Emmet O’Connor on Jim Larkin: sign up now for the John Halstead Memorial Lecture

Dr Emmet O’Connor is to deliver the Society for the Study of Labour History’s first annual John Halstead Memorial Lecture on the topic of Jim Larkin, the Irish socialist and trade union leader. The event takes place on Saturday 29 October at 2.30pm, and all are invited to join us for the online event. REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED AbstractHow British was Big Jim Larkin? How … Continue reading Emmet O’Connor on Jim Larkin: sign up now for the John Halstead Memorial Lecture

Going to the dogs: celebrating fifty years with Professor Keith Laybourn

Keith Laybourn drew on a lifetime of learning and experience for his valedictory lecture this month to an audience filled with colleagues and friends, as Janette Martin reports. Diamond Jubilee Professor Emeritus Keith Laybourn delivered his valedictory lecture, marking fifty years’ service at the University of Huddersfield, to an audience filled with friends, colleagues and former students. Keith’s theme was ‘The politics of working-class gambling … Continue reading Going to the dogs: celebrating fifty years with Professor Keith Laybourn

Keith Laybourn marks half a century at the University of Huddersfield

Keith Laybourn, Diamond Jubilee Professor Emeritus and President of the Society for the Study of Labour History, will be giving a valedictory lecture to commemorate fifty years at the University of Huddersfield. He will be speaking on ’The politics of working class gambling in Britain between c1900 and the 1960s’. The event takes place on Wednesday 25 May, between 5pm and 7pm. Booking is not … Continue reading Keith Laybourn marks half a century at the University of Huddersfield

Chartism Day 2022: report from a day of research, song and a missing friend

From ‘Shabby Feargus’ to the impact of the Northern Star’s move south and Chartists as ‘premature liberal democrats’, the first Chartism Day since 2019 was as entertaining as it was informative and thought-provoking. It had been a long-time coming. But finally, after two years in which Chartism Day did not happen as the world went into lockdowns and social distancing, more than 70 delegates were … Continue reading Chartism Day 2022: report from a day of research, song and a missing friend

Chartism Day 2022: programme online

Update: this article was published to publicise and promote the event. A full report of Chartism Day 2022 can be found here. Chartism Day returns in March 2022 after an enforced absence of two years. This year’s event, held jointly with the Social History Society, is in honour of Professor Malcolm Chase, who died in February 2020. Malcolm was a great historian of Chartism, a … Continue reading Chartism Day 2022: programme online

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

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