The world below – archaeology at LSE
LSE Archivist Sue Donnelly writes about this Spring’s archaeological dig on Houghton Street at LSE.
London’s many building sites are the source of frequent disruption and irritation but they also provide opportunities to find out more about the history hidden beneath the buildings and streets. The preparatory works for the Centre Buildings Redevelopment was an opportunity to discover what lies […]
The ‘hidden’ women of LSE
LSE Centennial Professor Mary Evans charts the history of women at LSE and the changing attitudes towards gender in higher education and society that occurred throughout LSE’s early decades.
LSE opened in 1895 and among its famous founders were Beatrice Webb and Sidney Webb. Much less well known among those who contributed to the funds for the School was Charlotte Payne Townshend, the wife of George Bernard […]
Making an LSE oral history
Clara Cook shares her experience making an LSE oral history. The Tales from Houghton Street podcast and collection are now available at LSE’s Digital Library.
The first recording I ever made of someone’s voice was when I was 2 years old. I held out a tape recorder to my mother and asked her to say the words ‘peanut butter.’ Since then I have […]
LSE on the big and the small screen
Sir Mark Spencer, special advisor to the Prime Minister: [intending to dupe Hacker into taking a thankless job] But Sir Humphrey Appleby is bound to tell Hacker he’d be crazy to take it on.
Sir Arnold Robinson, Cabinet Secretary: Yes. “Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes”, I can hear him say. “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”, roughly translated. Though Humphrey would […]
LSE history trivia – did you know?
How well do you know your LSE history trivia? Here are 38 facts you probably didn’t know about LSE, originally released during LSE’s 120th anniversary celebrations in 2015:
1. King George VI’s 1939 Christmas broadcast contained a poem by an LSE teacher
Find out more about Minnie Louise Haskins, author of The Gate of the Year which is a preamble to the poem God Knows.
2. […]
Funding the vision – Henry Hunt Hutchinson and his will
How did the will of a Derby lawyer lead to the foundation of the London School of Economics and Political Science? LSE Archivist Sue Donnelly finds out.
On 2 August 1894 a Derby attorney, William Harvey Whiston, wrote to Sidney Webb. The letter enclosed the will of Derby lawyer Henry Hutchinson and stated that the value of the estate was […]
Ghosts of the Past
Ghosts of the Past combines old and new, providing a glimpse into how different – or indeed how similar – LSE of the past was to LSE today.
This photo gallery was created by LSE’s Design Unit and School Photographer Nigel Stead for the LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival 2015. The archive photos used are from the popular LSE Library Flickr […]
“A Life of Adventure” – LSE at 120
“The life of the School has always been a life of adventure”
William Beveridge, Director of LSE from 1919 to 1937, uttered those words in 1930, when the university was a mere 35 years old.
Fast forward to the present. It’s been 85 years since Beveridge’s speech and 120 years since the university first opened its doors. But the adventure hasn’t […]
A royal visit – laying the foundation stone of the Old Building
On 28 May 1920 George V and Queen Mary left Buckingham Palace in an open carriage escorted by the Life Guards. They were accompanied by Herbert Fisher, Minister for Education and as they approached St Clement Danes the church bells began to ring. Halting on Clare Market the royal party entered Passmore Edwards Hall as the Royal Standard was […]
Suffragettes and LSE – early neighbours
Now home to LSE, 20 Kingsway used to house the Tea Cup Inn – a tea shop for suffragettes. Look closely and traces of the suffragettes, LSE’s early neighbours, can still be found around our campus today.
LSE moved to Clare Market and Houghton Street in 1902 to occupy the newly-built Passmore Edwards Hall – and was surrounded on all sides by suffragette […]
As others see us – LSE in fiction
“For the last three months an idea has haunted me that after we have ended our stiff work on Trade Unions I would try my hand at pure ‘Fiction’ in the form of a novel dated “60 years hence”: it should not be an attempt to picture Utopia … The truth is, I want to have my “fling”! I […]
A piece of LGBT+ history at LSE
The GLF at LSE
On 13 October 1970 the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) met for the first time in the UK – in a classroom in LSE’s St Clements building. Founder member Bob Mellors was an LSE student and had just returned from the USA inspired by the progress of the American Civil Rights movement. The GLF was a massively influential […]
LSE’s sustainability journey
“It’s not enough to have a general idea. You must also know how to put it into practice.” These were the words of William Beveridge (LSE Director, 1919-1937) in a speech to LSE students in 1931, where he argued that rigorous study of the social sciences should be brought to bear upon the key challenges of our society.
Fast forward […]
Lest we forget – LSE’s First World War roll of honour
The LSE war memorial hangs alongside the Old Theatre in Old Building and lists the names of 70 staff and students who lost their lives in the First World War. Seventy lives telling seventy stories.
Between 1914 and 1918 the School Governors received regular reports of staff and students who had enlisted, received honours and medals, been wounded, taken prison, […]
Remembrance at LSE – the first war memorial
‘The Students’ Union is anxious to commemorate those students of the School who fell in the Great War, and propose in the first place to erect a memorial table bearing their names, and in the second place, if funds permit, to establish a prize or scholarship in connection with the School.’
So began a circular letter sent in March 1921 […]
Mackindergarten – LSE’s Army Class
In 1907 LSE and the War Office began an experiment in military education which was to last until 1932, with a break during the First World War.
The experience of the Boer War (1899-1901) created concern about the efficiency of the army and a desire to modernise in some quarters. The class for the administrative training of army officers (or […]
An unsung heroine of LSE – Charlotte Payne Townshend Shaw
Accounts of LSE’s foundation and early years are dominated by the personalities of the four people staying at Borough Farm on the morning of 4 August 1894 when Sidney Webb began to outline the idea of establishing a “London school of economics and political science”. One often overlooked key player is the Irish heiress and Fabian, Charlotte Payne Townshend. […]
The Gate of the Year – Minnie Louise Haskins (1875-1957)
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” So I went forth, and […]