Tag: 1920s

Labour history news

One hundred years on: the first Labour government

One hundred years ago today, the first Labour Government took office. Led by James Ramsay MacDonald as prime minister and foreign secretary, the men (though no women) in its ranks included former coal miners and textile workers, a railwayman, an iron founder, and even a labour historian. Many had worked for decades on behalf of the Independent Labour Party or their trade union before entering … Continue reading One hundred years on: the first Labour government

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Events

Collection encounter: Ramsay MacDonald – behind the politics

Drop in to the John Rylands Library in Manchester on Saturday 20 January for an opportunity to see objects relating to James Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937), the UK’s first Labour Prime Minister, and talk to archivists about his role in the Labour movement and the man behind the politics. Marking the centenary of the first Labour government, this free event, organised jointly by the John Rylands … Continue reading Collection encounter: Ramsay MacDonald – behind the politics

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

James Squires (Sheffield Hallam) on the CPGB, anti-militarism and pacifism after the First World War

My PhD researches the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and its relationship with anti-militarist and pacifist ideas from the First World War. The thesis reassesses the political development of the CPGB by focusing on the conscientious objector cohort that joined the Party following its formation in 1920. I explore the impact of the 1917 Russian Revolutions on the largest anti-war group, the No-Conscription Fellowship … Continue reading James Squires (Sheffield Hallam) on the CPGB, anti-militarism and pacifism after the First World War

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Labour history news

Ten labour history anniversaries in 2024

The American historian William M Johnston talked in his book Celebrations about a ‘cult’ of anniversaries. And he noted how they provide an opportunity – or excuse – to mark the passage of time in ways that help communities to build and sustain a sense of identity. For many in the labour movement, there could be no bigger anniversary in 2024 than the centenary of … Continue reading Ten labour history anniversaries in 2024

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Labour History Review

‘Sunderland Has Lost a Figure That Will Go Down in History’: Marion Phillips in the North East of England, 1923–1932

Author: Sarah HellawellThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2023), 88, (3), 221-243. Read more. Selected as the Labour Party’s chief woman officer in 1918, Dr Marion Phillips played a prominent role in the British labour women’s movement before, during and after the Great War. However, her brief stint as Labour MP for Sunderland between 1929 and 1931 has not attracted the same … Continue reading ‘Sunderland Has Lost a Figure That Will Go Down in History’: Marion Phillips in the North East of England, 1923–1932

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Labour History Review

Book reviews in Labour History Review Volume 88 (2023), Issue 3

The books listed below are reviewed in Labour History Review (2023), 88, (3), 279-293. Read more. Hester Barron reviews Agnes Arnold-Forster and Alison Moulds (eds), Feelings and Work in Modern History: Emotional Labour and Emotions about Labour, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022, pp. xii + 265, h/b, £85, ISBN 978 13501 97183 Micaela Panes reviews Daryl Leeworthy, Causes in Common: Welsh Women and the Struggle for Social Democracy, Cardiff: University of Wales … Continue reading Book reviews in Labour History Review Volume 88 (2023), Issue 3

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Events

1923: a year that changed politics forever

The North West Labour History Society is holding a celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the 1923 general election that led to the first Labour government, and telling the stories of some of the newly elected MPs of 1923. The event takes place at Manchester Central Library on Saturday 11 November, starting at 10am. North West Labour History Society. Continue reading 1923: a year that changed politics forever

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Left-wing, woman, aristocrat: in search of Elinor Bethell (1869-1943)

Dr Quentin Gasteuil explains how he tracked down Elinor Bethell, a little known British woman who played a leading role in the Labour Party in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, with help from an SSLH bursary. I came across the widely unknown character of Elinor Frances Bethell during my PhD research. When I first made archival contact with her, she was a British woman … Continue reading Left-wing, woman, aristocrat: in search of Elinor Bethell (1869-1943)

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Labour History Review

Book reviews in Labour History Review Volume 88 (2023), Issue 2

The books listed below are reviewed in Labour History Review (2023), 88, (2), 185-198. Read more. Joe Stanley reviews Peter Hounsell, Bricks of Victorian London: A Social and Economic History, Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press, 2022, pp. xiv + 283 + 15 plates, p/b, £18.99, ISBN 978 19122 60577 Quentin Outram reviews M.M. Borodin (trans. and ed. Pete Dickenson), The Great Betrayal: Black Friday and the 1921 Miners’ Lockout, London: … Continue reading Book reviews in Labour History Review Volume 88 (2023), Issue 2

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Books etc

Rotten Prod: the story of a Belfast boilermaker

Rotten Prod: The Unlikely Career of Dongaree Baird, Emmet O’Connor, University College Dublin Press, 2022. The Irish labour historian Austen Morgan dedicated his study of Belfast labour ‘to the “rotten Prods” of Belfast, victims of unionist violence and nationalist myopia.’ A derogatory label used by loyalists/Unionists against Protestant labour activists, it was laced with venom that brought threats, violence and loss of work. For Unionist … Continue reading Rotten Prod: the story of a Belfast boilermaker

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