History Thesis Fair for Undergraduates – 30 April 2026

Posted on 20 April 2026 by mendonckw

We are delighted to run the History Thesis Fair for second-year undergraduates this year on Thursday 30 April, 3-5pm at the Examination Schools (North Writing School).

All info can be found here: History Thesis Fair for Undergraduates.

Mosaic of pictures depicting several historical events, documents, and artwork. It includes a portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, an early modern map of the African continent, an illumination for a medieval Book of Hours, a Diego Riveira mural in Detroit, a picture of the 1955 Bandung Conference, a portrait of the British Queen Anne, a mosaic depicting the Byzantine emperor Justinian, and a photograph from the May 1968 student protests in France.

The Fair is aimed at 2nd year history undergraduates embarking on their thesis research and who are looking to explore the wealth of research source material available across Oxford libraries and archives for their field of study.

It is the ideal opportunity to talk to librarians, archivists and subject specialists who can help you navigate the vast collections available, support you to unlock more relevant sources, and point you towards useful finding tools. Plus, you’ll be able to chat to students who have gone before you and learn about their top dissertation tips!

Stalls will cover many areas, including:

Topics and Themes

Biographical Sources for Political, Religious and Social History
Disability History
English Literature
Environmental History
LGBTQ+, Gender and Sexuality History
History of Science & Medicine
Maps and Mapping
Medieval History
Oral History
Visual Culture
Women’s History

Special Collections, Libraries and Archives

Archives and Manuscripts 1500-1800 (Bodleian)
Archives and Modern Manuscripts 1800 onwards (Bodleian)
College Libraries (Special Collections)
College Archives
Digital primary source providers: Gale Primary Sources, AM – Adam Matthew Digital
Early Printed Books (Bodleian)
Oxford Brookes University Special Collections & Archives
Oxfordshire History Centre
Printed Ephemera (John Johnson Collection)
UK and Ireland Parliament and Government Publications + Intergovernmental Publications

Geographical Areas

Africa & Commonwealth
East Asia & South Asia
East-Central and Southeast Europe
Eastern Europe and North Asia incl. Russia
Great Britain & Western Europe
Middle East, Hebraica & Judaica, Caucasus & Central Asia
Latin America
United States

Plus, at our Information Skills stall, learn what courses are laid on to help you develop the research and referencing skills you will need.

The format of the Fair encourages you to explore and discover new materials at your own pace, to be curious and to make connections with experts and your peers.

Accessibility

The main entrance to the Examination Schools is stepped. There is a ramped entrance immediately to the left of the main entrance. There is lift access throughout the building, two wheelchair accessible toilets and hearing support systems that can be deployed where needed throughout the building. Most areas of the building have level access.

The accessible toilet is gender neutral and is at the bottom of the staircase opp. Room 8.

If you have any queries, please email library.history@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Research skills training

Working on your thesis means that you will need to learn new or improve existing research skills, including:

Effective searching for information;
Awareness of the rich sources available in Oxford (and beyond) and how to access them;
Ability to correctly handle physical source material, such as archives;
Correct citation practices, ethical research practice, etc.;
Awareness of the relevant experts in Oxford libraries and archives.

The Bodleian Libraries have many classes and workshops set up to help you learn the skills you need – check out the research training page on this Libguide: Research Training for Historians

We hope to see you at the Fair!

Trial until 8 May 2026: Mass Observation Project, 1981-2019

Posted on 14 April 2026 by iholowaty

We are pleased to invite Oxford researchers to trial Mass Observation Project, 1981-2019.

An image from the home page of the resource showing a collage of various images: photo of an anti-Brexit demonstration, 1997 General Election poster showing Tony Blair and John Major, photo of a house, and handwritten response about voting intentions.

This major resource provides digital access to a remarkable life-writing archive, offering a rare window into the everyday lives, thoughts and emotions of ordinary people living through the turbulent final decades of the twentieth century and the early twenty-first.

At its heart are the voices of hundreds of Mass Observers: individuals who responded to open-ended questionnaires (“directives”), reflecting on their experiences, opinions and personal lives. Their writing captures moments that are rarely recorded elsewhere: private reflections on relationships, family life and identity, alongside candid accounts of work, health, routines and the small details of daily life. It is precisely this combination of the intimate and the everyday that makes the archive so distinctive and valuable.

At the same time, these personal testimonies are deeply connected to wider historical events. Contributors record their reactions as events unfold, offering immediate, unfiltered perspectives on major social and political developments. The archive therefore allows researchers to trace how national and global events were experienced, understood and felt at the level of individual lives.

