Digital Collections: The Churchill Archives Centre Launches New Access Portal to Mark its 50th Anniversary

From Churchill College,  U. of Cambridge:

The Churchill Archives Centre is a world-leading repository of 20th century history, holding a wide range of documents by more than 570 political, military and scientific luminary figures from the Churchill era and beyond. To mark the 50th Anniversary of the Churchill Archives Centre, we are proud to announce the launch of our free Access Portal. The website allows researchers worldwide to explore archival material shared online for the first time.

Material newly available to view online includes Clementine Churchill’s photo albums, plus a selection of her letters to Winston Churchill, such as one hurriedly written in crayon in 1914, where a pregnant Clementine begged Winston not to fly. Like many of her letters, she signed it off with a doodle of a cat (complete with kitten inside)!

[Clip]

The Access Portal is open to all, and a useful resource for researchers, teachers and anyone looking to examine British history from mid-twentieth century onward. It can be accessed by visiting https://oa.churchillarchives.libnova.com. It provides a window into the collections of the Archives Centre, which includes digital images of documents, photo albums and correspondence, alongside oral history interviews and video footage.

The Access Portal also shares a lifetime of letters from Sarah Churchill to her mother, Clementine, from childhood and schooldays to her career as a dancer and actress, including a wartime interlude in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force when she accompanied her father, Winston, to the Yalta Conference.

Visitors can also find a selection of private diaries penned by diplomat Alexander Cadogan, dating from the 1930s and 40s, where he wrote about colleagues and foreign policy making in characteristically brisk and candid style.

Learn More, Read the Complete Announcement

Direct to New Access Portal

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Digital Collections, Interactive Tools, Interviews, News, Open Access