Agenda item

18 March 2014

It is proposed thatthe City of London Corporation hosts a lecture by Professor Jeremy Black followed by a reception and private dinner at Guildhall on 21 July 2014 as part of a wider programme of commemorative events planned to mark the centenary of the First World War.

Professor Jeremy Black is Professor of History at the University of Exeter and has a particular interest in military and diplomatic history. In April 2008 the Society of Military History recognised Professor Black's work, presenting him with the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for lifetime achievement. The theme of Professor Black’s lecture will be “London – From Peace to War”, focusing on the impact on London of the outbreak of World War I. The event would form part of the City Corporation’s contribution to a nationwide programme of events marking the centenary of the First World War, and would coincide with a major exhibition on a similar theme, planned by the London Metropolitan Archives. The exhibition, called “Emergency! 1914”, is to run from May to September 2014.

The guest list would include academics, historians, representatives from Livery Companies, the City’s Privileged Regiments, the Museum of London and Imperial War Museum, London Metropolitan Archives, London Borough Mayors, Parliamentarians, City of London civic organisations, students from the City Academies and schools, and Members with relevant interests.

We recommend that hospitalitybe granted and that arrangements be left in the hands of the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee; the cost to be met from City’s Cash, within the approved cost parameters.

(This will be a Committee event.)

(B) Centenary of the First World War: Lecture on ‘London - From Peace to War’

18 March 2014

It is proposed thatthe City of London Corporation hosts a lecture by Professor Jeremy Black followed by a reception and private dinner at Guildhall on 21 July 2014 as part of a wider programme of commemorative events planned to mark the centenary of the First World War.

Professor Jeremy Black is Professor of History at the University of Exeter and has a particular interest in military and diplomatic history. In April 2008 the Society of Military History recognised Professor Black's work, presenting him with the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for lifetime achievement. The theme of Professor Black’s lecture will be “London – From Peace to War”, focusing on the impact on London of the outbreak of World War I. The event would form part of the City Corporation’s contribution to a nationwide programme of events marking the centenary of the First World War, and would coincide with a major exhibition on a similar theme, planned by the London Metropolitan Archives. The exhibition, called “Emergency! 1914”, is to run from May to September 2014.

The guest list would include academics, historians, representatives from Livery Companies, the City’s Privileged Regiments, the Museum of London and Imperial War Museum, London Metropolitan Archives, London Borough Mayors, Parliamentarians, City of London civic organisations, students from the City Academies and schools, and Members with relevant interests.

We recommend that hospitalitybe granted and that arrangements be left in the hands of the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee; the cost to be met from City’s Cash, within the approved cost parameters.

(This will be a Committee event.)

Read and agreed to.