Dr Michelle Johansen

A white man in a suit sits at a writing desk. He has thick, wavy hair swept back from his face. One hand is held up to his chin. The other holds a pen with which he writes on a sheet of paper. There are books in a pile beside and in front of him. A caption reads: George Gissing, May 1901.

In the 1870s, George Gissing & his brother William were furious at the ‘scandalous condition’ of #PubLibs in England, contrasting progress unfavourably with the USA - where every town had ‘its excellent Free Library’. From Letters of George Gissing to Members of his Family (1927). 💙📚

Photo of a stone tablet with five columns listing the names & institutional affiliations of approx 130 British librarians killed in WW1. The tablet border is inscribed “IN MEMORY OF THE BRITISH LIBRARIANS FALLEN IN THE WAR MCMXIV-MCMXVIII”.

Thinking about the 130 or so British librarians killed in WW1. Their colleagues raised funds to create a lasting memorial to their sacrifice. Sadly, the tablet they commissioned is now displayed behind the scenes at the British Library, visible only to staff.
#fwwhist #PubLibs 💙📚

Close-up photo of painted red door showing a weathered wooden sign stating CLOSED in faded black letters on a white background.

CLOSED. My second failed attempt to visit the Morrab Library in Penzance last month. Founded in the early 19C, the library is one of only around 60 independent libraries still in existence in the UK (& the only one in the whole of Cornwall). I did admire this cute sign on the front door though.

Here I am, caught on camera at #HistDay25 getting over-excited about the fact that a 1960s folk-rock band named themselves after a medieval legal document!! I was at the event with my fab @antiquaries.bsky.social colleagues & we chatted to over 100 students & history-lovers. A truly inspiring day.

Manchester, Norwich & Winchester were pioneers - but many other regions had to really battle to get the act adopted esp in London. Once the libraries opened though they were universally well received & almost always over-subscribed from the off. Crowd control was often needed!

A creepy portrait of a child with a rattle.

Do you dare stare into the eyes of spooky child this Halloween? Take your chance today at our Haunted by the Past event until 3.30pm today! www.sal.org.uk/event/haunte...

1 week to go until History Day - don't forget to sign up! Read about why History Day is such a fantastic event in this blog by Claire Langhamer: buff.ly/ySfBuWR

#HistDay25 @senatehouselib.bsky.social

😤

A typed hand bill, printed c.1900. Under the title “FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES” SCHEME IN ST PANCRAS, opponents of free libraries in this central London region set out four reasons for their opposition.

1850. The Public Libraries Act means councils in England & Wales can now spend local taxes on libraries. Some London regions are VERY slow to adopt the act. St Pancras rate-payers object to “wasting” money on “showy luxuries”. Fifty years pass before a free library opens in the district #PubLibs 💙📚

Stunning!!

Matt, you spoke beautifully last night! I’m part way through my copy of Songs of Seven Dials and really gripped by the stories & characters. East End history, West End backdrop.

Utterly fascinating talk. Exciting new book about 1920s and 1930s London (and beyond). I’ll never refer to ‘interwar’ again. Sadly no #PubLibs featured at the event but we were surrounded by beautiful art books & you can’t have everything ha ha.

I left school at 15 without qualifications but educated myself via the Harold Hill library and ended up with three university degrees.

A book cover shows a man in profile. He is white with curly dark hair and his eyes appear closed. Is he singing or performing?

I’ve been discovering David Ackles via Mark Brend’s beautifully-written biography. Down River (2025) details the curious recording career of a relatively unknown US singer songwriter in the late 60s & early 70s. Elton John was a fan. Sadly, no #PubLibs are featured in the biog. Excellent otherwise.

First page of new TRHS article: 'Us and Them: Disability Ethics, Oral History and Inclusive Praxis in the Reuse of Asylum Photography' Abstract in full ‘Us and Them’ is a community history project and artistic collaboration exploring physical and intellectual disability and mental illness, in the past and present. It is part of a broader initiative to open out wider conversations about the history of psychiatric care in Epsom (Surrey, UK) and to explore ways in which medical histories, creative engagement strategies and oral history praxis can illuminate the instability of contemporary understandings of ‘healthy minds’ and ‘normative bodies’. This article charts our recent reuse of asylum photography and the restaging of wet-plate collodion portrait making, opening out key ethical questions about our complicity as consumers of historical sources, the role of re-enactment and empathy, and the place of the haptic and the ludic in exposing the porous and precarious boundaries between ableism and disability. Exploring our own vulnerabilities and solidarities in co-producing a public history project with our disabled artist collaborators, it offers insight into our evolving ‘micro ethics’, foregrounds lived experience perspectives, and offers some initial thoughts on ways to rethink critically some core tenets of oral history methodology.

