It’s National Libraries Week 2020 so we decided to celebrate ourselves and the libraries we have provided all the way back to the 1870s when our first ones opened. Local Libraries hold a soft spot in the hearts of their borrowers (no, not the short folk living behind the skirting from Mary Norton’s classic work…
Category: Social History
Black History Month 2020: Research
During October the majority of our content on the Secret Library blog will focus on Black History Month, including links to relevant resources held at the Central Library and signposting to external organisations, most specifically relating to Leeds, its history and heritage. Each week will have a different theme – Research, Events, Social Justice, Windrush and…
HOD 2020: Hidden Nature, Hidden History Heritage Trail
This year for Heritage Open Day (Sept 11-20) we are doing things a little bit differently: instead of opening up our building, we are opening up our city centre for you to explore and enjoy while finding out more about this year’s theme of Hidden Nature. Leeds is a city of green spaces with large…
People of Leeds #11: Superintendent Henry Baker and his Fire Books
This week Helen Skilbeck looks at a collection of scrapbooks compiled by Superintendent Henry Baker of Leeds Corporation Fire Brigade, covering the period 1870 – 1896. This article is #11 in our People of Leeds series – short biographies of lesser-known contributors to Leeds’ past. Deep within the stacks in Leeds Central Library are a collection…
People of Leeds #10: Godfrey Wood, Confectioner
A recent blog post by librarian Helen Skilbeck looked at Godfrey Wood’s Victorian Catering Ledger which shows the events his catering business provided food and services for. This follow-up post, also by Helen, looks in more detail at Godfrey Wood himself. This article is #10 in our People of Leeds series – short biographies of…
Hathorn, Davey and Company, Limited
This week on the Secret Library we have an article from guest writer Dr Robert Vernon, who explores the Hunslet engineering company, Hathorn, Davey and Company, Limited. Robert will be releasing his new book, A history of Hathorn, Davey and Company, Limited (1872 to 1936) which will be published later in 2020. Hathorn, Davey and…
West Leeds Girls’ High School Jubilee Magazine
This week’s Secret Library Heritage Blog article has been written by Local and Family History’s Josh Flint and will be the first in a new series. This new series will be on treasures from the Local and Family History collection about Armley. This first Armley treasure is the 50th Jubilee of the West Leeds Girls;…
LGBT+ Leeds: A Brief History in Photographs
A heritage project called West Yorkshire Queer Stories recently spent two years interviewing LGBT+ people across the region in order to find out more about local queer history. The result is a new website packed with information and anecdotes reaching back to the 1950s, at wyqs.co.uk. Project worker Ross Horsley has picked out some of…
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