Posts about the history of LSE’s Library, librarians and archive collections.
On Hugh Dalton’s archives and making up with the past
LSE Library hold the archives of alumnus and former government minister, Hugh Dalton. Student Alma Simba shares her experiences using Hugh’s diaries for research, on the centenary of the end of the war he was writing about. From opening and interpreting the archives to visiting the Imperial War Museum’s centenary exhibition, Alma writes about studying history and the fluidity of interpretation: making up with the […]
The Mud March and the meeting at Exeter Hall
On 9 February 1907, in the rain, the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies held the first large-scale women’s procession through London. The finishing point was Exeter Hall on the Strand, now the site of the Strand Palace Hotel. LSE Curator Gillian Murphy introduces the LSE archive material on the “mud march”, and the speech given at Exeter Hall by Jewish […]
In the LSE Library archives – “I feel guilty for not trying to escape from all of my prison sentences”
The launch of a new LSE Library exhibition “Give Peace a Chance” shines a spotlight on some of the key archive collections held at LSE Library that document the lives and activities of peace campaigners and organisations in the 20th century. Curator Daniel Payne explores the archives of the incredible peace activist and civil rights campaigner Pat Arrowsmith.
Poet, artist, […]
Suffragettes at dinner – from gaol to the Savoy Hotel
“Suffragettes at dinner – from gaol to the Savoy Hotel” was the headline from the Daily Mail about the banquet hosted by Millicent Garrett Fawcett held in the lavish surroundings of the Savoy Hotel for released suffragette prisoners on 11 December 1906. Curator Gillian Murphy outlines the LSE archives about this event.
In the Women’s Library collection is Millicent Garrett Fawcett’s […]
Book Extract: ‘Preserving Their Own Memory: Constitutional Suffragism and the Fawcett Society’ from Remembering Women’s Activism by Sharon Crozier De-Rosa and Vera Mackie
2018 marks the centenary of partial suffrage in Britain, when property-owning women over the age of 30 won the right to vote in parliamentary elections in the UK. To commemorate the historical link between LSE and the campaign for women’s suffrage, on 23 November 2018 the Towers at Clement’s Inn on LSE campus were renamed Pankhurst House, Fawcett House and […]
The 100th anniversary of Armistice
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended the First World War. On this anniversary, LSE Library have partnered with Google to release two online exhibitions that explore LSE’s collections and connections with the First World War.
LSE’s War: 1914 – 1918
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
LSE’s War: 1914 – 1918
First LSE […]
Dare to be Free – the Women’s Freedom League
LSE Library holds the archives of the Women’s Freedom League, more early neighbours of LSE. Curator Gillian Murphy introduces the League, who formed in response to what they viewed as “unconstitutional” actions by the Women’s Social and Political Union.
On Saturday 14 September 1907, a meeting was held at the Eustace Miles Restaurant, a vegetarian restaurant in Chandos Street, just off the Strand. […]
In the LSE Library archives – The founding of the Anti-Federalist League
The early days of UKIP have its roots at LSE. Curator for Politics and International Relations Daniel Payne takes a look at the Library archives that document the development of euroscepticism in the UK.
In November 1993 the Maastricht Treaty came into force. It was a highly controversial treaty, not just for the UK, which nearly bought down John Major’s Conservative […]
Clement’s Inn – the first home of the Women’s Social and Political Union in London
In 1906, the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) moved from Manchester to London, and specifically to Emmeline and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence’s apartment at Clement’s Inn, writes LSE curator Gillian Murphy. Eventually the WSPU occupied 27 rooms within the building, before a split in 1912 saw the WSPU move around the corner to Kingsway. Today, the site at Clement’s Inn is […]
Alice Clark – a suffragist from LSE
Somerset-born Alice Clark came from a family of pacifist shoe-makers who were involved in the suffrage movement. LSE curator Gillian Murphy finds that Alice Clark also held a Shaw Research Studentship in economic history at LSE.
Alice Clark, daughter of Helen and William Clark, was born in Street in Somerset in 1874. She was a Quaker by birth, and also a Liberal, and her family were […]