Posts about the lesser known and quirky side of LSE’s history.
GalleryLSE 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. […]
GalleryFunding 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 […]
GalleryGhosts 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 […]
Gallery“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 […]
GalleryA 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, writes LSE Archivist Sue Donnelly. 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 […]
GallerySuffragettes and LSE – early neighbours
Now home to LSE, 20 Kingsway used to house the Tea Cup Inn – a tea shop for suffragettes. The offices of the Women’s Social and Political Union were at Clement’s Inn and their newspaper printed at the St Clement’s Press on Clare Market. Hayley Reed finds that if you look closely traces of the suffragettes, LSE’s early neighbours, can still […]
GalleryAs others see us – LSE in fiction
LSE Archivist Sue Donnelly introduces some works of fiction that reference LSE, including Pygmalion, a play for LSE co-founder George Bernard Shaw.
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 […]
GalleryA piece of LGBT+ history at LSE
This LGBT History Month, find out about the history of the gay rights movement at LSE, the foundation of the present day staff LGBT+ network, and how to research LGBT history using our archive collections.
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 […]
GalleryLSE’s sustainability journey
LSE Sustainability Officer Jon Emmett introduces LSE’s sustainability journey 2004 to 2014.
“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 […]
GalleryLest we forget 1914-1918 – 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, writes LSE Archivist Sue Donnelly. 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 […]