North East Labour History

NELHS Second Tuesday at Redhills: Huw Beynon will speak on "'The Little Dictator' and 'The Three Musketeers': The NUM Durham Area at a time of Nationalisation and Cold War"
2019-07-09 19:00 UTC | The Miners’ Hall, Redhills, Durham, Flass Street, Durham City, DH1 4BE
In 1937 Orwell visited a coal mine in Lancashire and was exhausted by the time he had walked to the coal face. He marvelled at the endurance of the miners and wrote of how you could “easily drive a car right across the north of England: and never once remembered that hundreds of feet below… The miners are hewing out coal. Yet in a sense it is the miners who are driving your car forward. Their lamp lit world down there, is necessary to the day light world above as the root is to the flower” Writings like Down the Mine together with films based in South Wales (The Citadel, 1937) and Durham (The Stars Look Down 1939) helped place the coal miner symbolically at the centre of the distress and hardship associated with the depression.
The war changed much of this – coal was needed as never before and once-redundant miners were encouraged to work hard long hours – six shifts a week – earning money regularly for the first but with nothing to spend it on. DMA President Will Lawther, described “a mood of sullen resentment and anger on the coalfield” supporting the view that “coal was the conspicuous failure in Britain’s war time economy and the greatest threat to the compact that Bevin and the TUC had forged since 1940 (Field 2011: 119). This is revealed in the data on unofficial strike activity during the war years 46.6% of all recorded stoppages took place in the coal mines and that the industry accounted for 55.7% of all days lost though strikes. Furthermore almost 60% of the entire work force was involved directly or indirectly in strike action, almost all of which were spontaneous and local to a particular mine or colliery.
In the transition to peacetime, this militancy was the source of problems for the incoming Labour Government. At that time the UK was a single fuel economy and the national plans for economic reconstruction rested entirely upon sustaining high levels of coal production. In this, the demands of the miners’ union for nationalisation were irresistible and “The Board”, as it became known was established under the Nationalisation of Mines Act of 1946. In its operation it called upon the support and assistance of a trade union (The NUM) which had been formed just two years earlier. Members of the Communist Party held important official positions within the new union and at a time of “cold war” this was to be a source of concern, particularly to the US government. In its construction of the Marshall Plan of economic aid it envisioned an aggressive ideological response achieved through “the exporting to Europe of the anti-communist, productivist consensus which had already achieved hegemonic dominance over American labour”
The leadership of the Durham Area of the National Union of Mineworkers was strongly supportive of both these aims. Sam Watson (“the little dictator”) played a critical role both locally and nationally by controlling strike action and critical debate at home and in the part he played on the NEC of the NUM and the Labour Party where he was chair of the International Committee. He was followed by “The Three Musketeers” (Alfred “Tess” Hesler, Charlie Pick and J.C. “Kit” Robinson), a triumvirate praised by the NCB for their help in steering through the NCB’s closure programme in the sixties. The talk will explore the origins of these leaders and the nature of the role they played within Durham and the NUM. Occasional comparisons will be drawn with the situation in the South Wales Area during the same period.
Huw Beynon is Emeritus Professor of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. He is the author of Masters and Servants: Class and Patronage in the Making of a Labour Organisation: The Durham Miners and the English Political Tradition (with Terry Austrin) and he was the editor of Digging Deeper: Issues in the Miners Strike.
His new book (with Ray Hudson) The Shadow of the Mine: Coal and the end of industrial Britain will be published by Verso next year.

St Nicholas Cathedral, Newcastle: Commemoration of the 1995 Bosnian Genocide
2019-07-11 18:30 UTC | St Nicholas Cathedral, St. Nicholas Sq, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1PF
From Smajo Beso of Newcastle’s Bosnian Community
You are warmly invited to Newcastle’s St Nicholas Cathedral on Thursday 11 July at 6.30pm to remember the victims and survivors of the single largest atrocity mass killing on European soil since the Second World War.
This year marks the 24th anniversary of the Bosnian genocide, in the town of Srebrenica, Bosnia, which took place in July 1995, when Serbian nationalists massacred 8,372 Bosnian men and boys. The women and young girls were subjected to a different form of genocide through sexual violence and rape.
We hope by bringing people of faith and of none together and sharing our experiences of the war, we can rediscover our commonalities; we can challenge hatred and intolerance in order to build better and safer communities for us all.
The programme will feature testimonies from Bosnian genocide survivors, also talks by Allan Little (former BBC correspondent) and Emlyn Pearce (blogger and writer). Bosnian refreshments will be served from 6pm. All are welcome and admission is free for this powerful evening of remembrance, inspiration and unity – please register using the link below or by email.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/srebrenica-bosnian-genocide-memorial-event-tickets-61732808492?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
It would be great to see you there.

