Documents & objects

Dockers’ union rosette in red, white and green

This fine rosette carries at its centre the badge of the Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Workers’ Union. Originating as the Tea Operatives and General Labourers’ Association in 1887, the union played a central role in the London dock strike two years later, becoming that same year the Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers’ Union of Great Britain. The rosette and badge shown here, however, … Continue reading Dockers’ union rosette in red, white and green

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Events

Chartism Day 2024: registration now open

Registration for Chartism Day is now open. The event is coming to the University of Reading for the first time in its twenty-nine year history, taking place on Saturday, 7 September, and is open to all. UPDATE: Chartism Day 2024 has now taken place. Read our report here. Professor Mike Sanders will deliver the keynote address on ‘Some passages in the Life of a (Tory) … Continue reading Chartism Day 2024: registration now open

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Lauren Halls (York) on the representation of eighteenth-century female domestic servants

Funding from the Society for the Study of Labour History allowed me to conduct a wide range of research into eighteenth-century female domestic servants. My aim was to discover how they have been represented both in their time and now, whether this representation has changed, and what might we be able to do to change it. Domestic servants have traditionally been excluded from labouring, working-class … Continue reading Lauren Halls (York) on the representation of eighteenth-century female domestic servants

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Books etc

Hugh Clegg: intellectual biography of a key figure in industrial relations and labour history

Hugh Clegg was a founding figure of post-war British industrial relations. He defined ‘industrial democracy’ as collective bargaining with trade unions, laid the foundations for the pluralist approach to industrial relations, was a key figure in the post-war social sciences, and a major public policy player. In a new book, Trade Unions and the British Industrial Relations Crisis, Peter Ackers, Emeritus Professor in the History … Continue reading Hugh Clegg: intellectual biography of a key figure in industrial relations and labour history

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Events, Grants

Conference: HistoryLab+ at the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation

Registration is now open and a final programme is available for the HistoryLab+ 2024 conference, taking place on 25-26 July 2024 at the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull. Find out more and register. Speakers at panel sessions include Dr Chris Townsend on ‘The Economics of Antislavery Verse’, and Alexandra Dold on ‘Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Novels: Representing … Continue reading Conference: HistoryLab+ at the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation

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Events, Grants

Conference: Gender, Family, and Deindustrialisation

The final conference programme for Gender, Family, and Deindustrialisation, the annual conference of the Deindustrialisation and the Politics of Our Time (DéPOT) partnership project is now live. See the full programme. Taking place from June 24-26 at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, the event features a number of extramural activities on the opening day, including a walk around Govan to better understand Glasgow’s shipbuilding … Continue reading Conference: Gender, Family, and Deindustrialisation

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SSLH news

Inside the South Wales Miners’ Library

We have a new page on the website setting out the collections in the South Wales Miners’ Library and how these can be accessed. The library holds collections relevant to the social and cultural histories of industrial South Wales. Key periods covered by the collection include the Spanish Civil War, the nationalisation of coal and the 1984-5 strike. Holdings on these subjects span various resources, … Continue reading Inside the South Wales Miners’ Library

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Obituaries

Sean Creighton (1947 – 2024)

Sean Creighton, who has died aged 76, was a community activist and independent historian who worked extensively on the working-class history of his native South London, and in particular on Black history in the area, but also made a significant and lasting contribution to the study of labour history in the North East of England. Born in Wandsworth, Sean gained a history degree from the … Continue reading Sean Creighton (1947 – 2024)

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Events, Grants

Undoing 2007; Preparing for 2038: Abolition, Birmingham and Commemoration

Billed as ‘a day-long, co-productive community conversation, about Abolition, Birmingham, and Commemoration’, and convened and chaired by Dr Nathaniel Adam Tobias Coleman, Undoing 2007; Preparing for 2038 will take place on Saturday 1 June at The Exchange, 3 Centenary Square, Birmingham B1 2DR. The event takes as its starting point the ‘deception’ of the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, and of ‘the state-sponsored jingoistic jamboree … Continue reading Undoing 2007; Preparing for 2038: Abolition, Birmingham and Commemoration

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Commentary

‘Labour Romps Home’ in last black and white general election

In 1966, the last general election to be captured on black and white newsreel by British Pathé saw Harold Wilson’s Labour government win a landslide victory, taking 48% of the vote and winning an overall majority of 98. A newsreel from election night shows revellers thronging Trafalgar Square and splashing through the fountains, while at the party’s headquarters in Transport House, Minister of Labour Ray … Continue reading ‘Labour Romps Home’ in last black and white general election

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