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 2014. Click on the links to see more information.
February: LGBT History Month - 'Coal not Dole' poster from the miners' strike 1984-85
During the '84-'85 strikes ‘Coal not Dole' was vocalised, printed and worn by striking miners and their supporters. Arthur Scargill had taken the decision to call a strike without a ballot and no ballot meant the action was illegal, leaving those on strike ineligible for benefits and with no income. So they relied on support groups. One of these was Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM).
March: Do Not Spit leaflet
"Above all, DO NOT SPIT. It is an unpleasant habit; but, more important, it is a dangerous one. Sputum is one of the most potent sources of infection: even a report that it is negative is not enough, for it may become positive at any time." Excerpt from a ‘Good Luck' pamphlet made available by the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis (NAPT) for patients leaving the Sanatorium.
April: Clarion Summer Number 1892
On 28th February 2014 the Working Class Movement Library welcomed members of the London Clarion Cycling Club as they presented this unique edition of ‘The Clarion Summer Number 1892'. Inside are signatures from four regular journalists for the Clarion newspaper, including that of its founder, Robert Blatchford.
May: May Day leaflet, 1900
The ‘May Day International Labour Festival' combined tradition with solidarity of labour. An estimated 12,000 people and 150 associations connected with the Social Democratic Federation and London Trades Council gathered to enjoy maypole dancing, cycling, athletic sports and tug of war, alongside a banner competition, socialist choirs, six platforms featuring ‘all principal speakers of the movement', and ‘The Great International Labour Meeting'.
June: The Woman Worker, September 1907, Volume 1 Number 1
Our Object of the Month ties in with the talk at the Library on Wed 25 June about the National Federation of Women Workers. First published in 1906 by the NFWW, The Woman Worker sought to further the work of the Federation through a combination of anecdotes, informative articles, allegories and relevant advertisements.
August: Autographs - and a link to Indian independence
The Library has just received a donation of an autograph book full of the signatures of leading figures in the British labour movement of the early 20th century. Among these is the signature of H. N. Brailsford, a great public intellectual and author of The War of Steel and Gold (1914), an anti-imperialist tract that was published on the eve of the First World War.
November: 1935 Daily Worker Bazaar Menu
A menu from a 1935 bazaar in aid of The Daily Worker. The Daily Worker, the newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain, launched its first issue on 1 January 1930. This quoted Lenin: ‘Without a political organ, a movement deserving to be called a political movement is impossible in modern Europe.
