LSE Library

The Gay Liberation Front held its first meeting in a basement classroom at LSE in 1970. It had a short life and in its wake, numerous gay and lesbian groups emerged. Here, Curator Gillian Murphy introduces the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre in south London. LSE Library holds the Hall-Carpenter Archive, which contains the papers of gay activists and organisations, ephemera […]

A diary entry by Beatrice Webb from April 1886 records her attendance at the first meeting of a fledgling group of social investigators called the Board of Statistical Research.  Webb’s neat summary of the object of the committee – “to get a fair picture of the whole of London society – the 4,000,000!” – is a wry (and wary) […]

LSE’s Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, opened in November 1896. In a series of posts celebrating LSE Library’s 120th anniversary in 2016, Graham Camfield explores the beginnings of the Russian Collection at LSE’s Library.

The acquisition of material in Russian developed slowly and spasmodically before the Second World War. One of the early items entered in the Acquisitions […]

LSE’s Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, opened in November 1896. In a series of posts celebrating LSE Library’s 120th anniversary in 2016, Kate Higgins shares the story of one of LSE’s newest collections, the European Liaison Group archive.

The archive of the European Liaison Group (ELG), an anti-Soviet campaign group for Eastern and Central European exile communities, was […]

LSE’s Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, opened in November 1896. In a series of posts celebrating LSE Library’s 120th anniversary in 2016, Gillian Murphy tells the story of The Women’s Library at LSE, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.

The origins of The Women’s Library can be traced back to the suffrage movement. Out of the 1866 Women’s Suffrage […]

LSE’s Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, opened in November 1896. In a series of posts celebrating LSE Library’s 120th anniversary in 2016, Gillian Murphy explores the women behind the names on the suffrage banner inspired by the 1866 women’s suffrage petition. LSE’s collections on early suffragist history are currently on display in the LSE Library exhibition Endless Endeavours: from the 1866 […]

LSE’s Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, opened in November 1896. In a series of posts celebrating LSE Library’s 120th anniversary in 2016, Gillian Murphy explores the story behind the 1866 women’s suffrage petition. LSE’s collections on early suffragist history are currently on display in the LSE Library exhibition Endless Endeavours: from the 1866 Women’s Suffrage Petition to the Fawcett Society. 

On […]

LSE’s Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, opened in November 1896. In a series of posts celebrating LSE Library’s 120th anniversary in 2016, Graham Camfield remembers three Acquisitions Officers who shaped the collections the Library has today.

A history of LSE Library collections would fall short if it failed to mention some key personalities, who have helped shape them […]

LSE’s Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, opened in November 1896. In the second of a series of posts celebrating LSE Library’s 120th anniversary in 2016, Graham Camfield shares the little-known story of Sidney Webb the bibliographer.

As a seasoned researcher Sidney Webb highly valued the work of librarians in compiling indexes and bibliographies. From early in the LSE […]

LSE’s Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, opened in November 1896. In the first of a series of posts celebrating LSE Library’s 120th anniversary in 2016, Graham Camfield explores the founding of the Library and its changing face through the years.

For eighty of its one hundred and twenty years the Library shared accommodation with the School. During this […]

Indy Bhullar, LSE Library, shares the story of the women behind Charles Booth’s Survey of London. Posts about LSE’s Library explore the history of the Library and its collections.

At LSE, we’re fortunate to have a fascinating collection of material from what is often referred to as the Charles Booth Survey of London. This survey and all the laboriously collected data which […]

LSE’s Library series for LSE Women: making history highlights women’s stories in some of the archives and special collections held at LSE. Gillian Murphy shares images of the Boer War from the archives of Millicent Garrett Fawcett and Lucy Deane. Posts about LSE’s Library explore the history of the Library and its collections.

LSE Library holds the diaries of Millicent Garrett Fawcett and Lucy Deane […]

LSE’s Library series for LSE Women: making history highlights women’s stories in some of the archives and special collections held at LSE. Gillian Murphy shares her experience curating Women, Peace and Equality. Posts about LSE’s Library explore the history of the Library and its collections.
“Ooh…I’m related to her. That’s my aunt!”
This was the excited reaction of a woman attending a gallery talk on Women, […]

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to see the ‘Foundations: LSE and the Science of Society’ exhibition in the LSE Library Exhibition Space. It is a great introduction to the history of LSE’s foundation, from concept to realisation.  It also details some of the personal achievements of notable individuals such as Malinowski and Beveridge. Open until Saturday 19 December 2015,  admission to the exhibition […]

LSE Library is opening a new exhibition to share even more of the amazing stories we have within our archives and special collections. Foundations: LSE and the Science of Society celebrates the achievements of LSE staff and students and investigates the innovative founding principles of the School. Perfect in size for a lunch hour visit, come along and discover how and why LSE was […]

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Archivist Archivist Kate Higgins uses the Women’s Library@LSE archive to look back at women’s response to the Miners’ Strike 1984-85, on its 30th anniversary.

Thirty years ago this month the miners’ strike of 1984-85 – called nationally by Arthur Scargill of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on 12 March 1984 following National Coal Board announcements […]

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 […]

In 1898 the Library took in its first archive deposit when Beatrice and Sidney Webb donated the trade union papers they had acquired during the research for The History of Trade Unionism. It was always Sidney Webb’s vision for the Library that it should support researchers, rich in primary sources including archive materials. Following on from that first acquisition […]