St Anne's Church, Newcastle: Mike Greatbach will talk about Life and Labour at St Anne's c1760-1840
2019-07-20 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | St Anne’s Church, Breamish Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6PY
The Church is situated between Breamish Street and City Road.
The main entrance is on Breamish Street where there is on-street parking.

Winlaton Mill: Val Scully will talk about her novel Molly Bowes and the aftermath of Peterloo
2019-08-16 18:30 - 21:00 UTC | Cafe Shrub, Land of Oak and Iron Heritage Centre, Spa Well Road, Winlaton Mill, Blaydon on Tyne, NE21 6RU

Tyneside Irish Centre: Peter Coe's The Road to Peterloo
2019-08-18 19:00 UTC | Tyneside Irish Centre, 43 Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4SG, United Kingdom
This is the story of the Peterloo Massacre told through many of the ballads that were written at the time, please book at https://peterloo.eventbrite.co.uk
There is also a guided walk on Newcastle’s Campaign for the Vote, starting at Grey’s Monument which you can join on Sunday at 2.30pm, £5 for adults, £3 for over 60s and free for accompanied children.
For more information https://www.newcastlegateshead.com/city-guides/heritage-walks

NELHS First Tuesday: Val Scully will talk about Writing Historical Fiction in the North East
2019-09-03 19:00 UTC | Old George Inn, Old George Yard, Newcastle, NE1 1EZ
In this illustrated talk, Val will describe researching for her two novels set in the North East: My Name is Eleanor and Molly Bowes. Having begun with eighteenth-century Gibside, her interests evolved to encompass the wider nineteenth-century social history of the area. She will discuss the processes involved in writing historical fiction with a didactic purpose.

Originally from Manchester, Val was a teacher on Tyneside. Since retiring, she has developed her interest in the eighteenth and nineteenth century history of the North East, particularly the Derwent Valley. She has published three historical novels and recently transcribed Men of Iron. She is a member of Winlaton Local History Society, on the Board of the Lit & Phil and leads the research group at Gibside.

Saint Ann's Church Gateshead: Peter Wright will talk about The History of the River Tyne Water Trades
2019-09-07 14:00 - 16:00 UTC | St Ann’s Church, The Vicarage, 11 Gibson Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6PY
The Vicarage 11 Gibson Street Newcastle upon Tyne

NELHS Annual General Meeting, Newcastle Lit & Phil. John Charlton: Stephenson, Spence and Eldon: a fateful triangle. Did climate change start here?
2019-09-10 19:00 UTC | The Lit & Phil, 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SE, United Kingdom
George Stephenson
Lord Eldon
In 2019 the issue of climate change has moved centre stage with the spread internationally of school student strikes and the emergence of Extinction Rebellion. One aspect of the discussion has been the exploration of its historical roots. John Charlton will try to make a case for the romantic period in general and the specific roles of three very well known Tynesiders.
Thomas Spence

Bethany Church, Sunderland: The Radical North
2019-09-14 10:00 - 15:30 UTC | Bethany Church, Bede Tower, Burdon Road, Sunderland, SR2 7DZ
During the 200th Anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre, the radical tradition of the North East is celebrated at a special event organized by Sunderland Heritage Forum and Sunderland City Council Heritage Team as part of the Heritage Open Days programme.
If you would like to attend this meeting of the forum please contact Janet Robinson on 0191 561 8413 or email info.heritage@sunderland.gov.uk or Stuart Miller stuart.tindale.miller@gmail.com
More detils of the Sunderland Heritage Forum are at: https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/article/15694/Sunderland-Heritage-Forum

