Voyaging through History: the Meanings of the Mayflower, 1620-2020

In 2020 the Anglo-American world will mark the 400th anniversary of the trans-Atlantic Mayflower voyage. A range of celebratory activities are being planned through a 'Mayflower400' network, from the construction of a sea-going replica of the ship, to parades, festivals, and performances. Pressure groups are already lobbying national governments to officially recognise the commemoration as an event of international cultural importance. Intensive and focused interest in the story of the Mayflower is not a new phenomenon, especially in the United States, where it is the bedrock of the nation's 'origin story'. But the tale of the Pilgrim's voyage has also captured the British imagination - despite, however, its absence from academic studies. There were periods of notable interest in the mid- and then late-19th century; during and following the First and Second World War; and in the last large anniversary in 1970. At both a local and national level, the tale of the Pilgrims' journey across the Atlantic Ocean, and their escape from religious persecution, has proved to have an enduring legacy for individuals, institutions, and communities. A wide and rich range of novels, plays, films, alongside memorials, statues, and curated historical buildings, are testament to the cultural, political and religious significance of the Mayflower.

Drawing on an intensive analysis of these visual, textual, and physical materials, this project will be the first to provide an authoritative and critical analysis of the powerful draw of the Mayflower story in British culture. Acknowledging that the meaning of the Mayflower voyage has altered substantially to suit specific agendas at different points in history, it will also provide a timely lens through which to view the contemporary vogue for historical commemoration. A critical view, across a long chronological range and through a broad thematic scope, will give key insights into the relationship between historical culture and religion, Anglo-American cultural diplomacy, and local tourism and place-making. Academic articles and a landmark monograph will situate the changing meaning of the Mayflower in the larger context of the place of the past in British society. An interdisciplinary conference and subsequent edited journal issue will expand this approach to a broader academic audience.

Connecting our research with local communities, we will also support and inform both local and national Mayflower 2020 celebrations and projects. Workshops, public debates, oral history interviews, and theatrical performances will encourage public stakeholders to reflect on aspects of the historical retelling of the Mayflower story, advancing a critical perspective on the relevance of the voyage in the present. A website, created and hosted by the University of Exeter Digital Humanities Team (guaranteed for 5 years beyond the project end), and populated with features and a study-guide written by members of the project team and other experts, will give historical context to contemporary interaction with the Mayflower story. It will include an interactive map that will uniquely locate the commemoration of the Mayflower in visual and written content across a long-period of history. Public events at the British Library will also extend the importance of the Mayflower to wider contemporary debates about history and the commemoration of conflict, not just in Britain but the USA and wider world too, while our academic support and oral history interviewing at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton (who are producing a Mayflower musical) will enrich local understanding.

Combining extensive original academic research with clearly focused public engagement work, this project will thus draw together a rich story in the British past and present to enhance both academic and non-academic understandings of historical culture.

The academic side of the project will be balanced with a robust impact strategy, targeted at benefiting both the wider public and specific local communities. We will connect with the activities already being co-ordinated by the Mayflower400 network, but will complement their mostly contemporary focus with our own in-depth and archivally informed historical and literary approach.

A landmark website, built by the experienced University of Exeter Digital Humanities Team, will feature collections of Mayflower archival material held by our project partner the British Library, and curated by the project team, visualised on an interactive map. We envisage this website as a major landing point for those searching for information about the voyage as the celebrations gather steam in 2020. It will last for at least 5 years beyond the end of the project. Activities at the British Library will give added value to that institution's own national role as a facilitator of public discourse. The key event will be an evening debate: 'What did the Pilgrim Fathers ever do for us?'. This will feature public historians, representatives of refugee charities, stakeholders from the Mayflower 2020 celebrations, and audience participation, reflecting on the nature of migration and religious freedom in contemporary commemorative culture. We will bring this to a wider audience through video-podcasting. The Research Associate will also run a lunchtime study workshop for members of the public, building upon the Mayflower study guide they have created, and thus providing an introduction to aspects of the Mayflower story through British Library materials.

We will also work with community level project partners that are actively engaging with the 2020 commemoration. Southampton, due to its history as one of the final ports from which the ship set sail, is a key site. The Southampton Mayflower Theatre have identified the Mayflower commemoration as a priority for the next four years, and is part of the international Mayflower400 project. The Theatre is developing a musical performance, which takes the leaving of the ship as its main narrative, to be performed in August 2020. It will be a community-led production with a cast of young people (10-18). Our project will work with a musical producer to give depth, focus and historical context, by providing access and interpretation to Southampton's 1920 Mayflower celebrations, which included the performance of a historical play. This will take the form of an accessibly-written report, and follow-up meeting. We will also lead educational workshops that benefit the young people on themes with contemporary resonance that have arisen from our research: religious freedom and migration, Southampton's relationship to the wider world (both Empire and the USA), and the lasting legacy of the Mayflower story in the physical and emotional landscape of the city. We will also deliver a large public talk about Mayflower culture in Southampton, with an accompanying illustrated leaflet. Throughout the process of creating the musical and wider celebrations in Southampton, we will record oral interviews with participants in commemorative culture, using these for our website and academic research.

As the project evolves, and the celebration grows in the public consciousness, we will plan to work with major outlets of multimedia news and opinion to provide historical interpretation and comment on the 2020 commemoration. Our public activities with the British Library, community project partner, and the wider media, will: encourage different targeted sections of the public to critique the vogue for commemoration through the lens of history; inspire and contextualise forthcoming celebrations; promote local historical awareness; and, above all, give added value and expertise to the public through academic research.