Whose Town? is an innovative resource for teaching Social Studies. It’s an interactive digital resource that brings Edinburgh’s history to life. Whose Town? promotes interdisciplinary learning and is linked to the Curriculum for Excellence, second to fourth level outcomes.

Whose Town? looks at Edinburgh and Scotland’s past from 1850s to the 1950s through the eyes of people who lived there. There are 14 lives to discover who lived in Victorian times, at the beginning of the twentieth century, during the Second World War and in the Fifties. Archival material is collected in a digital box and hidden in an attic to uncover and examine. Each life is captured at a particular point in history, creating a snapshot of their life: a Life in a Box.

There are over 450 unique and original documents for teachers and pupils to explore. Maps, newspaper articles, photographs, objects, documents, video and audio clips, and the bits and bobs that everyone collects are all used to bring each person’s history to life. Whose Town? also contains a wealth of support materials for teachers from lesson plans to ideas on how to use archival materials in the classroom.

Watch our Whose Town? trailer to find out more

Whose Town? is a Heritage Lottery Funded project. It was developed by Edinburgh City Libraries in collaboration with Edinburgh Museums and Galleries and Edinburgh City Archives, and has been supported by many partner organisations.