NELHS First Tuesday: Susan Lynn will talk about, Nails, Chains & Revolution, Crowley's 'Semi-socialistic experiment' in 18c Winlaton
2019-10-01 19:00 UTC | Old George Inn, Old George Yard, Newcastle, NE1 1EZ
Crowley’s works at Winlaton dominated the iron trade in the 18th. Century. Joseph Cowen jnr. said ‘The semi-socialistic experiment of Crowley was interesting both politically & industrially’ and this talk looks at some aspects of Crowley’s works and their effect on the village of Winlaton.
The last chain forged in the village in 1966
Sir Ambrose & Lady Mary Crowley
The last remaining blacksmith’s forge at Winlaton

Old Low Light Heritage Centre, North Shields: Exhibition and Events, Breaking Chains, North Shields and Slavery
2019-10-12 - 2019-11-24 | The Old Low Light, Clifford’s Fort, North Shields Fish Quay, North Shields, NE30 1JE
The Breaking Chains Exhibition runs from 3 October to 22 December.
Events related to this Exhibition:

Sat. & Sun 12th & 13th Oct – Art Work inspired by the exhibition Year 10 students John Spence Community High School
Saturday 19th Oct 11am -talk by Brian Ward Professor of American History Northumbria University. Newcastle and North Shields – their role in the abolition movement
Fri. & Sat 1st & 2nd Nov 7.30pm – Resisting Slavery with Words and Music. A concert by The Freedom Choir Tickets £10
Saturday 16th Nov. 10am – 1pm – Quilting Demonstration on the theme of the ‘Underground Railway’
Saturday 23rd November 11am – talk by local historian Mike Coates: John Foster Spence and the Quakers of North Shields

Lit & Phil, Dr John Charlton: The Wind from Peterloo – Newcastle’s great reform demonstration 1819
2019-10-16 18:00 UTC | The Lit & Phil, 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SE, United Kingdom
John will discuss the situation on Tyne and Wear which led to this enormous demonstration in October 1819 two months after Peterloo. He will raise a number of questions including why there was no massacre, how people communicated, how many attended, the part played by women, arms or no arms and the aftermath. If you would like to know detail beyond what is possible in a lecture read: The Wind from Peterloo.
Phone 0191-232-0192 to book.

Berwick Literary Festival
2019-10-17 - 2019-10-21 | Various venues
Information available at: https://berwickliteraryfestival.com/
Max Adams – The Viking Wars: War and Peace in King Alfred’s Britain
Lindsay Allason-Jones – Roman Woman; Everyday Life in Hadrian’s Britain
Linda Bankier and Gilly Beckett – Crime & Creative Writing: Using the Archives for Inspiration
Ursula Buchan – Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps, A Life of John Buchan (his grand-daughter’s new biography)
Jeremy Dronfield – The Boy Who followed his Father into Auschwitz
Dan Jackson – The Northumbrians: North-East England and Its People: A New History
Andrew Lownie – The Mountbattens: Their Lives and Loves
Joyce Quin and Moira Kilkenny – Angels of the North: Notable Women of the North East
Tim Tate – Hitler’s British Traitors
Brian Ward – Martin Luther King in Newcastle: The African-American Freedom Struggle and Race Relations in the North East of England

Sage Gateshead 2: The Great Geordie Songbook (Vol 1) with a Tribute to Alan Hull
2019-11-03 - 2019-11-04 | Sage 2, Gateshead
Sunday 3 November 2019, 4pm and 8pm
Following the huge successes of Mr Corvan’s Music Hall, The Great Joe Wilson (both @ Sage Gateshead), Hadaway Harry (London and Newcastle Theatre Royal), three fantastic Great Joe Wilson Nights (Tyneside Irish Centre) and Carrying David, Wisecrack Productions present this brilliant new show featuring classic North East songs and comedy.
A tremendous celebration of our brilliant local songwriters including Alan Hull, Joe Wilson, Ned Corvan, Geordie Ridley, Billy Mitchell, Judy Dinning, Tommy Armstrong, Alex Glasgow, Johnny Handle and Pete Scott.
Starring some of the region’s biggest theatre stars: Micky Cochrane, Sarah Boulter and Jamie Brown (all The Great Joe Wilson) with top musicians Rachael McShane (Mr Corvan’s Music Hall and Bellowhead) and Jordan Miller (The Great Joe Wilson, Vandebilt & The Lake Poets). Featuring brilliant musical comedy from Gavin Webster and Josh Daniels.
Tickets only £20 from www.sagegateshead.com or via www.wisecrackproductions.co.uk
https://sagegateshead.com/whats-on/the-great-geordie-songbook-volume-1

