Every month someone from the Library chooses an interesting object, book or document from the Library collection, which is displayed in the hall of the Library. Here are a selection from 2013. Click on the links to see more information.
January: Poster marking the 125th anniversary of the boilermakers' union - from the collection of Peter Carter
Peter Carter, a former Trustee of the Library, has recently offered his vast collection of trade union emblems, certificates and posters as a donation split between the People's History Museum and ourselves. To mark this generous gift, the Object of the Month comes from his collection.
March: International Women's Day 2013
Two pamphlets to mark International Women's Day. Helmshore Local History Society kindly brought us some very interesting pamphlet material on 1 March this year. Amazingly this donation included a pamphlet by Esther Roper and another by Eva Gore-Booth. This couple featured in our Lesbian and Gay History Month talk by Sonja Tiernan just last month.
June: Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space
It is 50 years since Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to go into space. She set off in Vostok 6 on Sunday 16 June 1963 and landed three days later, after 48 orbits of the earth. (Valery Bykovsky in Vostok 5 had gone the day before).
October: 1945 Pan-African Congress in Manchester
We mark Black History Month with Objects of the Month from the 1945 Pan-African Congress - a delegate ribbon and handbook. The fifth Pan-African Congress, held in October 1945, was a major event in the 20th century. Decisions taken at this conference led to the independence of African countries - and it was held in Manchester, in Chorlton-on-Medlock Town Hall.
November: Living Wage
The living wage and the law of supply and demand: a letter to the colliers. This pamphlet, on the current hot topic of the living wage, was published in 1893, written by Robert Blatchford, editor of The Clarion.