schools"
Philip Corder (Verulamium Museum/Society of Antiquaries) – "Secondary and Public Schools"
Henry Theodore Wade Gery (Oxford) - "Universities – Oxford" 
DS Robertson (Cambridge) – "Universities – Cambridge"
WJ Varley (Liverpool) –  "Universities – Other"
Mary (Kitson-Clark) Chitty (Yorkshire Museum/Yorkshire Archaeological Society/Hull) – "Adult Education"
 
Correspondents: Beatrice de Cardi, Stuart Piggott
 
Summing Up
Chair: Harold Claughton (University of London)
 
Cyril Fox (National Museum of Wales)