The directives span an extraordinary range of topics, including: 9/11, AIDS, climate change, the Criminal Justice Act, the death of Princess Diana, disability, education, the EU referendum and Brexit, the Falklands War, the First Gulf War, general elections, the rise of the internet and social media, the Iraq War, the Millennium, natural disasters, the NHS, railway strikes, security and crime, and university life.

Together, these materials create a uniquely rich and textured record of modern life—one that brings history closer to lived experience and gives voice to perspectives that are so often absent from the historical record.

A snippet from this directive reads:
The emphasis this quarter falls on services both public and private, that is those that you pay for indirectly by rates and taxes etc and those that you pay for directly..

1. Public Services: we want to hear about changes in the quality and efficiency in the health service, education, public transport etc. What have been the effect of cuts in local government spending on you, and your neighbourhood? — (C) Mass Observation Archive Trustees. Mass Observation Project. 1982 Summer directivem (p1): Public and private services, the Budget, gas and electricity bills, royalty, inflation, currency, food, EEC

Individual responses also capture basic demographic information, such as marital status, employment status and occupation. This makes it possible to identify and analyse the views of specific cohorts in different circumstances.

Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has been applied to all documents to allow full text searchability. The resource offers automatically-generated transcript for download for this document but please note that during the trial, the downloading function has been disabled.

The trial ends 8 May 2026. Feedback should be sent to isabel.holowaty@bodleian.ox.ac.uk or jo.gardner@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

While you are here, check out some other related resources:

Earth Day 2026

Posted on 2 April 2026 by ljones

To raise awareness of the impact of anthropogenic climate change, Earth day will be held on the 22nd of April. This campaign spotlights the many challenges faced throughout the world due to the mounting effects of ecological changes as well as championing the work being done to limit this, acknowledging especially how this will disproportionately affect impoverished and marginalised communities. In accordance with this, the History Faculty Library has arranged a display in the Upper Gladstone Link of the Radcliffe Camera exploring the history of human impact and research on the environment, as well as current social and political issues surrounding climate change. This also includes a spotlight for our E-book collections, which you can browse further down this post. Please click on the book covers to be directed to the SOLO catalogue record for each entry.

Photograph of the book display in the Gladstone Link of the Radcliffe Camera.

Books on the display above, from the top left:
“The Chimney of the World: A History of Smoke Pollution in Victorian and Edwardian Manchester“ by Stephen Mosley | “A Cultural History of Climate“ by Wolfgang Behringer | “Rummage: a History of the Things We Have Reused, Recycled and Refused to Let Go“ by Emily Cockayne | “Dark Laboratory: on Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis“ by Tao Leigh Goffe | “Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First“ by Frank Trentmann | “Climate, History and the Modern World“ by H. H. Lamb | “Footprints: in Search of Future Fossils“ by David Farrier | “Mosquito Empires: Ecology and War in the Greater Caribbean, 1620-1914“ by John Robert McNeil | “The Afterlife of Used Things: Recycling in the Long Eighteenth Century“ edited by A. Fennetaux, A. Junqua, and S. Vasset. | “An Environmental History of Britain Since the Industrial Revolution“ by B.W. Clapp | “Science and Nature: Essays in the History of of the Environmental Sciences“ edited by Michael Shortland | “An Environmental History of the Middle Ages: The Crucible of Nature“ by John Aberth | “Losing Earth: The Decade We Could Have Stopped Climate Change“ by Nathaniel Rich |

banner reading "E-Books", white text on a green background with line illustrations of roses in a darker green.

Accessing these e-resource materials will require a Single-Sign-On Login for Oxford University members. External readers will need to log in with their Bodleian accounts while using the Bodleian libraries network (either the Bodleian Libraries Wi-fi network or using the reader PCs within the library.) Please note that one of the entries below: “Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse” by Dave Goulson is an Electronic Legal Deposit item, and will need to be consulted on a reader PC within the Bodleian Libraries using the ELD browser.

Book cover for "Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse" by Dave Goulson. An illustration of various moths, butterflies and beetles in a circular pattern on a black background.

book cover for "At Nature's Edge: The Global Present and Long-Term History" by Gunnel Cederlof and Mahesh Rangarajan. White text on black borders with a photograph in the middle of a woman walking across sand with a water container in her hand.

banner reading "More Resources", white text on a green background with line illustrations of roses in a darker green.

