HALS at Herts Pride
Gemma Hollman, Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies
In August 2022, Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies attended their first Hertfordshire Pride at Cassiobury Park.
This year marked the 10th Hertfordshire Pride, and HALS were very excited to be a part of it. We set up a stall in the Health and Wellbeing marquee which forms the entrance to the event, and prepared ourselves for hundreds of visitors.
We brought a display board which we filled with historic newspaper articles from the 1940s onwards, showing different reports in local Hertfordshire newspapers relating to LGBT+ people and issues. From men being arrested, to debates about same-sex relationships, to people proudly telling their own stories, the display was an interesting look at how attitudes have changed over time – and it pulled the crowds in! People were very keen to read these old stories and have a chat with us about their own experiences and histories.
We also had brought along a selection of books from our Local Studies Library on a variety of topics, including how to research LGBT+ history, the history of same-sex relationships over the past several hundred years, and biographies of LGBT+ Hertfordshire figures. There were also laminated print-outs on our table of some of the articles from Herts Memories that people could read.
We were overwhelmed by the interest shown in our stall, and had many great conversations with those at the event. We were keen to promote our work on LGBT+ history on Herts Memories and to encourage people to add their own stories to this section, handing out lots of flyers to people. We also discussed our work in the archives, collecting LGBT+ history relating to Hertfordshire that we are keen to preserve for the future. Do you have anything you would be willing to donate to us? Check out the flyer opposite for more information!
A great day all round, and we are already excited for next year!
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