First Tuesday: Silvie Fisch, Oral History Unit and Collective, Newcastle University on Foodbank Histories
2019-11-05 19:00 UTC | Old George Inn, Old George Yard, Newcastle, NE1 1EZ
‘Foodbank Histories’ was initiated in 2018 as a collaborative research partnership between the Newcastle West End Foodbank, Northern Cultural Projects CIC, and Newcastle University Oral History Unit & Collective. The project recorded interviews with clients, volunteers and foodbank supporters, aiming to challenge public understanding of the issues of food poverty.
Since it started ‘Foodbank Histories’ has taken on a life of its own. Silvie Fisch, Director of Northern Cultural Projects and Associate Researcher at the Oral History Unit, will talk about the plurality of outcomes from this ongoing work, as well as its challenges and aspirations.

Newcastle City Library Exhibition: Enemy Alien, Civilian Internment in the British Empire, 1914-1919
2019-11-11 - 2019-11-25 | Bewick Hall, Newcastle City Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AX
Click on image to enlarge

Star and Shadow: Rewinding the Welfare State: A Social History of the North East on Film
2019-11-17 14:00 UTC | Star and Shadow Cinema, Warwick Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1BB
Through local news reports, Tyne Tees Television documentaries, trade union campaigns, community films and more, this film show examines how the welfare state has impacted on the social development of our region from the 1920s to today. Audiences will be invited to share their thoughts as we explore how the journey ‘from cradle to grave’ – accessing healthcare, housing, education, social security, pensions, and other human rights entitlements, has changed over the years.
Is there anything we can learn from the past to improve our future?
Many of these films haven’t been seen since they were first made and are part of the extensive collections at North East Film Archive.
To book a seat please go to: https://www.starandshadow.org.uk/id/3906/
This screening is brought to you by the North East Film Archive, as part of their North East on Film project connecting the people and communities of the region with their film heritage, in partnership with Teesside University.
Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Teesside University.

Tyneside Cinema. Fragile Labour: Archive Films and Live Discussion at the Tyneside Cinema
2019-11-19 18:00 UTC | Tyneside Cinema, 10 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6QG
From Tyneside Cinema:
As part of the Tyneside Cinema’s Zero Hour season inspired by the release of Ken Loach’s film Sorry We Missed You, we explore the history of fragile labour and insecure work in Newcastle and the North East, from cycles of casual work to the emergence of new forms of labour in the aftermath of industry.
Join us for a screening of a series of archive films from the North East Film Archive exploring various forms of insecure or disappearing forms of work in Newcastle and the North East, including Tom Pickard’s 1987 film We Make Ships, about the disappearance of the shipyards; Doing Our Bit, which details unemployment relief efforts in 1930s Middlesbrough; and films detailing the end of the Consett Steelworks.
Afterwards we will be joined by guests including Tom Pickard (filmmaker and poet), Dr Alison Atkinson-Phillips and Dr Andy King (Oral History Unit, Newcastle University), Dr Ben Lamb (Teesside University), and Ted Cuskin (former shipyard worker and social worker). The discussion will be moderated by Julie Ballands (North East Film Archive).
In the process this panel will explore the history of insecure work in Newcastle and the North East, comparing these historic forms of fragile labour to the gig economy jobs of today.
This screening is brought to you in partnership with the North East Film Archive, as part of the North East on Film project, and is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
To book go to https://tynesidecinema.co.uk/event/zero-hour-fragile-labour-a-north-east-history/

Newcastle City Library Event: Enemy Alien, Civilian Internment in the British Empire, 1914-1919
2019-11-20 17:00 - 20:00 UTC | Bewick Hall, Newcastle City Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AX
Click on image below to enlarge

