Frank Palmeri will talk about Newcastle born eighteenth century satirist and utopian writer Thomas Spence
2021-10-06 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Zoom
Thomas Spence has been recognised as the most important socialist thinker of the 1790s. He was also a strong satirist of aristocracy and of land-holders generally.
This talk will consider Spence as a satirist and utopian writer, and will conclude by considering parallels between the thought and writing of Spence and of William Morris a century later.
Frank Palmeri is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Miami.
To join us for this talk, which is running only online, please click on the link below shortly before 2pm on Wednesday:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86919364393?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 869 1936 4393
Passcode: [REDACTED]
The talk will also be recorded for later viewing on our YouTube channel.
Thomas Spence
Thomas Spence was born in Newcastle in 1750. Spence was the leading English revolutionary of his day, with an unbudgeable commitment to individual and press freedom and the common ownership of the land.
His tracts, such as The Rights of Man (Spence was, perhaps, the first to use the phrase) and The Rights of Infants, along with his utopian visions of ‘Crusonia’ and ‘Spensonia’, were the most far-reaching radical statements of the period. Spence was born in poverty and died the same way, after long periods of imprisonment, in 1814.
Although sometimes hailed as England’s ‘first modern socialist’, Spence is not easily corralled by later ideologies. He was a mortal enemy of tyranny and what he called ‘giantism’ of all kinds.

Tyneside Irish Festival: Film – Kathleen and Me (Talk and Q and A from writer and actor Janet Behan)
2021-10-14 19:00 - 21:30 | Tyneside Irish Centre, 43 Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4SG, United Kingdom
A film by Janet Behan about her grandmother, Kathleen Behan. Not just a portrait of this extraordinary woman, but a vivid, eye-witness account of the birth of the Irish Republic. It’s full of great stories and songs, some of them written by Kathleen’s brother, Peadar, writer of the lyrics to The Soldier’s Song. Kathleen also talks candidly and movingly about her son, “little poet,” Brendan.
At the age of 91, Kathleen Behan was persuaded to record her memories on tape by her son Brian. That same year she recorded the ballads and rebel songs she’d been singing all her life. The memories became a book, the songs an LP.
Kathleen lived through the Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil war. She took an active role in the fight for an Irish Republic, surviving near starvation and grinding poverty and holding her family together through thick and thin. Her ‘golden boy’ Brendan, became famous worldwide for his plays and books only to die tragically young. But, as Kathleen says, “You may as well sing grief as cry it…”Combining source material with her own memories of her grandmother, Janet Behan with Jessica Higgs have created ‘Kathleen and Me’ — a memoir of this indomitable woman.
October 14 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm – Tyneside Irish Centre. This event is on a pay as you feel basis. Suggested donation £5. Doors open 7pm. Talk and Film 8pm.