If you would like to get involved in making a difference, please check out these links:

Volunteering in Oxfordshire
Lifestyle and consumer choices in Oxford (And further to that, have a look at: SHARE Oxford to borrow instead of buying, or Ethical Consumer to consider your options.)
Read up on Oxford University’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy, and check out the Climate and Environment page
Talk to a Student Union representative

Easter Closure and Vacation Loans

Posted on 2 April 2026 by scloudesley

Just a reminder that the Radcliffe Camera will be closed over the Easter bank holiday weekend, from Friday 3rd April to Monday 6th April inclusive. We will be open as normal 9am on Tuesday 7th April.

HFL books that have been borrowed with an extended vacation loan are due back on 28/04/2026. At this point these books will no longer be able to be renewed remotely, so must be returned to the library.

We hope you all have a wonderful long weekend!

Image by Gail Sinclair

Trial until 4 April 2026: Notable Individuals of British Communism, 1886–1997

Posted on 5 March 2026 by iholowaty

Oxford researchers are warmly invited to trial Notable Individuals of British Communism, 1886-1997. The trial ends on 4 April 2026.

Black & white photo of a group of ten men and one woman. — © Archive Trust of the Communist Party; images © Microform Academic Publishers, 2020. All rights reserved.

This collection is drawn from the personal papers of a multitude of Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) activists throughout the twentieth century. This includes those at the heart of party (such as full-time “national organisers”), “full-time” CPGB activists such as Mariam Ramelson and Jack Dunman, and peripheral figures who supported the communist cause (such as Labour MP Dennis Nowell Pritt).

The works of trade unionists are featured extensively, and the papers of Peter Kerrigan and Arthur Horner shed light on the activities and campaigns of the Amalgamated Engineering Union and the Welsh Miners Federation, respectively.

The collection houses material from regions ranging from colonial Africa to war-torn Northeast Asia. The collection also hosts material related to militant activism, with biographical material concerning British volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, as well as accounts of those who fought against fascism in the Second World War.

The collection is accompanied by three contextual essays written by Kevin Morgan.

The trial ends on 4 April 2026. Please send feedback to isabel.holowaty@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Other political resources:

International Women’s Day 2026

Posted on 4 March 2026 by ljones

This March, to mark International Women’s Day 2026, the History Faculty Library’s book display shines a light on women whose lives, labour, and influence have too often been overlooked. The theme, untold and forgotten female histories, invites us to look beyond familiar names and stories, and to consider how history is shaped by power and access. These books challenge us to ask why so many women have been left out of historical narratives.

Among the works on display is The Graces: The Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women at the Restoration Court, which uncovers the political, cultural, and personal influence of women navigating the male-dominated world of seventeenth-century England. Similarly, Immaculate Forms: Uncovering the History of Women’s Bodies explores how women’s bodies have been understood, controlled, and represented across time, revealing the deep connections between gender, medicine, and social power. Together, these texts show how women’s experiences were central to historical change, even when they were excluded from official accounts.

We are also highlighting HFL’s online materials such as Thanks for Typing: Remembering Forgotten Women in History, dedicated to recovering the uncredited female contributions throughout history. From court insiders to clerical workers, these books and resources remind us that history is full of hidden lives waiting to be rediscovered.

This International Women’s Day, we invite you to explore the display, reflect on whose stories have been marginalised, and consider how recovering women’s histories can reshape our understanding of the past.

Books featured on the display above, from left to right:

Legenda : the real women behind the myths that shaped Europe by Janina Ramirez | Medieval women religious, c. 800-c. 1500 : new perspectives by Kimm Curran and Janet Burton | I am not afraid of looking into the rifles : women of the resistance in World War One by Rick Stroud | Femina : a new history of the Middle Ages, through the women written out of it by Janina Ramirez | The graces : the extraordinary untold lives of women at the Restoration court by Breeze Barrington | Not just a man’s war : Chinese women’s memories of the war of resistance against Japan, 1931-45 by Yihong Pan | La Duchesse : the life of Marie de Vignerot : Cardinal Richelieu’s forgotten heiress who shaped the fate of France by Bronwen McShea | Women, witchcraft and the Inquisition in Spain and the New World by María Jesús Zamora Calvo | Public faces, secret lives : a queer history of the women’s suffrage movement by Wendy L. Rouse | Immaculate forms : uncovering the history of women’s bodies by Helen King | Bringing home the White House : the hidden history of women who shaped the presidency in the twentieth century by Melissa Estes Blair.

These e-book resources can be accessed via SOLO, which will require an Oxford University SSO login. Alternatively, they can be used through a Bodleian reader account for external readers who can access the material by connecting to the Bodleian Libraries Wi-fi network or logging on to the reader PCs within the library.

