In July 1945, to the astonishment of Winston Churchill, and indeed everyone else except Aneurin Bevan, the people of Britain elected a Labour government. In a landslide victory 213 Conservative members were outnumbered by 393 Labour. 70 years later we are revisiting the achievements of that government and exploring...
This installation by Al Johnson, shared between ourselves and the People's History Museum, celebrates the determination shown by the miners and their families against implacable political determinism during the Miners’ Strike 1984-1985. The installation is on view whenever the Library is open, although we particularly encourage you to come...
The Library is marking Heritage Open Days 2015 with 'behind-the-scenes' tours on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 September at 2pm. Book in advance via enquiries wcml.org.uk Heritage Open Days is the country’s largest heritage festival with over 4,600 events, around 40,000 volunteers and some three million visitors taking part...
Pat Thane, Research Professor in Contemporary British History, Institute of Contemporary British History, King's College, London, will speak about the post-war welfare reforms. Pat says: 'As the present government heads to the final destruction of the post-war welfare state, it is timely to ask exactly what the Attlee government...
The Library is pleased to be playing a part again in the second Flow Salford Festival. An installation by Hannah Hiett can be viewed in our hall from 3 to 6pm on Friday 25 September and from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 26 September. Personal Effects is an installation...
Credit: ILP Publications Saturday 26 September 2015 will mark the centenary of the death of James Keir Hardie at the comparatively young age of 59. But in those 59 years Hardie had changed the political landscape of Britain. This conference aims to celebrate the impact Hardie had on British...
Andrew Bibby introduces his new book, which tells the tale of the early worker-run cooperatives in Britain and in particular the fustian mill in Hebden Bridge which operated for almost fifty years as a cooperative. Admission free; light refreshments afterwards.
Exhibition by Manchester artist Tim Dunbar. Guernica in Manchester Re-Representation is a drawing project that is based on an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the exhibition of Picasso’s Guernica in a car showroom in Manchester in the first two weeks of February in 1939. The exhibition includes a quarter...
Talk by Marshall Mateer based on new research from items in the WCML archive. This is the story of three volunteers – Nat Cohen, Sam Masters and Ramona Siles Garcia - during the early months of the Spanish Civil War in 1936; the 1930s and why they went to...
A talk by Marika Sherwood to mark Black History Month. France and Britain wanted to take over Germany’s colonies in West, South and East Africa. The wars were fought almost exclusively by many thousands of African troops officered by Whites. Especially in East Africa, the devastation was enormous. Germany...