Two Book Launch Events: Ed Waugh's Geordie Plays (Volume One)
2021-10-16 - 2021-10-17 | Newcastle City Library
From Ed Waugh
I worked with Dave Harker who kindly allowed me to use his incredible research for my play The Great Joe Wilson. Many of you came to see the show (and Mr Corvan’s Music Hall, based on Dave’s excellent book about Ned Corvan) so you may be interested in Geordie Plays (Volume One).
The book comprising Hadaway Harry, The Great Joe Wilson and Carrying David is out now and was recently included in a small time capsule buried by Newcastle Cathedral. It won’t be opened until June 2121, which will mean these fantastic stories of forgotten Geordie heroes will be available for future generations. I doubt I’ll be around to see that, though.
If you want to attend the official book launch in October (Saturday 16) at Newcastle City Library there will be two talks. One at 2pm which will be an illustrated talk and costs nothing. The second will take place at 7pm and will include songs and entertainment from the cast. A show! Tickets for this performance will be £3.
Obviously, this is subject to what happens with the pandemic and could change but we are very confident the talks will go ahead on that date. If you let me know how many tickets you need and the time (2pm or 7pm, or both) I’ll pass your email on to Derek Tree from Tyne Bridge Publishing so you are guaranteed a ticket(s).
Carrying David is touring the North East in September and Hadaway Harry next June. Both are going to London.
https://www.wisecrackproductions.co.uk/carrying-david
https://www.hadawayharry.co.uk/tour-dates
You may also be interested in two new plays – Wor Bella and Howay The Lasses. Both deal with munitionette footballers in World War One. Hundreds of women’s football teams were formed nationally (many dozens in the North East) and raised money for charity. Matches attracted hundreds, even thousands, of spectators, including 20,000 at St James’ Park Newcastle in 1918 for the Munitionettes Cup final and 23,000 at Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough, for the replay.
The story of these brave and selfless working class women (munitionettes) who saved the war effort in WW1 is incredible and intriguing – a story that has been largely ignored, especially by the educational establishment.
Howay the Lasses is a Durham Gala production and a generic story, based on actual events locally and nationally.
https://galadurham.co.uk/galapost/howay-the-lasses
Wor Bella is a Wisecrack production about Bella Reay, the star of Blyth Spartans Ladies who scored 133 goals in 30 matches and is known as “the Alan Shearer of her day”.
www.worbella.co.uk
Both shows will rock!
Ed
https://www.wisecrackproductions.co.uk/
The book can be bought from the Tyne Bridge Publishing websitehttps://www.newcastle.gov.uk/www.tynebridgepublishing.org.uk and online at Waterstones, Blackwell’s, WH Smiths, Amazon, Wordery and Foyles.
It is available in shops: Waterstones, Meander, The Baltic and Newcastle City Library (soon).
Other shops and museum shops around the region will be supplied by Northern Heritage, a book distributor.

Taste of Africa: Two Events
2021-10-16 - 2021-10-23 | Zoom
Taste of Africa events is an annual celebration of Black History Month in Tees Valley. The events are aimed at celebrating Black History Month, promoting diversity and inclusion in the Tees Valley.
This year due to Covid restrictions all our events will be held virtually with the aim of returning to normality next year. See: www.facebook.com/tasteofafrica.northeast
The Taste of Africa Showcase (Virtual) in its 17th year will take place on the Saturday 16th October 2021 6pm-9pm. This hugely popular event is a showcase of traditional performances, local talents and artists, music, designer African fashion show, food, youth dance groups and more. Also as part of the event we will also showcase the inspirational project Irin Ajo Mi – My Journey developed by our young people celebrating the journeys of African elders in Tees Valley.
Taste of Africa is holding its 7th Annual Black History Youth Awards Dinner (Virtual) on Friday 22nd October 2021 from 6pm-9pm. This event recognises achievement of young people and promotes positive role models in the community. This year our Award is focused on Resilience. The evening will feature young people doing great things and also recognise past recipients who have gone on to achieve great heights.

Teakisi Woman Talk - 2021: A Black History Month session focusing on African women and the community
2021-10-16 14:30 - 17:00 | The Common Room, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SE
Teakisi is happy to announce the third annual Teakisi Woman Talk conference. This event takes place in October, which is also Black History Month. The annual Teakisi Woman Talk allows black women, plus the general public to have a conversation on topics that really matter to us – however uncomfortable they may be.
You can book tickets here.

Book launch Events in Durham, Stockton and Newcastle: 'African Lives in Northern England: From Roman Times to the 21st Century'
2021-10-17 - 2021-10-24 | Durham, Stockton and Newcastle
This booklet, authored by the African Lives in Northern England project and edited by Beverley Prevatt Goldstein, celebrates the history of Black lives in northern England and dispels the myth that the North East is exclusively white and monocultural. From Septimus Severus, the Roman Emperor, to 19th century Cumbrian John Kent who was believed to be Britain’s first black policeman, to 21st century Newcastle MP Chinyelu ‘Chi’ Onwurah, this booklet reveals a rich and diverse history.

Durham: This booklet will be launched on October 17th at Durham Book Festival. Click here for more information.
Stockton: A talk and discussion will take place at Stockton Reference Library, October 21st, 6-7.30pm. For more information and to book your place at £3 contact 01642 528079, reference.library@stockton.gov.uk
Newcastle: A free mini-presentation will be held at Newcastle Central Library on October 23rd, 3-3.45pm.

