Mass blogging day to promote history campaign

by Jennifer Whitehead Brand Republic 10-Oct-06, 13:00

LONDON - People are being invited to take part in a mass blogging day in support of the History Matters campaign, promoting history and heritage.

October 17 has been chosen as an "ordinary weekday of no significance" for the mass blogging event.

Organisers want as many people as possible to participate and hope that tens of thousands of UK residents will record their day in online diaries. These will be stored by the British Library and other bodies as a record of national life.

The group is asking people to keep an online diary that day and then upload it to the History Matters website on the day or during the following week. Every school in the country will be invited to participate in the event.

The blogging day has been inspired by Mass Observation, the social history record that has been going since 1937.

History Matters exists to make people more aware of the importance of history in everyday life and to encourage involvement in heritage. It aims to build public support and interest in looking after the country's history and heritage.

It is backed by celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Gryff Rhys Jones, who hosts the 'Restoration' series for the BBC.

Another supporter is the historian David Starkey. He said: "History is what makes us human: it is collective memory and the country that has lost its sense of history has ceased to be itself."

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