Sharing History

“I have now had the opportunity to read through the journal entries in some detail. I found your grandfather’s wartime account to be full of interest, as his descriptions of serving with the Royal Field Artillery contain many excellent details which researchers will undoubtedly find of historical value. His accounts of involvement in the early battles of the war, when both sides were more mobile and trench warfare had not yet set in, are particularly interesting. I am sure that our visitors will find the document of definite value and should therefore be pleased to accept this copy as a donation to our archive, where a hard copy will be preserved under your grandfather’s name and made available for study.”


Imperial War Museum
Documents and Sound Section

One day while working on my book project I had an enlightenment. It struck me that I should share the historical aspect of the journal with others and the best way of doing this would be through a museum.  With this in mind I sent emails to several London military museums describing the historical documents I had and if they would be interested in them. Secretly I was dreaming that one of the museums would offer to pay my expenses to bring the documents over the pond. That didn't happen! 

The only response was from the Imperial War Museum. The Document and Sound Section was interested in the contents of the journal and requested me to send them a few pages. I immediately attached three pages to an email and sent if off.

After a week or so I finally received a response. They were very interested in the journal and inquired if I would be willing to copy the journal images to a CD and mail it to them for evaluation. My response was positive and I mailed the CD within a couple of days. After mailing the package, I sent an email requesting that they inform me when they received the package so I would know it got there safely. 

Weeks went by without a word, so I sent a request for them to contact me. The next day I received the above response, which pleased me beyond words. 

Someday I would like to travel to the UK and visit the Imperial War Museum to view my grandfather's journal, and meet my contact person. I'm satisfied knowing that regardless of the journals future, there will always be a copy available.