Archiving Left wing material in London

The Bishopsgate Institute, opposite London's Liverpool Street station, is an independent progressive archive - it is not part of the Corporation of London - that has a good collection of atheist and radical material. It houses the Marxist historian Raphael Samuel's papers. Stefan Dickers, the archivist, says the archive has a remit for the whole of London not just East London: 'We are very interested in material about radical London, so it would be fantastic if you could put the word about. We are interested in London-wide in terms of radical/political material'. You don't need to catalogue papers or deliver them, the Institute does that. If you are interested, please contact Stefan direct on:Stefan.Dickers@bishopsgate.org.uk

'Crisis? What Crisis?'

The deadline for the Autumn issue of the LSHG Newsletter is September 1st [or
thereabouts..] and I'd like to do an initial round-up of the likely or already
existing impact of Con-Dem cuts on history teaching in schools and colleges,
research facilities, libraries, archives etc. All contributions welcome to the email
address at the top of the Blog.
Keith Flett, Editor

Legacies of British Slave Ownership workshops

The Legacies of British Slave-ownership project at UCL are holding a series of regional workshops in the following cities:
Glasgow: 4th September
Newcastle: 25th September
Birmingham: 9th October
Liverpool: 23rd October
Bristol: 27th November
To book a place or for further information
please see www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/workshops
or contact lbs@ucl.ac.uk

Edited to add: Institute of Commonwealth Studies, in conjunction with the Black & Asian Studies Association present the Black and Asian Britain seminars

Seminars September to December: 6 to 7.30 pm, Senate House, University of London, Russell Square, London WC1. Everyone is welcome. You do not have to pre-book/register. (Contact: Marika.Sherwood@sas.ac.uk)

Tuesday, September 14 (room G37)

Marika Sherwood, 'Malcolm X’s visits to Africa and Britain'. Historians of Malcolm usually almost ignore these visits: I shall outline his activities and question reasons for these omissions. Marika's book Malcolm X : visits abroad April 1964 – February 1965 will be available.

Tuesday, October 12 (room G34)
Rev. Israel Oluwole Olofinjana, 'History and Contributions of African Chuches in Britain'.

The seminar will trace the history of African Churches in Britain, explore why Africans are starting churches in the UK and their contributions to the British society. Rev. Olofinjana’s recent book Reverse in Ministry and Missions: Africans in the Dark Continent of Europe will be available at a reduced price. (Rev. Olofinjana is the minister of the Crofton Park Baptist Church, Brockley Grove, Lewisham)

Wednesday,17 November (room G34)

Stephen Bourne will talk about his new book Mother Country which acknowledges the wartime contributions of Britain's Black community to the Home Front in WW2.

Reviving working class history in Wales

Those interested in Tim Evan's earlier piece on commemorating the centenary of the the Great Unrest in Llanelli in 1911, miht be interested in his recent piece for the Guardian, Remembering the working-class martyrs of Llanelli. On the subject of remembering (and for one person forgetting) the martyrs of the British working class movement, readers may also be interested in the Tolpuddle Martyrs Tour guides strike, which it is safe to say the LSHG fully supports.

Edited to add: On the subject of the Great Unrest, see also this call for a London History Workshop

Socialist Historians Up North Autumn Day School

Socialist Historians Up North Autumn Day School
Saturday October 16th 2010
All interested socialist historians (or if you are just keen on the topics we are discussing), are welcome to come along. It is to be held at the People's History Museum, Left Bank Spinningfields, Manchester, Greater Manchester M3 3ER

09.45: Tea and Coffee available in the Museum
10.00 to 12.15: The Great Unrest, Labour and Syndicalism 1900-1914 (Edd Mustill presenting)
12.15 to 1.15pm: Lunch (bring your own, but tea and coffee will be provided)
1.15 to 3.30pm: 'Social Democratic Trajectories in Modern Europe: one or many families?’ (Professor Stefan Berger, Manchester University, presenting)
3.30pm-4.00pm: Planning and Organising the Socialist Historians; future meetings, where do we go from here

Coming Along?
If you think you might be coming along, please let us know by e-mail, so we can make arrangements for tea, coffee and room size. Note that lunch is not provided, so bring your own. To cover costs of room hire, the fee to attend the day-school, is £7 waged, £5 unwaged),
Further Details see: www.myhistory.net
Contact: Ed Doveton: ed@myhistory.net

New Capital Reading Group in London

From Sam [samdolbear@googlemail.com]:

I have been meaning to get a capital (volume one) reading group going for a while now. Finally got it sorted; the first session will be on Tuesday the 17th of August (352 Malet Street, Birkbeck, nr Russell Square) at 6 to 7.30-ish-pm, covering the first two chapters - 'The Commodity' and 'The Process of Exchange'...

In my text, the Penguin edition (pictured) translated by Ben Fowkes, that is pages 125 - 188. I don't know whether it is the best translation or not.

The structure the groups will run parallel to the David Harvey Structure. So, for the first session the introductory and the first lecture is appropriate http://davidharvey.org/reading-capital/

We will abandon his structure if it later turns out to be problematic.

Forthcoming SHS events

Socialist History Society
Public Meetings

Gramsci in the 21st Century -
A talk by Anne Showstack Sassoon, followed by discussion.
Thursday 19th August 2010 at 7pm
Professor emeritus of politics, Kingston University and senior visiting research fellow at Birkbeck College, Anne is one of the world’s leading authorities on the work and ideas of Antonio Gramsci. Her various publications include Approaches to Gramsci (1981), Gramsci’s Politics (1988), Gramsci and Contemporary Politics, (2000) and Women and the State (1987).
Venue: Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, London EC2 (opposite Liverpool Street Station)


‘Dora Montefiore, Why Forgotten?’

A talk by Ted Crawford
Tuesday 2nd November 2010 at 7pm
Venue: Bishopsgate Institute, Liverpool Street, London
Ted Crawford, the editor of Revolutionary History and a member of the Socialist History Society, looks at the long and active political career of Dora Montefiore (1851-1933), variously a Suffragist, Socialist and Communist who was active in Britain and Australia, but who is today largely forgotten.
Talk followed by discussion.
Admittance free. All welcome. Retiring collection.


Love in the Time of Communism: Sexuality and Private Life in East Germany -
A talk by Josie McLellan, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History, Bristol University.
Saturday 13th November 2010 at 2pm
A specialist in the social and cultural history of the German Democratic Republic, Josie’s publications include Antifascism and Memory in East Germany: Remembering the International Brigades 1945-1989(2004) and 'Visual dangers and delights: nude photography in East Germany', (Past and Present, August 2009).
Time: 2.00 p.m. Venue: Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, London EC2 (opposite Liverpool Street Station).
Admission £1.50. All welcome.