Author: EditorMC

I am a former journalist by trade, turned labour and family historian with a special interest in Chartism. I launched the Chartist Ancestors website since 2003, and am currently a member of the Society for the Study of Labour History executive committee, managing its website and social media in my free time.
Events, SSLH news

Remembering the miners’ strike, 1984-85

As events marking the fortieth anniversary of the 1984-85 miners’ strike continue, BBC Sounds has produced a five-part podcast series on the strike presented by the actor, writer and producer Jonny Owen. Among those contributing is Professor Keith Gildart, a member of the Society’s executive committee, and himself a former miner and expert in the historiography of the strike. Listen to Strike on BBC Sounds. … Continue reading Remembering the miners’ strike, 1984-85

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Lola Mills (Warwick) on the forgotten history of the Canary Girls

Women who worked in munition factories during the First World War were known as the Canary Girls. The nickname was reminiscent of the effects of the chemical TNT, as it gave their skin a yellow tint. Whilst the fight of their male counterparts  on the front line was at the forefront of the public’s mind, the Canary Girls’ work was hidden within the walls of … Continue reading Lola Mills (Warwick) on the forgotten history of the Canary Girls

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Glyn Robbins on Abraham Kazan and trade union housing co-ops in New York City

In 2015, I stumbled across the Amalgamated Housing Co-Operative in the Bronx, the northern-most borough of New York City. As a long-time housing worker, campaigner and trade unionist, I was intrigued by homes of such obvious quality that, I learned, had been built through the efforts of the labour movement. My interest deepened when, in 2021, I lived in the Bronx for six months as … Continue reading Glyn Robbins on Abraham Kazan and trade union housing co-ops in New York City

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Books etc, SSLH news

From Luddites to Suffragettes: a graphic tale of the fight for the vote

A crowdfunded graphic novel on the ‘raw, intense and often shockingly violent’ fight for the right to vote has hit its funding target within a matter of days of going live.  Titled COURAGE: Luddites – Peterloo – Chartists – Suffragettes, the book is the work of Polyp, the Manchester-based illustrator and cartoonist previously responsible for graphic novels on Peterloo and the life of Thomas Paine. … Continue reading From Luddites to Suffragettes: a graphic tale of the fight for the vote

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Books etc, Labour history news

Mills Transformed: new uses for buildings that shaped the North of England

Neil Horsley introduces a project documenting the repurposing of derelict textile mills across the North of England. Over the past three years I have visited, photographed and interviewed mill renovators at thirty-three mill conversions across the North of England for a project titled Mills Transformed. The focus of the project was initially on the physical aspects of building regeneration schemes but what became apparent to … Continue reading Mills Transformed: new uses for buildings that shaped the North of England

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Books etc

UNITE the Union: a history in six volumes

Liverpool University Press and the Marx Memorial Library & Workers’ School have been trying to make trade union history accessible again with a history of UNITE published in six cheap paperback volumes (each retails at £6.99) from 2022 onwards. We reviewed the first two volumes which covered the history of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, the core of UNITE, from 1880 to 1931 in … Continue reading UNITE the Union: a history in six volumes

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Obituaries

Chris Williams (1963 – 2024)

Chris Williams, who has died at the age of sixty-one, was one of the foremost historians of Wales and of the labour movement. Well known as the author of Democratic Rhondda: Politics and Society, 1855-1951, he wrote extensively on Robert Owen, the South Wales miners, and on political cartooning and caricature, and was Head of the College of Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences at … Continue reading Chris Williams (1963 – 2024)

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Events

Labour, Health and Sunshine: The Alpine Sanatoria of the 1920s

From the late 19th century, the Alps were a sanctuary for tubercular patients. Supervised by Auguste Rollier – the ‘Sun Doctor’ – many recuperated through fraternity, labour, and the healing power of the sun… Speaker: Dr Ilaria Scaglia, Aston University.Date: 22 May 2024, 6pmVenue: Birmingham People’s History Archive, 2nd floor, Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, B3 3BS.  This talk is free, all welcome, … Continue reading Labour, Health and Sunshine: The Alpine Sanatoria of the 1920s

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Labour History Review

Labour History Review Volume 89 (2024), issue 1

Labour History Review Volume 89 (2024), Issue 1 has now been published. The journal appears both in hard copy and online formats. The Labour Party has always struggled with the need to balance its internationalist principles with policy administration its immigration and refugee policy. Here, Eunjae Park looks at the 1919 Aliens Act in the context of post-war internationalism, and contends that the change in focus from … Continue reading Labour History Review Volume 89 (2024), issue 1

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Labour History Review

Patriotic Internationalists and Free Immigration: The British Labour Party’s Internationalism in Debates on Immigration Restriction, 1918–1931

Author:  Eunjae ParkThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2024), 89, (1), 1-20. Read more. As highlighted in the recent controversies over European immigrants and the refugee ‘crisis’ that culminated in Brexit, Labour’s struggle in balancing its internationalist principles with policy administration has been a constant theme in the party’s immigration and refugee policy. This article situates the Labour Party’s discussion on the 1919 … Continue reading Patriotic Internationalists and Free Immigration: The British Labour Party’s Internationalism in Debates on Immigration Restriction, 1918–1931

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