Maddy Goodall

'She gave her activities to mankind, absolutely, unselfishly... But her spirit still lives, not in the spiritual or supernatural sense, but in Nature, and it beats more intensely in every bosom this afternoon.'

At the graveside, John S. Clarke called Wheeldon 'a prophet, not of the sweet and holy bye and bye, but of the here and now. She saw the penury of the poor and the prodigality of the rich, and she registered her protest against it. It was upon that principle that Mrs. Wheeldon passed her life.'

Of #HumanistHeritage interest: Wheeldon's funeral was described in the press as being 'devoid of Christian ritual' and 'sensational in its simplicity'.

Checked on the way home and Isobel Dunlop didn’t have a Wikipedia page so I wrote one on the train. London to Norwich is the perfect Wiki writing journey time btw en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobel_...

Pure joy. What a brilliant group of people @electricvoice.bsky.social are and what an incredible community they create in everything they do 👏🏻 @conwayhall.bsky.social

En route to London for Winter Carols by Candlelight @conwayhall.bsky.social 🕯️ Especially excited to hear @electricvoice.bsky.social's reworkings of songs from the ethical societies' hymn books 💝

Humanist Heritage: From the archives: <i>Man’s Alleged Spiritual Nature</i> With all the pretensions of spiritualists… No great truth containing a benefit to humanity has ever reached us; no addition […]

You can read his pamphlet in full here (it's worth it!) heritage.humanists.uk/mans-alleged...

Humanist Heritage: Belfast Ethical Society This Society has for its object the promotion of right conduct on a purely natural and human basis and the […]

Knox was one of the founders of the Belfast Ethical Society, and active in a whole range of efforts for a better, fairer world heritage.humanists.uk/belfast-ethi...

A forgotten sceptic: William M. Knox, the one-eyed atheist of Belfast - The Skeptic Writing in the late 1800s, Irish atheist William M. Knox took aim at the emerging trend of spiritualism, séances, and communicating with the dead

I wrote this for The Skeptic about the ever intriguing William M. Knox and his (often hilarious) lambasting of the claims of spiritualists in a pamphlet of 1892. www.skeptic.org.uk/2025/11/a-fo...

In spite of commonly held assumptions, Pinn argues, 'Black humanism is its own thing... a form of ritualized self-expression as old as the US Black community'. I'm really looking forward to hearing Pinn and Martin explore the resonances of this on both sides of the Atlantic.

An 1893 oil painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner called 'The Banjo Lesson', depicting two African-Americans in a domestic setting: an older man teaching a young boy how to play banjo.

In The Black Practice of Disbelief, Pinn writes about some of the freethinkers and sceptics who embodied a humanist worldview even if they didn't use the label, and how elements of humanism can be found in works of literature, music, and the visual arts, focused on human experience and connection.

Black Humanism: Anthony Pinn and SI Martin in conversation

I am so excited for tomorrow evening's @humanists.uk event with Anthony Pinn and SI Martin - two incredible thinkers, great speakers, and also lovely human beings humanists.uk/events/black...

Friend and fellow Ethical movement organiser Carrie Hedges recalled her influence in News & Notes -

Black and white newspaper photograph of a women standing behind a podium with a sign reading 'Better marriage laws lead to better marriages'

May Seaton-Tiedeman, tireless campaigner for divorce law reform and leading figure in the Ethical Union @humanists.uk, died #OnThisDay 1948. heritage.humanists.uk/may-seaton-t...

Beyond Belief | Exploring India's Humanist Heritage

Really looking forward to this tonight with @humanists.uk. So much to explore, and such a good panel to do it with - chaired by the inimitable @alavarij.bsky.social. Still time to join us! 🎟️ humanists.uk/events/explo...

#OtD 28 Jul 1985 Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) was launched at a meeting at @ConwayHall in London, UK. Its dedication to "physical and ideological opposition" to fascism would see it drive numerous far-right groups off the streets. This is a short history: stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1002...

Our Subversive Voice · The history and politics of the English protest song Our Subversive Voice is a 2-year research project funded by AHRC, investigating the use of song to register protest from 1600 to 2020.

oursubversivevoice.com

Perpetually inspired by the great minds behind (and within) the Our Subversive Voice project. Always a joy to hear South Place/ @conwayhall.bsky.social get a shout out too 📢

#OtD 20 Jun 1912 Voltairine de Cleyre, American anarchist-feminist, atheist, poet and free-thinker, died at the age of 45. Two thousand attended the funeral at Waldheim cemetery where she was buried next to the Haymarket Martyrs stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9285...

Another truly great @humanists.uk Convention 💜 Inspiring talks, the very loveliest people, and - of course - #HumanistHeritage aplenty