Category Archives: Talks & events

Black History Month 2026

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This October, the Radcliffe Camera History Lending Collection is hosting a display of books for Black History Month. This display encapsulates various experiences by black communities across the world and through different time periods. This year, the display highlights a few resources dedicated to black women’s history in particular. In doing so, it aims to reflect on the diversity and unique experiences of those facing both pervasive anti-blackness and other forms of oppression. In addition to this, a collection of E-Books available from SOLO have been arranged below, please click on the book covers to be taken to the record for each resource. Read about the achievements of daring stunt pilot Bessie (Elizabeth) Coleman or about the career of chemist Alice Ball, whose work was instrumental in the early 20th century for treating leprosy and whom long went uncredited for it and many more.

To browse events and lectures across Oxford University this October for Black History Month, please visit this link. In addition to these, St. John’s college will also be holding a lecture, please see details of this here.

Books on the display, in no particular order:
Black girlhood in the nineteenth century by Nazera Sadiq Wright | Bury my heart in a free land : black women intellectuals in modern U.S. History edited by Hettie V. Williams | Black British migrants in Cuba : race, labor, and empire in the twentieth-century Caribbean, 1898-1948 by Jorge L. Giovannetti-Torres | Maria Baldwin’s worlds : a story of Black New England and the fight for racial justice by Kathleen Weiler | Motherhood, childlessness and the care of children in Atlantic slave societies edited by C. Cowling, M. Helena P. T. Machado, D. Paton and E. West | The politics of reproduction : race, medicine, and fertility in the age of abolition by Katherine Paugh | Black-French women and the struggle for equality, 1848-2016 edited by Félix Germain and Silyane Larcher | Destined for a life of service : Defining African-Jamaican womanhood, 1865-1938 by Henrice Altink | A seat at the table : Black women public intellectuals in US history and culture edited by Hettie V. Williams and Melissa Ziobro | What Britain did to Nigeria : a short history of conquest and rule by Max Siollun | Land of tears : the exploration and exploitation of equatorial Africa by Robert Harms | Mother country : Britain’s black community on the home front, 1939-45 by Stephen Bourne | Harlem nocturne : women artists & progressive politics during World War II by Farah Jasmine Griffin | The heart of the race : Black women’s lives in Britain by Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie, and Suzanne Scafe | Voices of the Windrush generation by David Matthews |

These E-books can be accessed via SOLO using a Oxford University SSO login, or alternatively for external readers, using the Bodleian Libraries Wi-fi network or reader PCs within the library.

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

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First observed in Haiti on August 23rd 1998, this remembrance day reflects on the lives of the victims of the Atlantic slave trade, as well as the institutional machinations that perpetrated it. In doing so, this project reveals the depths, the causes, and the continued legacy of ramifications that find their roots in this atrocity.

In accordance with this, a display featuring History Faculty Library material relevant to this topic has been arranged in the Upper Gladstone Link of the Radcliffe Camera for perusal. Alternatively, there is an e-book collection to browse through at the bottom of this page, please scroll down and click on the book covers to be taken to the SOLO record of each resource.

Books on the display above, from left to right:
“Maroon Nation: a History of Revolutionary Haiti” by Johnhery Gonzalez | “Slave Religion: The ‘Invisible Institution’ in the Antebellum South” by Albert J. Raboteau | “The Ragged Road to Abolition: Slavery and Freedom in New Jersey, 1775-1865” by James J. Gigantino II | “The Slave’s Cause: a History of Abolition” by Sinha Manisha | “Black Ghost of Empire: The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation” by Kris Manjapra | “All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family’s Keepsake“ by Tiya Miles | “Black Ivory: a History of British Slavery” by James Walvin | “Fugitive Slaves and Spaces of Freedom in North America” ed. Damian A. Pargas | “Rebellious Passage: The Creole Revolt and America’s Coastal Slave Trade” by Jeffrey R. Kerr-Ritchie | “Spain and the Abolition of Slavery in Cuba, 1817-1886” by Arthur F. Corwin | “Beyond Bondage: Free Women of Colour in the Americas” by David B. Gaspar and Darlene C. Hine | “Romantic Colonization and British Anti-Slavery” by Deidre Coleman | “Slave Portraiture in the Atlantic World” by Agnes I. Lugo-Oritz and Angela Rozenthal | “Deep Like the Rivers: Education in the Slave Quarter Community, 1831-1865” by Thomas L. Webber


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.)

