Publication launch at WB2012

Local press articles

TGM

In 1948 Masaryk's name was removed from public view by the communist regime, including street signs, stations, monuments and books. In 1968 people began to place his face in the windows of shops and the walls of cafes to register their resistance to the authories.

Masaryk Parade in Whitstable

Visit by the mayor of Ricany

A presentation organised with the year 7 students at WCC for the Mayor of Ricany, Vladimir Koren, on his first visit to Whitstable.

                                                             Human flag formation

We presented the Mayor with a framed photograph of the human flag formation including the following text.

The Mayor signed a letter in support of naming an area in Whitstable after Masaryk and a scanned document was given to us in return, stating when Masaryk was made an honorary citizen of Ricany in 1930.

Whitstable Community College

We delivered a series of workshops at Whitstable Community College (WCC) in preparation for a visit from the Mayor of the town of Ricany. We were programmed into the curriculum timetable of both Year 7 Geography and Art Classes. We introduced the students to the political figure of Thomas Garrigue Masaryk (founding President of Czechoslovakia) by telling the story of his four-year exile which involved him traveling around the world to gain support for the creation of the independent state of Czechoslovakia. The students created individual postcards of European flags to illustrate the different countries Masaryk visited.

We asked the students to trace the roads of Whitstable and to find a location to name after Masaryk. We asked the class to think of all the possible road endings that could occur in a town and also asked them to name roads after themselves. Our aim was to include the students in the process of naming, as a means of taking part in the making of local history. In groups the students short-listed a series of road names and after a period of deliberation, put them to a vote. Masaryk Parade was the chosen name to be introduced to the town of Whitstable by the Year 7 students.