Welcome to the SSLH

Founded in 1960, the Society for the Study of Labour History (SSLH) is the UK’s principal organisation dedicated to the study of labour history.

Membership is open to everyone who would like to learn more about labour history and heritage whether on a professional or amateur basis.

The SSLH publishes the journal the Labour History Review, organises regular conferences and actively promotes the preservation of historical resources connected to the labour movement.


What’s new

Appeal for help locating a Peace Pledge Union poster

The Peace Museum is looking for help locating a historic poster originally printed by the Peace Pledge Union as part of their upcoming exhibition. The museum, which explores the history and untold stories of peacemakers, reform and peace movements, has issued an appeal to all who may have information about the poster. The museum hopes… Continue reading Appeal for help locating a Peace Pledge Union poster

Rediscovered Peterloo ephemera digitised

Dr Janette Martin (John Rylands Library) has announced the rediscovery, cataloguing and digitisation of a large bound of newspapers, pamphlets and other materials related to the Peterloo Massacre. Historians of the labour movement will be delighted to hear that the University of Manchester has catalogued and digitised a large bound volume of Peterloo related newspapers,… Continue reading Rediscovered Peterloo ephemera digitised

Cian Ireland (University of York) on worker and trade union responses to deindustrialisation in Wales

Jim Tomlinson has argued that deindustrialisation was the ‘meta-narrative’ of post-war British history. 1 In Wales, its historical economic reliance on extractive industries such as coal and slate saw their decline begin earlier in the twentieth century. Therefore, deindustrialisation has arguably been a ‘meta-narrative’ in Wales for decades longer. My dissertation looks at the history… Continue reading Cian Ireland (University of York) on worker and trade union responses to deindustrialisation in Wales

Yasmin Getirana (LSE) on domestic workers’ activism and Catholic internationalism in Cold War Latin America

The Young Christian Workers (Juventude Operária Católica/Juventud Obrera Católica, JOC) was founded by Belgian priest Joseph Cardijn in the 1920s, as a response to the perceived de-Christianisation and spread of communist and anarchist ideologies among the industrial working class in Europe. Rooted in Catholic Action and built around the ‘See-Judge-Act’ pedagogical method Cardijn developed, the… Continue reading Yasmin Getirana (LSE) on domestic workers’ activism and Catholic internationalism in Cold War Latin America

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