Keys to historical memory
What can a photograph, a letter, or a small object tell us about Europe’s history?
Inspired by anthropological methods, the activity encourages students to bring an object linked to their personal or family history, or to the cultural heritage of their hometown or country of origin. With the help of their families, they choose a meaningful item—a keepsake, a tool, a photo—and describe it just like archivists do: recording its material, dimensions, origin, date, and creator. Most importantly, they are asked to reflect on its story and write it down.
We have found that everyday items—often overlooked—can stimulate powerful storytelling, helping young people understand how individual lives intersect with broader historical narratives. The relationships that emerge between personal memory and European heritage, as expressed through these objects, often creates a moving and important educational experience.
From family stories to European narratives
In the workshop, students present their objects using oral history techniques. Through the tales of these personal artefacts, students can build connections between their own experiences and broader European narratives, discovering how memory, identity and history often exist within the things they carry with them. Then, with guidance from educators and archivists at the HAEU, they search the Archives’ database for a document, image, or item that resonates with their object. In this way, personal timelines are placed in dialogue with the history of European integration.
This hands-on approach reshapes how students perceive archives—not as static repositories of documents, but as living spaces for dialogue and discovery, where memory takes form through objects and stories.
The workshop often leads to unexpected discoveries. Gemma, a student at the Istituto Agrario in Florence, brought in a certificate belonging to her great-grandfather, Rolando Ferri. It had long been in her family’s possession, but she had never truly explored its meaning. The certificate, awarded in 1945, recognised Rolando’s participation in the Italian Resistance during World War II. After returning from military service in 1943, he joined the partisans, helping fighters cross mountain borders and transport supplies. His courage earned him official recognition as a partisan.
Through this object, Gemma and her classmates saw how personal memory can reveal powerful links to shared heritage and foster a deeper sense of belonging to the broader European narrative of freedom from fascism.
From the self to society
In another session with students from the University of Florence, one participant brought a handcrafted pen holder shaped like a pickaxe. It had been made by a Calabrian miner working on the construction of Italy’s High-Speed Rail system in the Mugello area of Tuscany. The student explained it had been a personal gift from the miner, who had engraved her name on it.
Prompted by the workshop, she began to reflect on this object for the first time. During the class discussion, it became a starting point for exploring the history of mining and labour in postwar Europe. This led the group to examine the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951, which aimed to bring coal and steel production under joint control and prevent future conflicts between European nations. Looking for a historical parallel to the family object, the students searched the HAEU database and found an archival photograph of miners in Belgium from the ECSC collection.
This connection—between a family heirloom and an institutional archive—opened the door to a broader narrative: that of European integration and the supranational community to which these students belong.
Personal memory as shared heritage
In addition to connecting family history to the bigger European narrative, this workshop provides an outlet for these meaningful stories to be told. In February 2024, Ilaria B., a student from the Elsa Morante highschool in Florence, shared the story of her grandmother’s doll. The toy had been gifted to her by an American soldier she met as a child during the Second World War. She met him among the ruins of her family’s bombed and looted home in Bellosguardo, from which they had to flee during the German occupation. While the soldier introduced himself to her, she was too young to correctly recall his name. That doll was the first—and only—toy she ever owned, and it became a treasured possession.
Ilaria also brought handwritten pages in which her grandmother, Iolanda Pecchioli, had recounted the story in her own words. Ilaria read this document aloud to the class, which was enthralled by the power of her grandmother’s story. It so interested them that what had started as a small, personal discovery by their classmate quickly evolved into a larger project involving the whole school, supported by the city of Florence with the Fondazione Giorgio la Pira. As part of their project, the class recorded a short video, Firenze, 1944. Una bambina di fronte alla guerra, that was presented to the public by Ilaria’s grandmother herself. Iolanda shared her story in person, giving a larger public an opportunity to hear the memories of a young girl whose life and views were profoundly shaped by her wartime experiences.
From the personal to the European
An additional take-away of this activity is that students comprehend that the history of Europe is not only made up of treaties and institutions, but also of everyday lives, memories, and objects. Whether it's a miner’s gift, a Resistance certificate, or a wartime doll, these artefacts become keys to unlocking Europe’s complex past.
With the unique opportunity to place their own experiences and artefacts in dialogue with archival sources, students develop a deeper understanding of what it means to be European citizens. They learn that memory is not static—it is something we shape, preserve, and share. And that even small private archives can contribute to the broader European story.
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