My first political memory is Friday November 22 1963 the day John F Kennedy was assassinated. I remember lying content on the floor next to a crackling fire in the living room. The TV was on and suddenly there were pictures of a motorcade and crowds and emotional broadcasters. My grandfather must have been staying with us for a few days because I have such a sharp image of him standing staring at the TV with a look of disbelief and shock on his face. He called my Dad to tell him the news. I think I remember this scene because of the violent and scarey intrusion into my safe world. For the first time I became aware of life outside my cosy English rural life. I was 7 and this scene somehow marks for me the loss of innocence.
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Last autumn we ran an experimental online public engagement series called 'earliest political memories'. We collected a total of 68 memories that were generously contributed by members of the public. You can read all the contributions here. The series caught the attention of our colleague Rachel O'Connell in the School of English who…
In "earliest political memories"
My family talked about politics a lot. My earliest political memory is watching the Watergate hearings while my father yelled obscene things at the TV. It was very exciting to hear that much cursing in the house. My family also had a celebratory watching of Nixon's resignation speech, and I…
In "earliest political memories"
The announcement of the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was probably my first political memory. I was 6 at the time and I remember that I was at my aunt's place, watching some TV when the regular TV program was interrupted by extraordinary news announcing the start of the bombing.…
In "earliest political memories"