New exhibition tells story of post-war Hull
By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor
A new exhibition on post-war Hull has opened at Hull History Centre.
The Half Life of the Blitz, courtesy of the University of Lincoln and funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council, creates a new history of post-war Hull by studying the lives and experiences of the city’s people between the Second World War and the present day.
Through community workshops, oral history interviews and research in archives across the country, historians Dr James Greenhalgh and Dr Charlotte Tomlinson have built a picture of how the city has changed and what is important to its people.
The exhibition looks at some of the elements which seemed most important to the project’s volunteers and contributors and examines how Hull sees and remembers itself and its past.
The exhibition will run until Friday, January 31 2025, tying in with the 80th anniversary of the war’s end.
Councillor Rob Pritchard, portfolio holder for culture and leisure at Hull City Council, said: “This is an exciting exhibition and one that personally I cannot wait to explore.
“It provides a fascinating insight into post-war Hull up until the present day and will be of interest to anyone who is proud of our city.
“If you think you know a lot about Hull’s modern history, think again, as there’ll be plenty to learn at The Half Life of the Blitz.”
Martin Taylor, city archivist for Hull Culture and Leisure, said: “The bombing of Hull in the Second World War changed the city like nothing else in its history.
“It gave the opportunity to rebuild it anew, although one underwhelmed civil servant wrote that all that could be hoped for was to make ‘it an efficient and seemly place to do its ordinary job and hope that by doing so one would get a prosperous and reasonably happy city’.
“But the resilience which Hull citizens showed in the face of Nazi aggression was also applied as they rebuilt the city on their own terms.”
The exhibition is open Tuesday to Thursday between 9.30am and 4.30pm, as well as on the first and third Saturday of each month from 9.30am to 12.30pm.
Dr Greenhalgh will be speaking about the city’s post-war development at the history centre at 12.30pm on Tuesday, January 14. Admission is free.
The history centre will close at 12.30pm on Saturday, December 21 and reopen at 9.30am on Thursday, January 2.
More information on The Half Life of the Blitz and Hull History Centre is available here.