Conferees who arrive early for the WHA Conference at Queen Mary, University of London, will have the opportunity to enjoy a free walking tour on Thursday, 26 June, of the historic East End, led by  Dr. John Marriott, Reader in History and Co-Director of the Raphael Samuel History Centre, School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies, University of East London.

The tour, which for logistical reasons will be limited to the first 25 persons to sign up on site at Queen Mary, is free and will include a pay-your-own-way stop at an East End pub for lunch. The tour begins at 10:00 AM sharp on Thursday morning and returns to Queen Mary around 2:00 PM, allowing tour participants to freshen up before registration, the ABC-Clio hosted reception, and the meeting of the Executive Council begin.

A sign-up sheet will be available at the Queen Mary housing registration office, France House Reception, Wednesday, 25 June.

Dr. Marriott describes the walking tour as follows:

I think the best walk will be along the Mile End Road and then around Whitechapel and Spitalfields. This area is the historic centre of East London, the first to experience significant settlement, and the heart of silk manufacture. Inhabited for the most part by the poor, it was always seen as a site of deprivation, but in the course of the nineteenth century emerged as one of gothic horror, particularly around the time of the murders carried out by that archangel of retribution, Jack the Ripper. The tour will pass the Peoples Palace, London Hospital, Bishopsgate, Artillery Lane, and the famous
Brick Lane.