Each talk will be tailored to its location and signed copies of the booklet will be available to purchase. Booklets can also be purchased from Caroline Afolabi-Deleu at caroline@s4a.org.uk at £5.00 with £2.00 for packaging and postage This is a limited edition and copies will be sent out on a first-come, first-serve basis as payments are received.

Berwick Literary Festival: Michael Taylor - How and Why the British Defended Slavery
2021-10-17 17:00 - 18:00 | Zoom
When the Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1823, it was confronted by a formidable lobby comprising slaveholders, merchants, politicians, journalists and intellectuals. This talk explores the ferocious campaign of the British pro-slavery lobby to preserve the institution of colonial slavery – even, in 1833, securing £20m in compensation for the slaveholders.
Michael is the author of The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery
Registration will be from 1 September: https://berwickliteraryfestival.com/

Tyneside Irish Centre, Dr Martin O’Donoghue will talk about The Anglo Irish Treaty and its Consequences
2021-10-19 19:30 - 21:30 | Tyneside Irish Centre, 43 Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4SG, United Kingdom
“Full Canadian powers” or “Ireland’s right, full independence and nothing short of it”? The Anglo-Irish Treaty and its consequences.
On 6 December 1921, Irish negotiators signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty providing for the establishment of the Irish Free State as a dominion of the British Empire. One of the most controversial documents in modern Irish history, the Treaty led to a split in the Sinn Féin party, and ultimately, civil war. Examining the nature and measure of sovereignty desired by different Irish nationalists imagining self-government, this lecture will consider the arguments made for and against the Treaty, and analyse the longer-term significance of both the document and the split in the decades after 1922.
Dr Martin O’Donoghue is a teaching associate in Modern British and Irish History at The University of Sheffield and has previously held appointments at Northumbria University and the University of Limerick.
His research examines the dynamics of political activism in modern Ireland, the development of party politics, Irish-British relations, the Irish revolutionary period (1912-23), and commemoration. His first book, The Legacy of the Irish Parliamentary Party in Independent Ireland, 1922-1949, was published by Liverpool University Press in 2019 and was highly commended for the British Association of Irish Studies Book Prize.
October 19 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm at Tyneside Irish Centre, 43 Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4SG
Free

Celebrating Black History Month - Film Screening @ Culture Lab Newcastle, Stand Up to Racism North East
2021-10-23 17:00 - 18:30 | The Culture Lab, Newcastle University
Stand Up to Racism – North East are hosting a double-bill of documentary film screenings on Saturday 23 October at Culture Lab in Newcastle University. The events starts at 5pm. They will be screening the award-winning short film ‘The Felling of Colston’ (2020 / 10mins) by Arthur Cauty, about the magnificent toppling of the Colston statue in Bristol in the summer of 2020. This will be followed by a rare screening of ‘The People’s Account’ (1986 / 50 mins), a hard-hitting account of police racism in the 1980s, with first person testimonies of the Broadwater Farm uprising which was sparked by police shootings of innocent black women.
You can book tickets here.

Black History Now!
2021-10-26 17:30 - 18:30 | Zoom
Black History Now! is an online panel discussion that reflects on the state of the field in Black British History and affirms its centrality to the discipline of History more widely. What is going on in Black History in Durham and the North East? How can historians in Durham and the wider region continue to build the field? And what are the implications of recent developments in the field for the movement to decolonise the curriculum?
The panel includes the following speakers: Stefanella Julius, Nkechi Managwu, and Emilie Tenbroek are historians studying at Durham and Decolonising the Curriculum Interns with the Decolonise Durham Network.
Sean Creighton is an independent historian who has worked extensively on Black British History, radical history, and the history of slavery and abolition in the North East, including his role in the Tyne & Wear Remembering Slavery project in 2007 and North East Popular Politics Project in 2010-13. He maintains a blog on History and Social Action.
Liam Liburd is Assistant Professor of Black British History at Durham University. His research interests lie in the history, impact and legacy of Empire, decolonisation and race/racism in twentieth-century Britain. Recently he published the article ‘Thinking Imperially: The British Fascisti and the Politics of Empire, 1923–35’ in Twentieth Century British History and featured in the BBC Radio 4 series Britain’s Fascist Thread.
To register for the Black History Now! event, please click here.

