In September 1926, Walter Milne-Bailey, head of the TUC research department, sat down to record his thoughts on the General Strike, which had taken place in May of that year. As we approach the centenary of that event, the typewritten script of his report has been digitized and published online by the TUC Library Collections.1 Milne-Bailey notes at the very start of his report that … Continue reading A Nation on Strike: first thoughts on 1926
My dissertation investigates the role of women in the Anarchist movement of the Spanish Civil War. I have a particular interest in the revolutionary organisation Mujeres Libres founded in 1936 which united thousands of women across Spain in the broader anarchist and anti-fascist cause. Mujeres Libres was dedicated to the development of unique educational and labour initiatives and ideologically committed to empowering Spanish working-class women … Continue reading Ariane Weller (Manchester) on the role of women in the anarchist movement of the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
People’s History Museum (PHM), Manchester, is offering an opportunity to join its archive team in delving into the museum’s miners’ strike collections. The event takes place on the 40th anniversary of the final day of the 1984-1985 miners’ strike and tells the stories of a defining event in Britain’s history. Visitors can also explore the galleries where they will see objects such as a poster featuring the … Continue reading PHM offers end-of-the-miners’-strike archive exploration
We are delighted to announce the results of the latest round of the BME small grants funding scheme. This scheme is administered by the Social History Society in partnership with the Society for the Study of Labour History, Economic History Society, History UK, History of Education Society (UK), History Workshop Journal, Royal Historical Society, and Women’s History Network. It was set up in 2019 in … Continue reading BME Small Grants: 2025 Recipients
A one-day symposium on the history and legacy of the miners’ strike of 1984/5 takes place at National Mining Museum England in Wakefield on 22 February 2025. The event is organised by National Mining Museum England and supported by the Society for the Study of Labour History. Attendance is free, but please register at the link below if you wish to attend. Programme 10am – … Continue reading Symposium: the history and legacy of the miners’ strike of 1984/5
Jack Taylor reports on his research into 1940s’ attitudes to empire in the Labour Party policy apparatus and among the leading Labour figures of the era. In researching the Labour Party’s post-war imperial policy in the Middle East, I became interested in ideas around British expertise and experience in shaping political institutions. A Society for the Study of Labour History research bursary allowed me to … Continue reading The Labour Party and empire in the 1940s
The latest issue of Historical Studies in Industrial Relations (Vol. 45, September 1, 2024) is now available online via Liverpool University Press (subscription required). Table of contents Research ArticlesSmashing the Subversive Unemployed: State Containment and Coercion of the National Unemployed Workers’ Movement, 1921–39Emanuel Bourges Espinosa Nancy Seear and the Investigation of Women’s EmploymentSusan Milner The British Labour Movement’s Involvement in West Indian Labour Struggles, 1934–39: … Continue reading Historical Studies in Industrial Relations 2024 now online
People’s History Museum is hosting an evening event to mark the 40th anniversary of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM); an organisation that played a unique role in the events of the 1984 to 1985 miners’ strike. Taking place on Thursday 27 February, from 6pm to 9pm, as part of a programme of events for LGBT+ History Month, Solidarity Forever: 40 Years of LGSM … Continue reading Solidarity Forever: 40 Years of LGSM
The National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers (NACODS) was never a large trade union, but it was of major significance and importance in the coal industry because of the safety functions of its members. When the union ceased to exist in 2015, with the closure of Kellingley Colliery, the last deep coal mine in Britain, its central records were thought to have been … Continue reading Mining union records feared destroyed are rediscovered after a decade in the damp
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded a six-figure sum to the Co-operative Heritage Trust for its ‘Seeds of Change’ project, which aims to fully catalogue and open up the Co-operative College Archival Collection The £131,653 grant will enable the Trust to recruit a project archivist to work with community volunteers over the next two years, to conserve and protect the collection and make it … Continue reading Lottery grant promises to open up Co-operative College Archive for all
Society for the Study of Labour History 