Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery holds hand-painted banners from the first political union in Britain founded in the 1820s, a plaque made from plaster scraped from the walls of Wormwood Scrubs by a First World War conscientious objector and over 100 badges collected by a local supporter of the miners’ strikes to name a few items, and this exhibition is presenting this hidden collection to the public in many cases for the first time.
What does the heritage trail format offer to the communication of radical histories? Charlotte Tomlinson introduces the East End Women’s Museum’s (EEWM) Brilliant Women of Whitechapel, Bow and Barking Heritage Trail, which explores stories of ‘ordinary yet extraordinary’ women who have lived in East London.
James Grannell explores the important role that Gay Health Action played in demystifying information about HIV and AIDS prevention in 1980s Ireland. GHA’s matter-of-fact publications sought to ‘meet people where they were’.
On Sunday 5th May 2019, Glasgow’s annual May Day demonstration marked the final and largest centenary event commemorating the events of 1919. Commemoration of the Battle of George Square has interested diverse groups of researchers, activists and institutions. Its politics are negotiated between conflicting claims grounded in assertions of authenticity, familial connection and intellectual authority. Respect for tradition meets the desire to create a ‘usable past’ fit for the second decade of the 21st century. How do these conflicting ideologies wrestle to find meaning and relevance in the city’s radical past?
Open for booking: Activist Histories of Ireland conference
What is the role of space and place in the commemoration of Peterloo? Katrina Navickas explores the massacre’s legacy in the streets of Manchester.
What did Peterloo mean in an international context? Shirin Hirsch investigates the connections between Peterloo and a global struggle for freedom.
