Forging a single union for the iron and steel industry

The organisational history of trade unions in the iron and steel industry is a complex one. The photographs here, published by the ISTC in the early 1980s as a series of postcards, show the banners and membership certificates of some of the organisations that form part of that story. Trade union membership in the iron and steel trades ebbed and flowed over the latter half … Continue reading Forging a single union for the iron and steel industry

SSLH backs drive to conserve historic Belgian trade union banners

The People’s Flag… is in need of a little care, writes Mike Sanders. Banners and flags have played a key role in Labour movement since its inception. Trades unions and political protesters alike have marched behind banners proclaiming their objectives and values using both word and image. Nor has their symbolic importance escaped the attention of those opposed to the Labour movement. At Peterloo, the … Continue reading SSLH backs drive to conserve historic Belgian trade union banners

TUC Library Collections card index goes online

The TUC Library Collections are a vital resource for labour history research, and pretty much everything added to the collections since the contents of the TUC Library moved to London Metropolitan University in 1996 has been added to the university’s online catalogue. But the great bulk of material collected since the library was founded in 1922, perhaps as much of 80% of everything there, is … Continue reading TUC Library Collections card index goes online

Stuart Macintyre 1947 – 2021

We are sorry to hear that the eminent Australian socialist and labour historian Stuart Macintyre has died aged 74. Professor Macintyre published extensively on the history of Australia and the Australian Left, and as co-author of The History Wars (2003) provided the leading academic challenge to conservative narratives of the country’s history. For many, however, his greatest work is his account of the emergence of … Continue reading Stuart Macintyre 1947 – 2021

SSLH annual lecture 2021. Professor Máire Fedelma Cross: Flora Tristan and Jules Puech, a double biography

The French writer and activist Flora Tristan (1803-1844) was an important and original thinker noteworthy for her synthesis of feminism and socialism. But she died aged just 41, and left relatively little published work. Jules Puech (1879-1957) rediscovered Tristan as a postgraduate student in Paris in the early 1900s and subsequently devoted decades of his life to researching her life and work, publishing a detailed … Continue reading SSLH annual lecture 2021. Professor Máire Fedelma Cross: Flora Tristan and Jules Puech, a double biography