Mushroom Works, Newcastle: Jane Smallcombe, opening of her Art Studio
2019-11-22 18:00 UTC | Mushroom Works, St Lawrence Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1AR
From Bede Woods, Secretary of Monkton Ward Labour Party in Jarrow.
Jane Smallcombe has supported the Monkton Ward and Jarrow CLP behind the scenes for several years. Lately, she has helped both the CLP Woman’s Officer and the Fund Raiser in relation to our high profile speakers. She has herself personally created, at very short notice, an exceptional artwork for us and helped commission unique pieces of art for presentation gifts.
This amazingly talented artist, who lives with us in the Monkton Ward, put together a piece that took Baroness Shami Chakrabati’s breath away. Jane didn’t subsequently hog the limelight but instead introduced others from her art collective studios to share in having their creations presented to speakers such as Ken Loach, Emily Thornberry and Ricky Tomlinson.
Join us to support Jane Smallcombe
So when I heard about the annual 20/20 art exhibition http://www.mushroomworks.com/open-studios-2019 I thought we should return the favour by supporting Jane and her colleagues who have assisted our cause. A small group from our ward are going to meet outside the Mushroom Works in Newcastle at 6.00pm on Friday 22nd November.
Jane has only recently moved to a new space in this location. This is an opportunity to acquire original art from several local artists in person at a bargain price! It’s also a chance to lift our minds and spirits, dress up and have a cultural injection. Hope you can come as well.

POSTPONED due to General Election. Bridge Hotel: NELHS Christmas Social - Now 14 January
2019-12-03 19:00 UTC | The Bridge Hotel, Castle Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 1RQ, United Kingdom
The North East Labour History annual social event has been postponed until the new year to allow members to concentrate on the General Election campaign.

First Tuesday, BRIDGE HOTEL: Mike Greatbatch will talk about William Parker: A Chartist Life
2020-01-07 19:00 UTC | The Bridge Hotel, Castle Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 1RQ, United Kingdom
NOTE – THIS FIRST TUESDAY WILL BE HELD AT THE BRIDGE HOTEL INSTEAD OF THE USUAL VENUE.
William Parker served as Secretary of the Ouseburn Working Men’s Association and was an original member of the Council of the Northern Political Union (NPU), Tyneside’s principal agency of Chartist agitation in 1838-39.
The People’s Charter was just one of a number of causes that Parker championed over an almost twenty-year period. A widower with three teenage daughters by 1841, Parker was an unskilled labourer competing for work in one of Tyneside’s most competitive labour markets, a lowly status that appears to have strengthened his self-belief in the justice of his words and actions, and his unwavering commitment to his fellow workers.
By presenting the biography of William Parker, I hope to demonstrate how Chartism in Newcastle could be an intellectual commitment, not just for the educated radical elite but also for the unskilled and the poor.
Originally prepared for the 2019 Chartist Study Day, this presentation will include additional biographical information recently brought to light.

Bridge Hotel: NELHS Christmas Social
2020-01-14 19:00 UTC | The Bridge Hotel, Castle Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 1RQ, United Kingdom
Attractions include Tyneside folk singer Jack Burness and Peter Brabban’s famous historical quiz.
This social event was due to be held on 3 December but was postponed because of the General Election.

Tyneside Irish Centre: Music and Poetry celebrating cultural traditions on Tyneside. Part of Newcastle's Holocaust Memorial Day Commemorations for 2020.
2020-01-23 19:00 UTC | Tyneside Irish Centre, 43 Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4SG, United Kingdom
From Peter Sagar:
Hi everyone,
I wish to invite you to a special event on Thursday 23 January.
Celebrating Our Traditions IV: Standing Together
Music and Poetry celebrating cultural traditions on Tyneside. Part of Newcastle’s Holocaust Memorial Day Commemorations for 2020.
This is the fourth of series of events bringing different musical traditions on Tyneside together as a celebration. This will involve music from Northumbrian and Tyneside traditions, as well as from Ireland and Bosnia and the eastern European Community. We will stand together by celebrating the great musical and cultural heritage on Tyneside, including both the heritage which developed here and those traditions which have come to us as people have fled persecution and injustice elsewhere, including the genocide in Bosnia.
Gallowgate Room, Tyneside Irish Centre, 41 Gallowgate, Newcastle NE1 4SG at 7.00pm on Thursday 23 January
FREE. Donations on the night welcome.
There is an Eventbrite page here, where you can sign up for the event:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebrating-our-traditions-iv-standing-together-tickets-85066238409?utm_term=eventname_text
I hope to see you there.
Best wishes,
Peter Sagar, Company Secretary, A Living Tradition CIC

Northern Stage: The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff
2020-02-04 - 2020-02-23 | Northern Stage, Barras BridgeNE1 7RH, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RH
The true story of a one man’s journey from unemployment in Stockton on Tees, through the Hunger Marches of the 1930s, the mass trespass movement and the battle of Cable Street, to fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War.
Click here for details of showings and bookings.