LGBT+ History Month 2026

Posted on 4 February 2026 by ljones

With the start of February comes LGBT+ History Month in the UK, which was founded by the LGBT+ education charity Schools OUT in 2004. You can learn more about their history and work on their official website.

Here in the Radcliffe Camera, we have put together a display to celebrate this important period of observance, focused on the theme of ‘Science & Innovation’.

Our display covers multiple aspects of this theme: spotlighting the lives of queer scientists and other intellectuals, showcasing their work, as well as considering the harm and other discrimination LGBT+ people have faced in the medical world and beyond due to bias and prejudice or even just inadequate research. Therefore, our selection features varying topics.

You will find several biographies, as well as compiled letters, first-hand accounts and other writings from queer voices in these relevant spaces. There are stories from AIDS activists, collections of medical and social research over the years, and the published works of LGBT+ writers.

Examples include: gay rights activist Frank Kameny, an astronomer who was fired for his sexuality during the Lavender Scare; marine biologist Rachel Carson, the nature of whose relationship with Dorothy Freeman has been debated as a result of them destroying many of their letters before her death, and the contents of the correspondence that remains; Florence Nightingale and Leonardo da Vinci, two widely renowned figures who are believed to have been queer in some way.

Of course, most historic figures can only be speculated as LGBT+, given that the times and societies they lived in did not have the same standards and definitions we use today. Until recent years, it would be rare to find records of anybody identifying with specific queer terminology.

Interpretations are made based on their words and actions and relevant cultural context, and it’s important to remember that we can appreciate and identify with those that were likely queer without needing to assign strict labels. We encourage readers who are interested to have a look into these fascinating people themselves!

Books featured on the display above, from left to right:

Florence Nightingale : the woman and her legend by Mark Bostridge | The New Negro edited by Alain Locke ; with an introduction by Arnold Rampersad | Turing : pioneer of the information age by B. Jack Copeland | The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall ; with an introduction by Maureen Duffy | Silent Spring by Rachel Carson ; with an introduction by Caroline Lucas | Let the record show : a political history of ACT UP New York , 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman | How to survive a plague : the inside story of how citizens and science tamed AIDS by David France | Before AIDS : gay health politics in the 1970s by Katie Batza | The Transgender Studies Reader 2 edited by Susan Stryker and Aren Z. Aizura | I’ll stand by you : selected letters of Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland with narrative by Sylvia Townsend Warner ; edited by Susanna Pinney | Leonardo : the artist and the man by Serge Bramly | Generation on fire : voices of protest from the 1960s : an oral history by Jeff Kisseloff

Accessing the following e-resource materials will require a Single-Sign-On Login for Oxford University members. External readers will need to log in with their Bodleian accounts while using the Bodleian libraries network (either with a device connected to the Bodleian Libraries Wi-Fi network or using the reader PCs within the library).

The Remedy : Queer and Trans Voices on Health and Health Care edited by Zena Sharman

Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality by Simon LeVay

Trial until 28/2/26: Sex & Sexuality

Posted on 30 January 2026 by iholowaty

The 2026 theme for LGBT+ History Month aims to highlight the contributions of LGBT+ people, both historically and today, and to raise awareness of the individuals behind them.

Just in time for LGBT+ History month, we warmly invite Oxford researchers to explore and give feedback on two databases Sex & Sexuality and LGBTQ+ Life in America (see the VHL Blog post for more information).

Sex & Sexuality is an online resource providing access to key archival material related to human sexuality from leading archives across the world. It will be useful to students and researchers in gender / sexuality studies, history, sociology, anthropology, and medicine.

Please be aware that this resource contains material of a sexually explicit nature. Content includes, but is not limited to, descriptions and imagery of sexual violence; non-consensual sexual activity; sexual activity including minors; surgery and suicide.

The trial ends on 28 February 2026.

(c) AM Digital / Institute for Sex Research

From papers of leading sexologists to LGBTQI+ personal histories, Sex & Sexuality allows researchers to explore changing attitudes to human sexuality, gender and sexual behaviour. Geographic coverage is primarily in the United States, but also includes archival material from the UK and Australia.

Module I is sourced solely from the Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections, making available the papers of the first three institute directors (including Dr Alfred C. Kinsey), papers and research files of sexologists and researchers, publications and ephemera from the Institute and other organisations and advocacy groups, as well as correspondence and queries from members of the American public.

Module II is sourced from US, UK and Australian archives, and focus on personal experiences and self-expression. It includes personal histories, as well as accounts of grass-roots organisations and activism from the late 19^th Century to the present day. Resources include official records of pressure groups and community organisations, diaries and correspondence, photographs, objects, erotic fiction, papers of noted sexologists and more.