NELH Tuesday Meeting: Dr Cathy Hunt will talk about 'Righting the Wrong: the life and work of Mary Macarthur, 1880-1921'
2021-10-26 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Mary Macarthur, trade unionist and socialist, died 100 years ago in 1921. In this talk, her biographer, Dr Cathy Hunt, looks at the fascinating life and work of this pioneering leader, who founded the National Federation of Women Workers, which improved working conditions for thousands of some of the worst paid women in Britain. Cathy will draw attention to the struggles and barriers that faced women workers in the early 20th century whilst also highlighting their successes and strength in solidarity.
Interwoven with this is the absorbing life story of Mary Macarthur, on her journey from girlhood in Scotland to London activist and national leader, through to her tragically early death aged just 40.
Cathy Hunt is an independent community historian and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Her research focuses on British labour and social history, with emphasis on women and work. Her publications includes a history of the National Federation of Women Workers, a biography of Mary Macarthur and a history of women’s lives in Coventry.
Zoom details to be circulated closer to the time.

Newcastle: Spanish Civil War Commemoration Event
2021-10-30 11:00 - 12:00 | Grounds of Newcastle Civic Centre
From Martin Levy

The Communist Party is planning, in conjunction with members of the International Brigade Memorial Trust, to repeat last year’s North East commemoration events for the ‘Volunteers for Liberty’ from the North East who gave their lives in Spain.
The Newcastle event will be at the International Brigade memorial in the grounds of the Civic Centre at 11.00am on Saturday 30 October.
The event will be relatively short, and will involve speeches, poetry, the reading of the names of the fallen.

Middlesbrough: Spanish Civil War Commemoration Event
2021-10-31 14:00 - 15:00 | Dorman Museum, Linthorpe Rd, Middlesbrough, TS5 6LA
From Martin Levy

The Communist Party is planning, in conjunction with members of the International Brigade Memorial Trust, to repeat last year’s North East commemoration events for the ‘Volunteers for Liberty’ from the North East who gave their lives in Spain.
The Middlesbrough event will be outside the Dorman Museum at 2.00pm on Sunday 31 October.
The event will be relatively short, and will involve speeches, poetry, the reading of the names of the fallen, and the laying of wreaths (in Middlesbrough, in the Tees by the Newport Bridge).

Durham University History Department and Gala Theatre: History Now! Coreen McGuire will talk about ‘Invisible Disability in Coalmining Communities’,
2021-11-16 17:30 - 18:30 | Zoom
From: Dr Tom Hamilton, Associate Professor in Early Modern European History, Durham University
The next event in the History Now! series of public talks, organised between the Durham University History Department and the Gala Theatre, is Coreen McGuire’s lecture on ‘Invisible Disability in Coalmining Communities’, which takes place via Zoom between 5.30 and 6.30pm next Tuesday 16 November.
All welcome! The link for registration is here.
Dr Coreen McGuire is Lecturer in Twentieth-Century British History at Durham University and author of Measuring Difference, Numbering Normal: Setting the Standards for Disability in the Interwar Period, published by Manchester University Press in 2020. Coreen’s research towards this book contributed to the Life of Breath project and her award-winning article on ‘The categorisation of hearing loss through telephony in inter-war Britain’ is available via open access here.
Here is an abstract for the talk on 16 November: Why was it so difficult for mineworkers and their families to get compensation for illness and disabilities caused by their work? The modern category of disability has been linked (especially by disabled activists) to industrialization and the needs of the labour market. However, historians have challenged this ‘industrialization thesis’ by providing evidence of the ubiquity and visibility of disability in British mining communities. Yet there was a significant hierarchy of disability in the coalmining compensation context. Everyday experiences of breathlessness were not categorised or recorded in the same way that accidents leading to amputations were. The same holds true for disability/ illnesses that were fluctuating, progressive, actively concealed (potentially with the use of hidden prosthesis), stigmatised (such as psychological disability) or associated with malingering (such as miner’s nystagmus). These kinds of experiences were only visible in exceptional cases, and it is less clear that they were either accepted or normalized. In this talk, Coreen McGuire shows how such contested compensation cases reveal hidden disability managed through networks of friends, family, and community.

