Funding from the Society for the Study of Labour History helped to enable Gallery Oldham to take working-class history and Lancashire dialect to new audiences, as Karen Heatley explains.

This year marks the centenary of Sam Fitton’s death. Fitton was fun-loving and multi-talented, his career started in the local textile mills but he went on to make a living as a skilled illustrator, poet, dialect writer and performer. With funding support from the Society for the Study of Labour History, Gallery Oldham were able to provide a number of additional events to support the exhibition Finding the Funny: Sam Fitton which ran from 18 March – 17 June 2023.

Cartoonist and illustrator Dom Harbot delivered a drop-in workshop for fifty participants focusing on Sam’s work for the Cotton Factory Times. Facilitated during the Easter holidays 2023, this artist-led event encouraged families to cut, copy and paste their own satirical collage using Sam Fitton’s cartoons. Participants were encouraged to visit the exhibition, view the Cotton Factory Times on display and sketch some of the funny facial expressions Sam was so good at capturing. Children could then grab their own newspaper and add their very own section to tell the world about the funny oddities they had noticed just like Sam Fitton did as a satirical illustrator.

The Raza family enjoyed learning about the Cotton Factory Times and Sam Fitton’s funny stories. Jaxson, aged 4 enjoyed using the glue and cutting out, and Evie, aged 6, loved drawing the different faces (see below – click photos for larger images).

Sam Fitton’s Lancashire dialect writing is best appreciated when performed. Audiences were given an opportunity to see and hear some of his work, along with other Oldham linked verses, in Singing Oldham performed by singer Jennifer Reid. This was organised as part of Festival Oldham on Saturday 3 June with other events held throughout Oldham town centre.

Jennifer performed two sessions, both in Gallery 2, amongst the historic objects on display in Finding the Funny. The high ceilings of the gallery space enhanced the acoustics of the performance and Jennifer answered questions about the verses and how she sourced her material. Many of the audience were surprised at how many ballads there were linked to Oldham. Festival Oldham is Oldham’s annual outdoor arts festival celebrating arts, culture, community, place and play. It showcases the very best local, regional and national street theatre, music, dance and visual arts across a variety of spaces in the town centre. This year we had approximately 6,000 attendees throughout the day and 30 participants watched Singing Oldham.

Both events were promoted on social media, Gallery Oldham website and brochure. These additional events funded by the SSLH encouraged new audiences to engage with working-class history and Lancashire dialect.

Karen Heatley is Senior Exhibition and Collection Officer at Gallery Oldham.

• Read more about the Sam Fitton exhibition here.
• Find out more about our grants scheme for conferences and public engagement events.