Volunteers’ Week takes place every year from 1-7 June. Leeds Libraries held a celebratory reception yesterday, recognizing the efforts of our volunteering team – including event supporters, At-Home Service deliverers, partners and, of course, heritage volunteers – several of whom have written for this very blog. Today, we hand over to another of these, Joan Ellis,…
Category: Social History
Back-to-Back Houses and their Communities
University of York PhD researcher Joanne Harrison is working on an exciting project about the past, present and future of back-to-back houses and their communities in Harehills. Leeds Local and Family History Library is helping Joanne engage with the local communities, working with them to understand the neighbourhood, promote its value, and safeguard its future. Joanne writes… EDIT:…
May Day and Mrs Montagu
We couldn’t let today pass without a look at the holiday’s traditional association with chimney sweeps – the focus of our current ‘Sweepiana’ display at Central Library. Natascha Allen-Smith and Jonathan Wright investigate… May Day is both a religious and secular occasion, celebrated as a devotion to the Virgin Mary but also a ceremony of dance and the crowning the Queen of…
Remember the Dead and Fight for the Living
by Louise Birch and Ross Horsley, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library Today is Workers Memorial Day, marking the sacrifice of those who have died as a result of their job, and reminding all employers and employees of the importance of looking after their colleagues. In front of Leeds Central Library, a new plaque was unveiled bearing…
“We Smile”: A Curious Donation of Photographs
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library We recently received a new addition to our collections: a photograph album featuring images of holidays in the North of England during 1920 and 1921. The album was donated to us in the hope we could identify the people depicted in the photos and then –…
Who Led Leeds? Case Study #1: Maud Dightam
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…
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…