WEA Talk by John Stirling: William Morris – Past, Present and Future
2021-11-20 10:00 - 13:00 | Brunswick Methodist Church, Brunswick Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7BJ
From Joanna Keith, Workers Educational Association.
William Morris – Past, Present and Future
A talk by John Stirling, Vice Chair of the William Morris Society on Saturday 20 November from 10.00am to 1.00pm at the Brunswick Methodist Church, Brunswick Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7BJ (entrance at the side of the Fenwicks Building)
Course Code: C2527355
Fee: £9.60p
Booking the course can be done through enrolling online by clicking on the link above or phoning 0300 303 3464 and quoting the course code.
Attendees may be entitled to a free place for this course if they are in receipt of a means tested benefit or they could get help towards their fees if they have a low personal salary or low household income.

Massimiliano Papini (Northumbria University) will talk about: The Idea of Japan in Victorian Charity Bazaars: Fundraising, Orientalism and Transculturality in the North East of England, 1867—1912
2021-11-22 18:00 - 19:30 | Zoom
Please book here: https://www.history.ac.uk/events/idea-japan-victorian-charity-bazaars-fundraising-orientalism-and-transculturality-north-east
Beyond international expositions and musical operettas such as The Mikado(1885) or The Geisha(1896), the other type of Japan-themed public event in which Victorian people experienced a transcultural encounter with Japan was the charity bazaar. Becoming popular in Britain in the early nineteenth century, the charity bazaar was a temporary, fundraising event which relied mainly on voluntary work, generally offered by local ladies, in both organising stalls and supplying each of them with the objects to put on sale. The revenue raised in these bazaars served to support a designated cause which might be in aid of hospitals, schools, missionary societies, and religious institutions. In order to attract visitors and supporters, these philanthropic events drew heavily on entertainments, including musicians, dancers, and actors, as well as elaborate decorations following an over-arching theme. Foreign locations were among the most common of these themes, thus – for many Victorians attending – a charity bazaar provided a chance to have first contact with objects from an exogenous culture.
Drawing upon newspaper articles and archive material, this seminar will investigate how Japan was represented in philanthropic events in the North East of England through the presence and consumption of Japanese goods. In response to the heightened fascination with Japan in the 1880s, charity bazaars started to be fitted up as a Japanese traditional village, coming to function for Victorians as an effective vehicle for imaginary travel and shaping their “tourist gaze.” With this regard, the stereotyped image of Japan disseminated by British decorators was instrumental in attracting a wide audience, transforming the “Orientalist” theme of Japanese Village into an appropriate setting to even promote very local endeavours such as charity campaigns which were completely unrelated to Japan, its culture, and its people. In addition, the common practice of wearing Japanese costumes by local volunteers also reveals that charity bazaars incorporated an ambivalent transcultural nature. While donning kimonos by British individuals in local events inevitably erased the Japanese body from the popular representation of Japan, it simultaneously contributed to naturalising the Asian “Otherness” in Britain, allowing stallholders in the North Eastto promote their public persona in line with the late Victorian, cosmopolitan taste and fashionability. In other words, this seminar will explore the way in which fundraising practices and voluntary activities played crucial roles as mediators between local communities and transnational trends such as the “Western” fascination with Japan.

Midnight Traveller: a Film Night with Tyneside Welcomes. Black Swan Centre, Newcastle
2021-12-09 19:00 - 23:00 | Black Swan Centre, Newcastle Arts Centre, 67 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SG
A showing of “Midnight Traveller”, a multi-award winning documentary film by Hassan Fazili filmed by the Fazili family as they document their journey from their home in Afghanistan to Europe seeking safety.
Details and Booking here.
The film will be followed by a live question and answer session with the director from Germany via zoom, and an opportunity to socialise.
Rotten Tomatoes gives this film 100%
This showing is organised by Tyneside Welcomes which works to resettle refugees from the Syrian War.

