SPORT'S ROLE IN 1951'S FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN

Speaker: Iain Wilton (Queen Mary, University of London)

This paper will explore: * The local sports events which communities organized to help mark the 1951 Festival of Britain in their areas, and what they tell us about the gap between the population’s generally backward-looking ways of celebrating the Festival and the official Festival Council’s much more forward-looking approach.
* The special sports events organized at a national level - especially by the MCC (which was very conservative in its approach) and the Football Association (which was infinitely more active and progressive).
* Why sport’s role in the Festival of Britain was not recognized in the official post-Festival review - and, indeed, has been omitted from all subsequent Festival papers/books.

Iain Wilton is undertaking a PhD in the School of History at Queen Mary, University of London, on the Festival of Britain. Prior to starting his thesis, he was a Special Adviser to former government ministers Michael Howard and William Waldegrave, and subsequently the MCC’s Head of Communications & Public Affairs from 2001 to 2007. Iain also wrote the 1999 biography C. B. Fry: An English Hero.

Time and Date: 5:15 PM, Monday, 19th March.

Location: Bloomsbury Room (Room G35), Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU.

All are welcome. For more information, please contact Dion Georgiou, at sportshistory@hotmail.co.uk.