The first week of June is Volunteers’ Week – an annual celebration of the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering in their communities. We want to celebrate (and thank profusely) our very own Heritage Volunteers who have been beavering away at various tasks in the Local and Family History Library for…
Category: Leeds History
Piecing together South Asian histories of Leeds
This week, we welcome to the blog Dimple D’Cruz, Marketing and Communications Assistant at South Asian Arts-uk (SAA-uk). Taking you on a unique tour of Leeds, she tells you all about the work that SAA-uk do around the city, all the while uncovering hidden histories that illuminate the overlooked presence of South Asian communities in…
“A Wilderness of Stone and Brick”: Herbert Read’s Leeds
Earlier this year our Central Library hosted a screening of the documentary film To Hell With Culture, an immersive study of the life and work of Sir Herbert Read, in partnership with Hyde Park Picture House. Alongside that screening we put together a small exhibition of materials we hold about Herbert Read, specifically that which…
What Poll Books can tell us about our ancestors in Leeds and the West Riding
This week, as part of Local and Community History Month, we welcome guest author Janice Heppenstall for a fascinating and in-depth look at using electoral results in family history research… Janice will be joining us at the Central Library on Thursday May 11 to deliver a talk based on her family history research. Further information…
Two 19th Century Scoops: Part II – Peterloo, August 1819
This week we hear from Library and Digital Assistant Ruairí Lewis on some fascinating examples of local, Leeds newspapers making their mark on the national stage. On top of our extensive local newspaper collection in the Central Library, Leeds Libraries also have access to the British Newspaper Archive’s 19th Century Newspapers database. This gives library…
Two 19th Century Scoops: Part I – The Spy Oliver
This week we hear from Library and Digital Assistant Ruairí Lewis on some fascinating examples of local, Leeds newspapers making their mark on the national stage. On top of our extensive local newspaper collection in the Central Library, Leeds Libraries also have access to the British Newspaper Archive’s 19th Century Newspapers database. This gives library…
The Chimney Corner: Secret Books from the Secret Library #5
The fifth in a newly-regular series exploring books and other items selected from our vast collections. In this entry Librarian Antony Ramm showcases a wonderful collection of photographs showing Unitarian Churches across Yorkshire in the late 19th-century… This is a really nice volume, a collection of images and historical notes about Unitarian Chapels across Yorkshire….
The Alternative Heritage of Leeds
This week we welcome guest blogger, Festival of Gothica, who tell us about a new project working jointly with Leeds Libraries. Leeds has a rich alternative heritage but was influential in birthing the goth subculture as we know it today. Other cities celebrate their musical history and shape their events and tourism around it, Liverpool…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 