Tyneside Irish Centre (Zoom). Prof Marie Coleman will talk about: Who were the Black & Tans? The Crown Forces in Ireland during the War of Independence
2021-12-09 19:30 - 21:00 | Zoom
Professor Coleman will look at all the different groupings within the Crown Forces – Army, RIC, Tans, Auxiliaries, B Specials etc. She is particularly keen to examine the social composition of the Tans and Auxiliaries in particular and will be covering the controversy over the commemoration plans in 2020.
Marie Coleman is Professor of Twentieth Century Irish History at Queen’s University, Belfast.
The event is part of the Tyneside Irish Centre’s series of 1921 Centenary talks.
Click here to register and get the zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_M9Su18K7Q-eF9qjqUbMa_w

The Society's Christmas Quiz
2021-12-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
The Society’s Christmas Quiz takes place next Tuesday 14 December at 7.00pm

Peter Brabban and Pat Candon will test your historical knowledge (to its limit) and after that you are welcome to stay for the ‘chat’.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84946680511?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 849 4668 0511

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Zoom now available: NELH Tuesday Meeting: Mike Barke will talk about his new book on the history of Newcastle: Mapping the City
2022-01-25 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86337404230?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 863 3740 4230
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Our first Tuesday meeting of the year will take place on 25 January at 7.00pm when Mike Barke will talk the history of Newcastle-upon-Tyne based on his new book, Mapping the City (co-authored with Brian Robson and Anthony Champion).
Newcastle has a long and distinguished history through two millennia: a Roman fortress at the eastern end of Hadrian’s Wall; an important centre of monasticism; a ‘royal’ bulwark against attacks and invasion from Scotland; and the principal centre for the export of coal to London. In the 19th century it was transformed into an elegant Georgian townscape with dramatic streets and handsome public buildings.

It and other towns on the Tyne – Gateshead, Jarrow, Wallsend, Tynemouth, North and South Shields – developed important industries: shipbuilding, glass and heavy engineering. Tyneside suffered severe contraction in the 20th century as heavy industry declined, but it has begun to reinvent itself and create new growth shoots, not least its vibrant cultural industries including music and art.
This book takes an innovative approach to telling the story of the area’s history by focusing on the historic maps and plans that record the growth and development of Newcastle and Tyneside over many centuries.
Michael Barke was Reader in Human Geography at Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, where he taught from 1974 until his retirement in 2016. His research interests include the demographic and urban history of the North East.

A link for the meeting will be posted nearer the time.

Morpeth Methodist Church: John Stirling will talk about William Morris
2022-01-29 10:00 - 12:30 | Morpeth Methodist Church, Howard Terrace, Morpeth, NE61 1HU
From Joanna Keith at the Workers Educational Association

We are putting on a course about William Morris in the Morpeth Methodist Church on Saturday 29 January from 10.00am to 12.30 pm. The speaker is John Stirling (Vice-Chair of the William Morris Society and NELHS Committee Member). There is a fee of £8.00, reductions available.
If any of your members in Morpeth (or anyone from North Tyneside, Newcastle or Northumberland) are interested they can enrol onto the course through this web link:-
https://enrolonline.wea.org.uk/Online/2021/CourseInfo.aspx?r=C2527581 or they can ring 0300 303 3464 if they prefer to enrol by telephone.

POSTPONED: Using Trade Union Banners for Education: The Case of the 1938 ‘Red’ Follonsby Miners’ Banner - a talk by Lucy Grimshaw (Northumbria University) and Lewis Mates (Durham University)
2022-02-15 19:00 - 20:30 | To be advised
From David Connolly, Secretary, North East Labour History Society:
To: NELHS Members and Supporters
Our apologies for the short notice but this is to let you know that we are postponing our Zoom meeting on Using Trade Union Banners for Education: The Case of the 1938 ‘Red’ Follonsby Miners’ Banner which was due to take place on Tuesday evening.
Both Lucy and Lewis are supporting the industrial action that their trade union UCU is taking tomorrow in defence of pensions, pay and conditions in the university sector.
There are ten days of strike action over the next three weeks and for more information about the dispute please see: https://www.ucu.org.uk/he2021 and https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11818/Four-fights-dispute-FAQs
I’m sure all expressions of support for the action would be appreciated.
In solidarity with the UCU.
David