Also published this week in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'

"Us and Them: Disability Ethics, Oral History and Inclusive Praxis in the Reuse of Asylum Photography", by Alana Harris & Laura Mitchison bit.ly/4gH9e0f

What are the ethics of historical research using asylum photography?

Can’t wait to read this Matt - and I’ll be at the event too. Look forward to seeing you then!

Any excuse! It’s so wonderful isn’t it?

Yes! Every Friday. Perhaps with those involved reading aloud from the volumes as they promenade through city & town centres…

A line of more than a dozen librarians carrying books across a street towards the entrance of a gothic stone structure. A couple of passers by look on. The black & white photo is from the collections at the Yale University Library.

A line of Yale University librarians carry rare 18C volumes from the old library to the brand new Sterling Memorial Library building in July 1930. I love the way library staff turned this humdrum task into a celebratory piece of street theatre!! #WeekLforLines #AlphabetChallenge 💙📚

A black & white photo shows 6 white women, young-looking, squeezed into a narrow bay or corridor in a library. Three of the group are holding armfuls of hardback books; the remaining three appear to be replacing volumes on a stack of shelves on the left of the photo. All are looking directly at the photographer and appear cheerful.

From the 1930s, Britain’s #PubLibs were increasingly staffed by female librarians - usually overseen by a male manager. This fab photo (from the archives at Havering Libraries) shows a group of smartly-dressed assistants shelving books at the shiny new Upminster Library building in Essex c.1963 💙📚

The seal of Richard de Clare, featuring a knight on horseback.

Join us on 12 Sept for a free evening which includes performances that re-voice & unravel the Magna Charter’s most famous clauses, has creative workshops using oak gall ink, features longsword demonstrations, personalised crown workshop, dressing up, sweets & more! www.sal.org.uk/event/age-of...

The corrugated plastic, lovingly tacked on with pins…the hand-drawn sign, the colour scheme carried across from the unit to the signage…it’s a real labour of love.

A bright blue shelving unit holding a few paperbacks. One half of the unit is covered with a tatty piece of corrugated plastic. A hand-made sign pinned to to top of the unit says ‘Railway reads’.

Railway reads. Found near the train track not far from Lincoln station 💙📚

Borderlines of Madness - Mary Ward Centre We will explore various themes related to insanity and altered states of consciousness by examining a number of 19th-century works of fiction.

My autumn adult ed Sept-Dec courses are now booking.
Here’s what I’m up to:

1/ Borderlines of ‘Madness’ in 19th-Century Fiction, the Mary Ward Centre, East London, starts Tues 23 Sept, 6.30pm, 6 weeks.
Includes Charlotte Bronte, Poe, Wilkie Collins and Gogol www.marywardcentre.ac.uk/course-detai...

Yes, those Victorian & Edwardian clubs were built on firm foundations! The American Women’s Club in London has moved location a couple of times but is still going strong.

A black and white postcard showing a small, wood-panelled library with books along one wall. There are three or four armchairs arranged around the room and a rectangle table displaying journals and magazines. The postcard dates from around 1920.

The American Women’s Club was a philanthropic organisation set up in London in 1898. Members incl. the wives of Herbert Hoover & Gordon Selfridge. In 1916, a clubroom opened in Mayfair complete with Italian-style gardens, a ballroom with a huge pipe organ (v fashionable at this time) & a library 💙📚

Blue faience seal in the form of a crouching oryx gazelle

The the underside of the stamp also depicting an oryx

Our #Objectoftheday is this ancient Egyptian little blue faience seal in the form of a crouching oryx gazelle. Interestingly the stamp on the underside also depicts an oryx . It would have been used to mark ownership.

E.5426

#ancientegypt #gazelle #sealstamp #museum

Come and join us for Chartism Day 2025. All welcome; booking required.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chartism-d...

Waterstones' promotional flyer for Matt Houlbrook's book Songs of Seven Dials: An intimate history of 1920s and 1930s London. The flyer includes an image of the book and the discount code you can use to preorder it on the Waterstones website: SUMMER25

Come for the new history of 1920s and 1930s London, stay for the discount...

Waterstones are offering 25% off pre-orders Songs of Seven Dials this week: just enter SUMMER25 at checkout.

Book is out on 21 Oct – in time for autumnal nights & Christmas gifts.

www.waterstones.com/book/songs-o...

Hopefully the celebrations can begin now