Feedback should be sent to bethan.davies@bodleian.ox.ac.uk and isabel.holowaty@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

While you are here, check out…

Archives of Sexuality and Gender: Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century
Defining Gender, 1450-1910
LGBT Magazine Archive Collection 1
LGBTQ+ Life in America [on trial until 28 Feb 2026]
And more databases on Gender, LGBTQ+ and women’s history

Trials until 24/2/26: 3 databases on British mercantile & shipping records C17-C20

Posted on 28 January 2026 by iholowaty

Oxford historians are now warmly invited to trial three databases which are useful for research into British trade, economy and shipping of the late 17th century to the early 20th century. The trials end on 24 February 2026.

The resources provide historical insight into the colonial, economic, and maritime dimensions of British history throughout this period. It should also interest those exploring broader themes, such as the escalation of global trade and the development of the fiscal-military state.

Throughout this pivotal period of British and global trade expansion, these resources shine a light on Britain’s increasing naval capabilities and the expansion of lucrative maritime trade networks fuelled significant economic growth. Frequently built upon exploitation and enslaved labour, the establishment of British trading outposts and plantations throughout Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Caribbean laid the foundations for a worldwide empire and secured access to sought after commodities, such as sugar, tobacco, and textiles.

British Mercantile Trade Statistics, 1662-1809

A collection of trade ledgers, registers and indexes that supply detailed statistical data on trade throughout the Long Eighteenth Century. It also includes official registers of “Mediterranean passes” which include information on which vessels were issued passes, their port of embarkation and destinations, as well as additional information on their size, crew, and defences.

An image of Customs ledger Imports and Exports, September 1698 to December 1698 (CUSTOMS 3/2). A handwritten table shows the important and export figures to a list of countries (Africa, Canaries, Denmark & Norway, etc). — (c) British Online Archives (Microform Academic Publishers). CUSTOMS 3/2: Imports and Exports, September 1698 to December 1698. Ref: 73808-A03

Bristol Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1770-1917

A significant collection of digitized primary source documents, primarily Bristol Presentments (bills of entry), offering insights into nearly 150 years of maritime trade for Bristol, detailing ship arrivals, departures, goods traded (like sugar, tobacco, coffee), and key merchants, crucial for maritime history, economic, and social research, accessible via libraries and archives.

Snippet from Exports 49, nos. I (4 January) - XLIX (27 December), showing in print tnames names of traders and their produce which was shipped from Bristol on 30 Dec 1772. — (c) 2014 Microform Academic Publishers, scanned & published with the permission of Bristol Central Library. Bristol Shipping Records: Exports 49, nos. I (4 January) – XLIX (27 December).

Liverpool Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1820-1900

Provides access to over 85,000 digitized bills of entry, manifests, and related documents. It offers insights into 19th-century Liverpool’s trade via bills of entry, detailing cargo, ships, dates, people, and routes, crucial for understanding the city’s rise as a global port, its links to colonial goods (cotton, sugar, tobacco), the slave trade, and evolving international commerce,

Snippet from Bills of Entry for the year 1820. The printed page lists the ships and their cargo which was imported on 1 Jan 1820 at Liverpool. — (c) 2013 Microform Academic Publishers, scanned & published with the permission of Liverpool City Council and the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside. Bills of Entry for the year 1820

Email isabel.holowaty@bodleian.ox.ac.uk for any feedback by 24 February 2026.

While you are here, check out other historical statistical resources which are available electronically.

Referencing and Citation Guidance Drop-ins for History Undergraduates

Posted on 12 January 2026 by mendonckw

Are you an OU history undergraduate unsure how to format references for footnotes or bibliographies, and don’t know where to turn? Then you can drop in to the staff office in the Upper Radcliffe Camera on any Wednesday during Full Term between 1-2pm, to get some quickfire 1-to-1 advice on the best resources to help you.

We can help with:

Where to find History Faculty guidance on citation and referencing
How to use reference management software
Where to check citation style conventions for particular source types

This is not a proofreading service, and we can’t check or create your footnotes or bibliographies, but we can show you where to find answers to your referencing conundrums. And we can try to show why referencing doesn’t have to be a source of anxiety!

Check the Oxford Historians Hub (SSO required) for all Faculty guidance: https://ohh.web.ox.ac.uk/referencing-and-citation

Wednesdays during Full Term, 1-2pm
Upper Radcliffe Camera Staff Office

Any queries? Get in touch at library.history@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Bodleian History Faculty Library at Oxford

A Bodleian Libraries blog