This talk considers the use of trade union banners as tools for mainstream education in the context of the recent reclamation, recuperation, and re-articulation of industrial heritage taking place in localities in the former Durham coalfield, north-east England. It does so by focusing on the educational work undertaken by the Follonsby Miner’s Banner Association in partnership with a local primary school.
It is divided into four substantive sections. The first locates our approach theoretically, primarily in the rich pedagogical literature, while the second briefly contextualizes the Association and the school. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with teachers and activists, it offers a chronology of a project that, catalysed by the replica Follonsby miners’ banner, developed spontaneously in several exciting directions.
These included the school developing its own miners’-style banner, unveiled by the late Tony Benn, who featured on it. The third section offers some wider observations about the educational partnership and then considers the specific challenges that the Follonsby banner’s iconography posed in terms of teaching and how these were overcome.
Finally, we discuss legacies and lessons, arguing that the wider impacts of the project went far beyond the specific learning experience they offered the children involved. Here is the link:

Leeds University: Chartism Day 2022 in honour of Professor Malcolm Chase
2022-03-19 09:00 - 16:50 | University of Leeds
From the Society for the Study of Labour History
Chartism Day returns in March 2022 after an enforced absence of two years. This year’s event, held jointly with the Social History Society, is in honour of Professor Malcolm Chase, who died in February 2020. Malcolm was a great historian of Chartism, a stalwart of the Society for the Study of Labour History over many years, and a central figure at Chartism Days.
Chartism Day 2022: Register here to attend

Various locations: Wor Bella, Blyth Spartans Ladies. A play by Ed Waugh
2022-03-25 - 2022-04-03
Click on image for full size

Tyneside Irish Centre: Sylvia Topp, Remembering Eileen O'Shaughnessy
2022-03-25 19:30 - 21:00 | Tyneside Irish Centre, 43 Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4SG, United Kingdom
In conjunction with the Orwell Society, we are hosting an in person meeting at the Tyneside Irish Centre, Friday 25 March at 7.30pm when Sylvia Topp will be in conversation with North East History editor, Rosie Serdiville about her recently published biography of Eileen O’Shaughnessy, Eileen: The Making of George Orwell. This meeting will also be livestreamed (see below).
Eileen was born in South Shields in 1905, married George Orwell in 1936 and sadly died in a Newcastle hospital at the relatively young age of forty.
Sylvia Topp has worked in publishing since college, starting as a copy writer on medical journals, then moving to freelancing editing at a major literary publishing houses.

She was the long-time wife and partner of Tuli Kupferberg, a Beat poet who later was a co-founder, in 1964, of the Fugs, a legendary rock and roll band. Together Sylvia and Tuli wrote, edited, and designed over thirty books and magazines, including As They Were, 1001 Ways to Live Without Working, and Yeah! magazine.

Sylvia joined the staff at The Soho Weekly News and later The Village Voice, before finishing her publishing career at Vanity Fair. Eileen is her first book. She lives in Kingston, Ontario.
The meeting will be livestreamed.

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Mar 25, 2022 07:30 PM London
Topic: Eileen: A Life – a conversation with Sylvia Topp
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9gCrRs1XRWWA7RR6FrXJog
This is part of a visit by members of the Orwell Society who will be on Tyneside from 25 to 27 March to commemorate the life of Eileen O’Shaughnessy.

The Word, South Shields. Sylvia Topp will talk about her book Eileen: The Making of George Orwell
2022-03-26 14:00 - 15:30 | The Word, 45 Market Place, South Shields, NE33 1JF
BOOKING REQUIRED: BOOK HERE Suitable for ages 16+
Sylvia Topp, author of the novel Eileen: The Making of George Orwell, will be joining us at The Word to discuss her book which is the never before told story of George Orwell’s first wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy, a woman born in South Shields who shaped, supported and even saved the life of one of the 20th century’s greatest writers.
The event will also include Jarrow-born Tom Kelly ‘in conversation’ with Richard Blair, the adopted son of author George Orwell and patron of the Orwell Society, and there will be an opportunity for the audience to ask their questions.
During the event, there will be a showing of Gary Wilkinson’s Wildflower film, about Eileen O’Shaughnessy, and Tom Kelly will also read his poem about Eileen, titled You, you, you.
Copies of Sylvia’s book will be available to buy at the event.
The event has been planned with The Word by The Orwell Society whose members are in South Shields for a weekend of events originally scheduled for March 2020, which would have been the 75th anniversary of Eileen’s sadly premature death.
The Orwell Society is at https://orwellsociety.com/

NOW INVITATION ONLY: South Shields: Unveiling of a Blue Plaque for Eileen O'Shaughnessy
2022-03-27 11:00 - 12:00
Apologies for this change of plan. This unveiling is now by invitation only as space is limited.

