Piecing together South Asian histories of Leeds

This week, we welcome to the blog Dimple D’Cruz, Marketing and Communications Assistant at South Asian Arts-uk (SAA-uk). Taking you on a unique tour of Leeds, she tells you all about the work that SAA-uk do around the city, all the while uncovering hidden histories that illuminate the overlooked presence of South Asian communities in…

What Poll Books can tell us about our ancestors in Leeds and the West Riding

This week, as part of Local and Community History Month, we welcome guest author Janice Heppenstall for a fascinating and in-depth look at using electoral results in family history research… Janice will be joining us at the Central Library on Thursday May 11 to deliver a talk based on her family history research. Further information…

Leeds Arts Club and the campaign for women’s suffrage

This week we hear from M.A. student Hannah Cullen on the history of a little-known but highly-influential cultural movement in Leeds and, specifically, its connections with the women’s suffrage movement. Research such as this can be done using Library resources like local newspaper archives and relevant books or pamphlets. A previous article on the Secret…

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,…

HOD 2020: YOU ARE HERE

In the second of our Heritage Open Day triple-bill, we hear from Rob Kilner of Workers Lunchtime, on a map event for Heritage Open Days 2020…If this is of interest – be quick! The maps will be on display until September 29.  YOU ARE HERE is a temporary poster exhibition on the streets of Leeds…