York Research Journeys: Professor Helen Cowie
Posted on Tuesday 1 July 2025
How were they treated? How did they behave? How did they shape the world around them?
Helen’s interest in history started early. As a child, she enjoyed visiting museums, castles and other historical sites and was fascinated by a range of historical topics, from Inca mummies to the Jacobite Rebellion. She also enjoyed reading about the past and watching historical dramas.
“I think what drew me to it was the story element. I liked learning about the lives of historical characters. I wanted to know more about Tutankhamun, Evita and Bonnie Prince Charlie. I wanted to understand what life was like in a medieval castle or a Victorian workhouse.”
The questions and curiosity that arose led Helen to study History at university, where she was able to take modules on the French Revolution, twentieth-century Eastern Europe and the Spanish American Wars of Independence.
“I was always drawn to the slightly different bits of history, the ones you don't necessarily do at school. As an undergraduate, I remember writing essays on the Mexican Revolution, the Tupac Amaru Rebellion in Peru and the downfall of Ceaucescu in Romania.”
Today, as a professor of modern history, it is still the unusual parts of history that speak to her. While most historians tend to focus their attention on the lives of humans in the past, Helen has chosen to uncover the often forgotten lives of animals. This interest came about during her undergraduate studies. As she was soon to discover, however, the topic of animals in the past was not on a lot of people's radars.
“People just weren't looking for animals in historical sources. But once you start searching, the animals are there, in newspaper articles, diaries, letters, photographs, paintings and material culture. Though curated by humans, these written and physical remains give us an insight into how animals lived and died in the past.”