Trade unions
We hold a large collection of trade union material from the 1820s onwards including minutes, rule books, badges and banners.Click here to find out more...
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A unique collection capturing the stories and struggles of ordinary people's efforts to improve their world
We urgently need your support
Explore 200 years of working class movement activism
- 1791
Thomas Paine publishes 'Rights of man' - 1798
Irish Rebellion - 1819
Peterloo - 1834
Tolpuddle - 1844
Rochdale Pioneers - 1848
Kennington Common Chartist meeting - 1867
'Manchester Martyrs' executed - 1868
First meeting of TUC - 1871
Fall of the Paris Commune - 1893
Foundation of the Independent Labour Party - 1913
Cat and Mouse Act - 1924
First Labour government - 1926
General Strike - 1931
Red Megaphones first performance - 1932
Kinder Scout mass trespass - 1936
Spanish Civil War - 1945
Nationalisation of the coal industry - 1948
Birth of the NHS - 1956
Hungarian uprising - 1958
Aldermaston marches and birth of CND - 1971
Upper Clyde Shipbuilders
- 1976
Grunwick dispute - 1982
Falklands War
- 1984
Miners' strike - 1990
Nelson Mandela's release from prison - 1998
Good Friday agreement
- 1999
Introduction of national minimum wage - 2001
Stop the War campaign
We need your support
To maintain the momentum of the huge increases in usage of the Library over the last few years, we need to raise an extra £86,000 each year.
Can you help? Click here for news of our fundraising appeal.
Object of the month
Every month a volunteer chooses an interesting object, book or document from the Library collection, which is displayed in the Library's hall exhibition.
This month's object is a photograph of a 1934 Manchester strike, to coincide with the visit of photographer Simon Roberts to the Library on 19 May
Click here to find out more