This week’s article is written by Sophia Lambert, a BA History student at Leeds Beckett University. Sophia utilised the books and resources in the Local and Family History department as part of her research on the Jews of Leeds between 1840-1920. The official date given to mark the establishment of the Leeds Jewish communities is…
A Brief History of Leeds #1: The 15th-century
The first in a series of articles exploring the history of Leeds, using books and other stock resources held in the Leeds Libraries collections. For all the entries in this series, see our dedicated page. We start our story some 500-years ago in the 15th-century, at Kirkstall Abbey, established by pioneering Cistercian monks in 1152…
David Atkinson – The making of a Local Historian
With over 7000 images held on the Leodis website, the David Atkinson Archive is a beautifully curated collection of images from the Morley area of Leeds. Today Clive McManus, local historian, tells us a bit about the man behind the collection. David Keith Atkinson was a Morley man through and through, living and working there…
Early Maps of Leeds: Power and Control
This week Librarian Antony Ramm analyses some early maps of Leeds. This article is based on a recent talk given by Librarians in the Local and Family History department; it draws in part on two previous articles on this site A MAP OF ROTHWELL, OULTON AND LOFTHOUSE, MADE IN THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII (1531)Our…
Step Back Leeds
This week we hear about a project making creative use of the Central Library’s 19th-century Political Cartoons collection… Organised by a group of five second-year Liberal Arts students at University of Leeds, Step Back Leeds is a project that works to explore the 19th Century political story of Leeds through the Leeds Libraries’ collection of…
Traces of ‘Old Leeds’ on Leodis
This week, Librarian Antony Ramm takes us through some of the oldest images on our recently relaunched Leodis photograph archive… This short article will explore the oldest photographs and other images on Leodis; more accurately, in fact, it will offer a brief look at what I’ve called ‘traces of Old Leeds on Leodis’. By this…
The Black Freedom Struggle in Nineteenth-Century Leeds
On the Secret Library this week we hear from guest author Dr Hannah-Rose Murray from the University of Edinburgh. Hannah-Rose will be discussing her new book entitled African American Narratives and Speeches which will published in 2022. During the nineteenth-century, African American freedom fighters and survivors of U.S. chattel slavery made radical and politicized journeys across…
My next book, Jobs for the Girls – and why I would love your help with it
This week we hear from author Ysenda Maxtone Graham, who is requesting reader-assistance with a fascinating new book project… My previous two books have been about British childhoods. In Terms & Conditions: Life in Girls’ Boarding Schools, 1939-1979, I wrote about the extraordinary lost world of those female establishments in the days of lino corridors,…
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