Working Class Movement Library

Save the date!

We'll have materials to share from @wcmlibrary.bsky.social and @aiucentre.bsky.social and a roundtable discussion with folks sharing their reflections and experiences from the time. Should be a lively and participatory discussion!

@cperguom.bsky.social @thejohnrylands.bsky.social

Two of our Little Flames spoke to Yeliz Zaifoglu, archivist at the Museum Of Youth Culture, about their experiences working with the Big Flame archive and the importance of this work for future working class activists! 🔥

Read here: www.museumofyouthculture.com/working-clas...

👀 What can we do about the far right?

Join our Virtual Town Hall for updates on new courses + a live space to ask questions.

@gawainlittle.bsky.social & @sarahwoolley1.bsky.social

✊ Become a #Friend: gftuet.org.uk/friends

📌 Register: actionnetwork.org/events/frien...

#GFTUET #FriendsofET

YouTube video by GFTU Educational Trust Women in radical movements 1780-1850 with Prof. Katrina Navickas

📺Catch up and share our first session of the #tradeunion and working-class #history series 2025-2026, featuring @katrinanavickas.bsky.social.

This series is delivered in partnership with Marx Memorial Library and @wcmlibrary.bsky.social.

youtu.be/BqKIXJS2u-E?...

#TUed #Education #GFTUET

Today's the day! Join us on Zoom at 3pm: peoplespapers.eventbrite.co.uk
@cperguom.bsky.social @wcmlibrary.bsky.social @rememberlop.bsky.social @writerlytone.bsky.social

Please note that the library will be closed to the public tomorrow due to staff leave and illness.
We will reopen next week with our normal opening hours.

wcml.org.uk/visit/openin...

Join us for an online People's Papers research project workshop to learn about the history of 1970s alternative newspapers, their archival preservation & their continued relevance for today. All welcome! Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archiving-...

Radical Readings 2025: An Afternoon of Inspiration & Resistance

Join us for an afternoon of powerful performances, traditional folk music, and bold storytelling that celebrate working class voices.
🗓️ Sunday 16th November, 2PM
📍 Maxwell Hall
🎟️ Follow the link wcml.org.uk/event/radica... to book

Are you a young person aged 16-24 interested in working with archival material and co-curation?

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Grunwick Strike, we are collaborating with the University of Manchester on an exciting new project

For more info, visit the link wcml.org.uk/news/we-are-...

A big well done as well to Little Flame, Ley, for doing such a great job chairing the discussion.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next event in our series, running alongside the Keep the Flame Burning exhibition, which runs until April.

A photo from the back of the room as Amie, Project Coordinator of the Big Flame project, introduces the talk.

Thank you to everyone who joined us last Thursday for Inksurgency: Radical Leftist Publishing, Then & Now. It was fantastic to see so many of you there, and a real pleasure to hear from our brilliant panel - Nick, Paula, Amy, and Chris. Thank you all for making the journey to Salford!

Save the date! Organizing an online “People’s Papers” workshop on Sept 30th to hear from projects in Leeds (@rememberlop.bsky.social), Liverpool and Birmingham: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archiving-... @wcmlibrary.bsky.social

Inksurgency: Radical Leftist Publishing Then and Now Join us for a lively panel discussion as we discuss the power of print in our movements.

Our exhibition, Keep The Flame Burning, will also be open for a couple of hours pre-event if you fancy looking at the amazing work our project group have pulled together.

Free tickets on Eventbrite

www.eventbrite.com/e/1556819742...

This just in: our Inksurgency panel is under a week away!

Join us NEXT THURSDAY at 7pm for a lively discussion about the power of print in our movements, and how this has changed from Big Flame's backdrop to now.

#OtD 21 Aug 1791 the Haitian revolution began as 100,000 enslaved people rose up and eventually overthrew both slavery and French rule, creating the world's first Black republic shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/a-h...

New blog post with an update on the "People's Papers" archival research project up now on the @wcmlibrary.bsky.social website!

wcml.org.uk/blog/a-peek-...

Black text on an orange background, 'Inksurgency: Radical Leftist Publishing Then and Now, with the Heritage Fund and library logos at the bottom of the image.

As part of our Big Flame event series, join us for a panel discussion featuring activists past and present, who work across independent leftist publishing to hear insights about the power of print in our movements.

wcml.org.uk/event/inksur...

