This week on the Secret Library we are delighted to hear once again from Andy Armstrong, one of our heritage volunteers, on a significant piece of cataloguing work we’ve asked them to help us with. You can find more articles about housing in Leeds elsewhere on the blog… Hi. My name’s Andy Armstrong and I…
Poor Laws, Workhouses to ‘Food Bank Britain’: a brief overview of how poverty has been understood and addressed from Pre-Modern to contemporary Britain
This week we welcome University of Leeds student Emily O’Riley. Having completed a yearlong research project alongside the Thackray Museum of Medicine, who provided 360 biographies of Workhouse inmates based on 1881 census data, Emily reflects on the Victorian Workhouse and what it can tell us about British society. The first thing we learnt about…
Watergate: Even Richard Nixon has got soul
This week on the Secret Library Leeds Librarian Antony Ramm offers a break from our usual programming to mark a significant anniversary in modern American politics… “Our secret’s safe and still well kept |Where even Richard Nixon has got soul.” – Neil Young On this day, 50-years ago, President Richard Nixon of the United States…
190 Years Celebrating Emancipation
We welcome back researcher Danny Friar this week, to mark a very important anniversary: 190 years since the emancipation of enslaved people in the British Caribbean colonies. After reading Danny’s article, be sure to catch the Beyond the Bassline: 500 years of Black British Music exhibition currently on display at the Reginald Centre. On the…
Great War Territorial Volunteer – Frederick Luff
The third and final post in Library and Digital Assistant Becky Bavill’s series exploring the lives and careers of some Leeds soldiers during World War I. You can see all the articles in this series by clicking here, or read the original article that sparked this research here. Fred Luff is mentioned in the diary…
Under the Microscope: Part 3
Library and Digital Assistant Heather Edwards returns for the final part of her trilogy on LGBT+ pioneers in the medical field. You can see all three parts of this series elsewhere on the blog. Dr James Barry Now, Dr James Barry is a bit of a contentious figure to include here, as over the years…
Under the Microscope: Part 2
We welcome back Library and Digital Assistant Heather Edwards for a sequel to a recent article looking at LGBT+ pioneers in the medical field….Look out for part 3 coming later this week as well. Way back in LGBT+ History Month, after looking at Dr Sophia Jex-Blake (first practicing female doctor in Scotland and a pioneer…
Great War Territorial Volunteer – Eric Stowell
We welcome Library and Digital Assistant Becky Bavill back to the Secret Library Leeds this week, for another short biography of a Leeds soldier in World War I. Keep a look out for one more article in this series coming soon… Eric Stowell is mentioned in the diary of William Smith. I found two links…
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