We have finally joined HistoryPin, an online community which allows organisations or individuals to share historic pictures, videos or sound clips by virtually ‘pinning’ them to a map of the world.
We have been wanting to do this for a while, and the final catalyst was a project undertaken here recently by research intern Ashleigh Hudson on the history of Chelmsford High Street (lots more on this coming over the next few weeks).
Our first pins are photographs of our county town of Chelmsford taken by the famous Spalding family of photographers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fred Spalding senior was the first commercial photographer in the town, and his son and grandson (both also Fred Spalding) followed in his footsteps, leaving us a photographic archive of some 7,000 images.
As well as the images we’ve pinned so far, you can also listen to recordings from the Essex Sound and Video Archive showcasing what Essex sounded like in the past.
You can explore what we’ve pinned using the map or by browsing the collections we’ve put together (click on the right tab below to see the collections).
If you’re new to HistoryPin we will warn you – it’s addictive.
Click here to go to our HistoryPin channel, and here to go to the HistoryPin home page to explore everything that has been pinned from all over the world.