This week we welcome Library and Digital Assistant Heather Edwards, who has written a fascinating article on a pioneer of medical history for LGBT+ History Month, told using books in the collections at our Central Library. Update: Since the publication of this article, Heather has written two sequels. Read them here: Part 2 and Part…
Category: Historical Figures
Fantasy: Realms of Imagination and Leeds Libraries Special Collections
On this week’s Secret Library Heritage Blog, we hear from Librarian Josh Flint who will be exploring a few of his favourite special collection items from the Leeds Central Library’s Fantasy exhibition which was inspired by The British Library’s Fantasy: Realms of Imagination. The exhibition will be ending on the 17th January so make sure…
Tolkien in Leeds: Back again
In this short article, Librarian Antony Ramm explores a small but valuable addition to our collection of Tolkien-related materials at Leeds Central Library. This article is part of our series on the current Fantasy: Realms of Imagination exhibition, taking place at the Central Library until January 2024… As most people probably know, legendary fantasy author…
Any work that wanted doing
This week we hear once again from artist Gill Crawshaw, who has been delving into the Central Library archives to uncover the hidden history of disability and West Yorkshire’s textile heritage. The article is published to mark the start of UK Disability History Month, which begins on November 18. An exciting exhibition of new artwork is on at…
Women of Beckett Street Cemetery: Theodosia Grimshaw Wilkinson (1831-1901)
This week we hear from Jeanette B of the Friends of Beckett Street Cemetery group about the life and achievements of an inspiring Leeds woman… Whilst researching and reading on the Friends of Beckett Street Cemetery website I was very interested to find a gentleman buried in the Cemetery who was known as the ‘Blind…
Opening the textile heritage of Leeds
We’re still recovering from our amazing but very-busy Open Day last Saturday, part of our Heritage Open Day (HOD) Week offer. We’ll be bringing you a full round-up of that day, and all our other wonderful HOD events in a few weeks – but today we can share a small snapshot of what we’ve been…
Connecting Portugal to…Rothwell?!
This week we hear from Librarian Antony Ramm, who briefly explores the distant links between a 14th-century diplomatic treaty and a modest commuter town in the Leeds metropolitan district… As no doubt many readers are aware, tomorrow marks the 650th anniversary of the oldest continuous diplomatic treaty in existence: the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373, signed…
Trout in the Treasures
Did you know Trout season lasts from March to September? Library Assistant Becky Bavill went for a rummage in the reference and research stacks where she found ‘Yorkshire Trout Flies’ by TE Pritt (SR799.124 PRI) Published in 1885 the item is counted as one of our treasures, seeing as it is not only a first…
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