First Tuesday: India Gerritsen on “Memory Lingers Here”: Are Newcastle’s Monuments Sites of Collective Memory?
2020-02-04 19:00 UTC | Old George Inn, Old George Yard, Newcastle, NE1 1EZ
India Gerritson will talk about her essay that won the 2019 Sid Chaplin prize.
NELH Chair John Creaby and India Gerritsen
The winner of this year’s Sid Chaplin prize is India Gerritsen for her essay about people’s memory of Newcastle landscapes and how they affect their consciousness. India’s essay: “Memory Lingers Here”: Are Newcastle’s Monuments Sites of Collective Memory? will be published in next year’s North East History.
NELH Chair John Creaby, Grahame Chaplin and India Gerritsen

For a second year we were delighted to have Grahame Chaplin, Sid’s grandson, to present the prize. Here is his speech.
It’s once again a pleasure to be here this evening to present the annual Sid Chaplin prize, and to thank the Society for continuing to remember and honour my Grandfather in such an apposite manner. As some of you will recall both Sid and his wife Rene enjoyed all that the Society offered.
The Sid Chaplin prize is awarded for a piece of academic writing, so it differs, by definition, to the majority of Sid’s published work, and although I am not on the judging panel, I am grateful to that cadre for their work, and twice now I can see they have not lost sight of Sid’s underlying motivation to write. You see my Granda was driven to write and record stories of people and place that he thought were verging on extinction, but more than that they were people and places, and a way of life that he knew intimately and undoubtedly held close to his heart. And he was right to do so, because today I would say his legacy in a plethora of words both entertains, but importantly educates us all as well.
So turning to the work that tonight claims the Sid Chaplin prize: It’s a fascinating piece exploring the relationship between, people, their memory or collective memory and well known and less well known monuments within the City of Newcastle, and how over time the landscape those monuments occupy can change consciousness of the public to purpose and history of the very monument.
What the work makes clear – it seems to me – is that the people regardless of their knowledge of the purpose or original intent of the monument was that they are fiercely defensive of the presence, I think because over time those monuments, like bridges and buildings become intrinsic to place.
In the 1960’s Sid wrote of his first visit to Newcastle as a young teenager, not all that long after the Tyne Bridge opened, the trip from Durham, most likely by bus must have been around 1930/32.
“I stood on the Gateshead side of this top-heavy bridge and looked down into the mighty trough. On one side was the little wonder of a swing bridge and high above it was the great High Level……That was one view. The other was from the heart of the City and a scamper up the one hundred and fifty one steps of Grey’s Monument. Up the hollow heart of reform I went running and came out at the top to see the merry go round of the city. Because I hadn’t learned to swear I remember saying to myself ‘By Gum – I’d give two years from the back end of my life to come and live in the heart of all this”
And there we have the link to Tonight’s winner and Sid’s work – the academic exploration of the philosophy behind the architectural landmarks that make a landscape that in turn creates a community.
And now I’d like you to warmly congratulate the winner of the 2019 Sid Chaplin prize as I invite India Gerritsen to come and accept this trophy.

NEW TIME: 6:30pm. First Tuesday: Peter Sagar on History of the NUT in the North East
2020-03-03 18:30 UTC | Old George Inn, Old George Yard, Newcastle, NE1 1EZ
The National Union of Teachers, founded in 1870, ceased to be on 1st January 2019, as it merged fully with the Association of Teachers and Lecturers to become a new union, the National Education Union.
This seemed to be an appropriate time to write a history of the NUT in North East England, to chart its successes and its failures, how it worked independently and how it worked in tandem with the rest of the union and labour movement. The result is a fascinating story, which should be of interest to any teacher, to any trade unionist and to anybody with an interest in the regional history of North East England.
Peter Sagar will guide us through this history, but in many respects do a lot more than this. He will also highlight the numerous ways in which we can learn from the history and use the knowledge to revive the trade union movement as we enter the third decade of the 21st century.
This will be a presentation which you should find both interesting and thought provoking.