The Working Class Movement Library’s exhibit on The Big Flame was so moving. Produced by 18-25 year olds who have managed to continue the spirit of the group, interviewing past members and creating their own banners. It is a youth led masterpiece!

If you’re based in Manchester it’s a must see.

A group of young people and audience members talk in lively conversation.

A close-up of the Little Flames banner, with a panel showcasing the names of everyone that worked on the project.

#KeepTheFlameBurning #BigFlame #CommunityOrganising #YoungPeople #Cocuration #Activism #Archives

Thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for funding this fantastic work.

A group of ex Big Flame members and their friends talk, laughing with each other.

Two men and a woman chat to each other in front of the banner.

If you've seen the exhibition, we'd love to know what you thought! 💭👇

And if you haven't... We're open Wednesday/Thursday/Friday 1pm - 4.30pm for you to take a look.

A close-up of the Little Flames banner, which reads ‘we still have to fight!’ in the centre and has collaged fabric images around it.

Poet Seni Seneviratne speaks to the Little Flames group.

Front and centre was this wonderful banner, co-created by textiles artist Lou Miller and the Little Flames group.

A framed archival cover spread of ‘Out of Our Heads’, a student pamphlet. It features a comical drawing of Marx on the back.

An ex Big Flame member speaks to two of the Little Flames group.

Then vs now: the night brought together activists across generations to talk about the power of Big Flame's organising and archival testimony.

Somebody, seated, interacts with the iPad that contains the oral histories of the exhibition. They wear headphones and touch the screen.

Some of the Little Flames group chat to friends, smiling. A crowd of exhibition goers are seen in the background.

Our sincere thanks to everybody who joined us to celebrate the exhibition's release and to Deli Llama for providing their signature fab spread.

A collage displayed as part of collages made by the Little Flames group in response to the archive. In the centre is a panel that says ‘keep the flame burning’.

The Little Flames group give their speeches to the audience on the Library’s staircase.

We're still on a high from this wonderful night, which saw poets Griot Gabriel and Seni Seneviratne perform, speeches from the Little Flames, WCML team, and ex Big Flame members, and touching comments from exhibition-goers.

The back of somebody’s head reading the exhibition panels on the Little Flames group.

Some of the Little Flames group smile and talk by the entrance to the exhibition.

Have you seen our brand new exhibition yet?

Here are some wonderful photos from the private view a couple of weeks ago, taken kindly by Little Flames group member Jack Clarke. 🧵

The audience peruse the exhibition, which has four red cases in the centre of the room and panels around the outside.

❤️‍🔥 KEEP THE FLAME BURNING ❤️‍🔥

A Blast from the Stacks: An interview with Bob Dickinson - Working Class Movement Library Drawing from his own experiences writing for some of these papers as well as in-depth interviews with a range of different projects, Bob’s book traces the development and evolution of Greater Manchest...

A Blast from the Stacks!

Read the latest update from The People's Papers as Arielle Lawson, a PhD student participating in the University of Manchester's Humanities PGR Placement Scheme at the library, interviews Bob Dickinson, author of Imprinting the Sticks.

wcml.org.uk/blog/a-blast...

Benefit cuts, blaming the “work-shy”, clueless politicians... sound familiar? 👉🙂👈

If you’re into comics that make you laugh and question everything, come and see our exhibition – opening 18th July!

#wcml #wimbledon #bigflame #exhibition #comic #newspaper #WimbleWoke #Rochdale #snazzy

Created by Ian Hering (who’s mentioned in Big Flame: Building the Movements, New Politics by @farrar.max & Kevin McDonnell), and printed by Rochale Alternative Press, the comic takes as a swing at Tory unemployment policy — and somehow still hits today.

A comic called Brother Goose which takes aim at Tory unemployment policy. The comic was produced in 1980 and features funny images with quotes about workers eg "work shy" and about state policy, eg "why when we can send men to the moon and kill 600,000 people with a single bomb".

Excited for our Big Flame exhibition? Here's a post written by volunteers Ally, Lucy, and Jack to get you hyped!

Just in time for Wimbledon…🎾

This 1980 Brother Goose comic was part of a series that featured in the Big Flame newspapers.