Northern Stage, Newcastle: Red Ellen - The Story of Ellen Wilkinson MP
2022-03-29 - 2022-04-10 | Northern Stage, Barras BridgeNE1 7RH, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RH
“A working class woman inside the walls of Westminster? If that is not espionage, I do not know what is.“
A Northern Stage, Nottingham Playhouse & Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh production
Booking details here

This remarkable new play from Caroline Bird tells the inspiring and epic story of Ellen Wilkinson, Labour MP, who was forever on the right side of history, forever on the wrong side of life.
Caught between revolutionary and parliamentary politics, Ellen fights with an unstoppable, reckless energy for a better world. Running (quite literally in some cases) into the likes of Albert Einstein and Ernest Hemingway, she battles to save Jewish refugees in Nazi Germany; campaigns for Britain to aid the fight against Franco’s Fascists in Spain; and leads 200 workers in the Jarrow Crusade, marching from Newcastle through Nottingham and the Midlands, all the way to London delivering a petition to reduce unemployment and poverty. She serves as a vital member of Churchill’s cabinet, and has affairs with communist spies and government ministers. But, despite all of this, she still finds herself – somehow – on the outside looking in.​
This is the story of Ellen Wilkinson.
There is more than one way to kill a revolutionary…
Preview performances: Tue 29 – Thu 31 Mar
Preview performances give audiences the opportunity to be one of the first to see a new show. During previews, the show is still being developed and changes may still be made ahead of the official press night. As the show is still being developed, tickets are a little cheaper than our regular prices. We will always try to give you the best experience no matter what show you attend but if there are a few hitches on the night then we appreciate your patience and goodwill while we polish the show.

First Tuesday. Dr Christopher Massey, Teesside University will talk about: The Man at the Back: Lord Tom Sawyer and the modernisation of the Labour Party
2022-04-05 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
‘The Man at the Back: Lord Tom Sawyer and the modernisation of the Labour Party’ with Dr. Christopher Massey
This talk highlights the significant contribution of Lord Tom Sawyer to the Labour Party’s modernisation between 1983 and 1997. Sawyer, as a key trade union official and later General Secretary of the Labour Party, played a crucial role in the redevelopment of Labour’s internal structures, policy making and campaign machinery.
Sawyer’s political journey in these years closely mirrored Labour’s national position, shifting from the hard-left towards the centre-left. His contributions to Labour’s renewal included vital roles during the Inquiry into the Militant Tendency in Liverpool (1986), the party’s Policy Review (1987-92), the shift to One Member, One Vote (1993), the change to Clause IV of Labour’s Constitution (1995), and Partnership in Power (1997).
Through such input, Sawyer played a crucial, and often undocumented, role in the modernisation which led towards the party’s 1997 general election victory.
Christopher Massey is the Principal Lecturer for Programmes within Humanities and Social Science at Teesside University. His research focuses on the Labour Party and the labour movement. His recent work includes the official biography of Lord Tom Sawyer, The Man at the Back, and a 2020 monograph, ‘The Modernisation of the Labour Party, 1979-97.’
He was elected as a Councillor for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council in 2011, and was Deputy Leader between 2017 and 2019.
Here’s the link:
Topic: Tom Sawyer and the Labour Party
Time: Apr 5, 2022 07:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89729662565?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 897 2966 2565
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Tyne & Wear May Day Celebrations: May Day Social (Newcastle Irish Centre, Fri 29 April), March and Rally (Exhibition Park, Sat 30 April)
2022-04-29 - 2022-05-01 | Various North East Venues
Please click on the image to enlarge it.
