by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library This article also forms #3 in our occasional People of Leeds series – a celebration of lesser-known contributors to the Leeds story. Many readers will be familiar with the name and the achievements of Alice Bacon, the first woman elected as an MP in Leeds. And…
Category: Social History
Hands-On Urban History #1: Little Woodhouse
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library Last Saturday, as part of our 2017 Library Fest programme, we welcomed a group of budding urban historians and explorers to the Central Library, for a workshop where they would help staff from the Local and Family History department research and investigate a fascinating item that had…
Ballet Memories at The Grand Theatre
By Karen Downham, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library One of the best things about working in Local and Family History is the wide variety of topics that we can deal with, and not knowing what you will be asked on a day to day basis. It is always rewarding to help people find what they…
Sweeping Through Time
Two weeks ago, we let you in on some of the secrets of the Henry Collection in Oliver Twist with a Twist. This week it’s over to our two experts on the subject, Jonathan and Natascha, to share a few of their favourite finds. Did you know that Leeds Central Library holds extensive collections on the English…
In Memory of David Strachan, a Yorkshire Scot
Guest blogger Val Hewson, from the Reading Sheffield project, tells the story of David Strachan, a Leeds librarian who died in the First World War. Val came across him by chance, in a 1923 article in the Library Association Record about plans for a memorial to librarians lost in the war. One hundred years ago…
Chicks, cigars and wine-drinking toddlers: A Victorian Christmas
by Vickie Bennett, Art Library, Leeds Central Library In the Art Library we currently have one of our favourite handmade items on display to coincide with our charity Christmas card shop – the ‘Victorian Scrapbook’ of scraps and greetings cards. A donation to the library in the 1990’s, and a visual feast for any fan…
When the Robots Came to Leeds
Heritage volunteer and guest blogger Tony Scaife looks back to 1920s Leeds, when the new word ‘robot’ had a somewhat different meaning… The robot army arrived in Leeds on Friday 16 March 1928. Readers will have to judge for themselves whether Councillor Turtington and the other members of the Leeds Highways Committee were prescient, deluded or…
Illuminating the Rich History of “Light Night” in Leeds
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library No doubt most readers of our blog will be spending this evening enjoying one of the many wonderful art events happening around the city centre as part of the annual Light Night celebrations. And most readers will probably already be aware of how those celebrations started –…
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