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.
Labour history news

Imagining a Communist Britain

Can you imagine what a Communist Britain would look like? An exciting new project between the People’s History Museum and the University of Manchester is uncovering previously inaccessible archive collections on leading figures in the Communist Party of Great Britain. The project, which includes two exhibitions, a day school and an international conference, will be setting out to challenge familiar concepts of communism. The archive collections … Continue reading Imagining a Communist Britain

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Obituaries

Irene Wagner

We regret to announce the death of Irene Wagner on February 4th at the age of 99. Irene, as Labour Party archivist, was an original member of the Society’s Archive Committee, formed in 1965. She played an important role in Society affairs and was the driving force in moves to create the International Association of Labour History Institutions [IALHI]. Read The Guardian’s obituary written by … Continue reading Irene Wagner

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Christophe Landry (Sussex) on a research trip to South Louisiana

My doctoral thesis, ‘Multilingualism and Language Politics in Post-War Creole Louisiana’, studies the rapid integration of multilingual, Roman Catholic, Latin Southwest Louisiana in the 20th century’s interwar period. More specifically, it traces how French- and Creole-speaking Latins, in this zone, were absorbed into national consciousness through Jim Crowism, Anglicization, Protestantization and infrastructural projects, culminating in a faux-bifurcation of these Creoles along hardened racial lines, of … Continue reading Christophe Landry (Sussex) on a research trip to South Louisiana

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Ann-Marie Foster (Northumberland) on the Senghenydd mining disasters and the ephemera of remembrance

In 1913 the worst mining disaster ever to occur in the UK happened at the Universal Colliery in the small village of Senghenydd. This disaster, in which 440 men died, followed just twelve years after another explosion in the same colliery in which 81 men perished. This double tragedy in Senghenydd makes it a significant site of research, not only because of the death toll, … Continue reading Ann-Marie Foster (Northumberland) on the Senghenydd mining disasters and the ephemera of remembrance

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Labour history news

The revolution has been digitized: explore the oldest archive of radical posters

The Joseph A. Labadie collection, the oldest public collection of radical history has been used to create a digital archive of more than 2,000 posters. The University of Michigan Library announced this month that its posters on anarchism, civil liberties, feminism, labor, and other political movements are online for the first time. The collection’s strongest holdings are in anarchism, and go back to founder Joseph … Continue reading The revolution has been digitized: explore the oldest archive of radical posters

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Mike Mecham visits Belfast to research Irish labour leader and social activist William Walker

Belfast born William Walker (1870-1918) is considered the most significant labour leader in Ireland in the early 20th century. As a young trade union activist, he established the first union of women linen workers (1893) and helped organise workers in other sectors. A joiner in shipbuilder’s Harland and Wolf, he became a full-time organiser for the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners (1901), delegate to … Continue reading Mike Mecham visits Belfast to research Irish labour leader and social activist William Walker

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Books etc

Conversations with Radical Women

Northern ReSisters: Conversations with Radical Womenby Bernadette Hyland Publication date 1 May 2015Published by the Mary Quaile Club ISBN 987-0-9932247-0-6 £5.95 In the first part of this book Bernadette speaks to nine women from Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds who have been active in radical movements over the past forty years, including trade unionism, Ireland Women’s Liberation, radical bookselling, anti-racism and the peace movement. Bernadette says: “In … Continue reading Conversations with Radical Women

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Joe Cozens (Essex) on civil-military relations and popular protest, 1790-1805

My doctoral thesis is entitled ‘Civil-Military Relations and Popular Protest in England, 1790- 1805’. It addresses issues such as the recruitment of the armed forces, the experiences of ordinary soldiers in the army and militia, and the use of the military by the state to suppress instances of popular protest during the Revolutionary French Wars. In particular, I am interested in the way in which … Continue reading Joe Cozens (Essex) on civil-military relations and popular protest, 1790-1805

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SSLH news

New SSLH Vice Presidents

At its recent AGM the Society for the Study of Labour History voted in favour of creating five new Vice Presidents to honour contributions made in the field of labour history. Professor Malcolm ChaseProfessor Hamish FraserProfessor Angela JohnProfessor Chris WrigleyProfessor Eileen Yeo These new appointments will join existing Vice Presidents: Baron Asa Briggs, John Halstead, Professor John F. C. Harrison Continue reading New SSLH Vice Presidents

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