Durham University: The History of Palestine
2020-03-03 19:00 UTC | St Aidan’s College, Windmill Hill, Durham University, DH1 3LJ
From Sean Creighton

There is an event at the Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan’s College, Windmill Hill, Durham University DH1 3LJ next Tuesday 3 March at 7.00pm which includes discussion on the history of Palestine. For more information see St Aidan’s Palestine evening

EVENT CANCELLED. Northumbria University: Will Kaufman performs a live documentary - Woody Guthrie and “Old Man Trump”
2020-03-11 18:00 (Europe/London) | Room 020a, Squires Building, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8SB
This event has been cancelled. The organisers hope to reschedule it and we will post once the new details become available.

American Studies at Northumbria, in collaboration with the Institute of the Humanities and the Tyneside Branch of the Historical Association present
Woody Guthrie and “Old Man Trump”

In December 1950, Woody Guthrie moved his family into a new apartment in Brooklyn’s Beach Haven. His new landlord, it turned out, was none other than Fred Trump, father of the current US president. Over 60 years later, Donald Trump would proclaim on the campaign trail: “My legacy is my father’s legacy.” It was, among other things, a legacy of corruption and race-hatred, as Woody Guthrie soon found out.
Will Kaufman – singer, multi-instrumentalist, and Professor of American Studies at the University of Central Lancashire – is recognised as the world’s leading authority on Woody Guthrie. He is the author of Woody Guthrie, American Radical (2011), Woody Guthrie’s Modern World Blues (2017), and Mapping Woody Guthrie (2019).
In 2014, Will discovered, buried in the Guthrie archives, previously unpublished song lyrics and other writings condemning Fred Trump’s racism. He has now turned these discoveries into a new music and a spoken-word presentation, following on from his celebrated shows, Woody Guthrie: Hard Times and Hard Travelin’ and Woody Guthrie: The Long Road to Peekskill.
Woody Guthrie and “Old Man Trump” brings to life all the anger and contempt that Guthrie felt for those in power who will deny justice to their fellow human beings on account of the colour of their skin. Against the backdrop of Guthrie’s racial awakening and emergent activism, Will introduces such previously unheard songs as “Trump Made a Tramp Out of Me” and “Beach Haven Ain’t My Home,” along with a host of other Guthrie songs about racial injustice and struggle. All in all, we hear Woody Guthrie speaking and singing from beyond the grave, warning us about the dangers of ignoring and repeating history.

Praise for Will Kaufman:
Listen up all you Jim Crow fascists and you race-hate mongers, too:
Will Kaufman is a-comin’ and he’s got his eye on you.
Won’t brake for no excuses, won’t stand no messin’ around,
Your bigot ways can’t save you ’cause Will Kaufman’s gonna run you down.
– Ry Cooder
No one can understand the American people without listening to Woody Guthrie. Will Kaufman’s doing important work here. – Tom Paxton

I thank Will Kaufman for introducing a new generation of Europeans to “the other America.” It’s a wonderful job he’s doing. – Pete Seeger

Will presents this exhilarating show in the fastest hour and a half you are likely to witness when you consider the breadth and depth of his subject. He performs Woody’s songs with great skill and understanding, playing the guitar, banjo and fiddle with enviable panache and brio. His presentation is accomplished with great musicality, wit, honesty, and compassion. – Ralph McTell

I so appreciate all of your efforts to take his legacy further. Who knows where he’ll end up! – Nora Guthrie

www.willkaufman.com

Newcastle University: 2020 Festival of Oral History
2020-03-24 - 2020-03-27 | Newcastle University
We are delighted to announce the full programme for our 2020 Festival of Oral History, taking place across March 24-26. The festival will focus on the future of oral history, and will include a public keynote lecture by Dr Indira Chowdhury from the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore.

The festival will include a number of discussion panels on the future of oral history, promoting discussion among practitioners and teachers on how oral historians can address future challenges and opportunities.

Please see the full programme of events here. To register for the festival, email oralhistory@newcastle.ac.uk and please do let us know if you would like to be a discussant on any of the panels that have been organised.