Book cover for "She is Weeping: An Intellectual History of Racialised Slavery and Emotions in the Atlantic World" by Dannelle Gutarra Cordero. Gold and grey text on a white background with an illustration of a black woman carrying a white child in the middle.
Book cover for: "Dismal Freedom: A History of the Maroons of the Great Dismal Swamp" by J. Brent Morris. Text overlaying a digital illustration of a couple wading through water with foliage all around them.
Book cover for "Ar'n't I a Woman?: Female Slaves in the Plantation South" by Deborah Gray White. Text on top of a Sepia tone painting of a black woman wearing an apron standing on a porch doorway.
Book cover for "Recovering Scotland's Slavery Past: The Caribbean Connection" ed. T.M. Devine. Text on a brush-textured navy and black background with a pencil drawing in the middle of captives being loaded onto a ship.
Book cover for "Slavery in the North: Forgetting History and Recovering Memory" by Marc H. Ross. Text overlaying a patchwork-style illustration of a mansion with a collection of multi-coloured coffins in front of it
Book cover for: Junteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration by E. T. Cotham Jr. Text on red background with a photograph of a group of men in formal dandy attire holding musical instruments above it
Book cover for: "Gendered Resistance: Women, Slavery and the Legacy of Margaret Garner ed. M. E. Frederickson and D. M. Walters. Text above a portrait of a black woman wearing a white hair covering.
Book cover for "Slavery at Sea: Terror Sex and Sickness in the Middle Passage" by Sowande' M. Mustakeem. White text overlaying a digital illustration of a ship on a blood-red sea backed by grey storm clouds.

The National Maritime Museum and Queen’s House under Royal Museums Greenwich will be holding their annual exhibition with a range of talks and activities on the 23rd of August for Slavery Remembrance Day. Click here for more details on the itinerary.
In addition, this date coincides with the anniversary of the opening for the International Museum of Slavery in 2007, a part of the collective of National Museums Liverpool. Which, in partnership with the black community of Liverpool, participates in events for Slavery Remembrance Day. There are a range of in-person events and online resources, click the link here for details on this.

LGBT+ History Month 2025

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In the UK, February marks LGBT+ History month, an initiative started by the education charity Schools OUT. Now in its twentieth year, the month provides an opportunity for LGBTQ+ people from a variety of backgrounds to explore their histories. You can learn more about the national campaign here.

This year, our display highlights some lesser known queer stories in history, from the medieval islamicate world to Brighton in the 50s and 60s. Be sure to check out the physical books on display, as well as our e-book display below.

Oxford University members can access all e-books remotely by signing into SOLO with their ‘Single Sign On.’ Click on the book covers below to view the SOLO records for some of the featured texts.

Our physical display includes:

  1. Black on Both Sides : A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton.
  2. Re-Dressing: America’s Frontier Past by Peter Boag.
  3. Daring Hearts : Lesbian and Gay Lives of 50s and 60s Brighton by The Brighton Ourstory Project.
  4. Male Colors : The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan by Gary P. Leupp.
  5. Masculinity, Class and Same-sex Desire in Industrial England, 1895-1957 by Helen Smith.
  6. Islamicate Sexualities : Translations Across Temporal Geographies of Desire, edited by Kathryn Babayan and Afsaneh Najmabadi.
  7. Female Masculinity by Jack Halberstam.
  8. The Pink Triangle by Richard Plant.
  9. True Sex : The Lives of Trans Men at the Turn of the Twentieth Century by Emily Skidmore.
  10. Autobiography of an Androgyne by Ralph Werther/Earl Lind, edited by Scott Herring.
  11. Intimate Friends : Women Who Loved Women, 1778-1928 by Martha Vicinus.
  12. Histories of the Transgender Child by Jules Gill-Peterson.
  13. Gay Life and Culture : A World History by Robert Aldrich.
  14. Good as You by Paul Flynn.
  15. It’s Not Unusual: A History of Lesbian and Gay Britain in the Twentieth Century by Alkarim Jivani.
  16. Out on Stage by Alan Sinfield.

LGBTQ+ History Hackathon or…How to crowdsource almost 500 web resources!

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On the last Friday of November (29th Nov 2024), the LGBTQ+ History Hackathon was held at the History Faculty. Co-hosted by Faculty academics and the History Faculty Library, over 70 people (students, staff, and members of the public) participated, both in person and online. The aim of the event was to crowdsource resources for a new Oxford resource guide for LGBTQ+ history. It very much followed the model of the Disability History Hackathon, held two years ago, which was a great success and provided resources for the disability history LibGuide.

Opening remarks to participants ahead of event in History Faculty lecture theatre
Welcome to event in lecture theatre – Professor Martin Conway (Chair of the Board of the Faculty of History) and Isabel Holowaty (Deputy Head of Humanities Libraries and Bodleian History Librarian Research).

The event was opened in the Faculty lecture theatre by Prof. Martin Conway, Chair of the Faculty Board. After introductions, an outline of the scope of the proposed LibGuide, and a brief presentation on Bodleian Libraries Academic Library Services’ EDI activities by Helen Worrell, participants were shown useful advanced Google searching techniques by Rachel D’Arcy-Brown, History Librarian (Teaching). Participants then spread out across various rooms in the faculty, and began searching the internet to find relevant resources. In total, almost 500 resources were recommended, covering a wide range of topics and a variety of historical periods. These resources included journal articles, archives, and newspapers. This is a really fantastic result, representing a great effort on the part of all who got involved.

The event closed with a presentation of a snapshot of initial results by Zac Draysey, History Faculty Library Graduate Trainee, and final remarks and thanks by Prof. Matthew Cook, Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexuality.

The Hackathon provided a fun and inclusive way of amassing quality resources. It enables us to draw on the interests and expertise of a diverse group of people from Oxford but, thanks to technology, also from people across the UK and even North America. This will allow us to add a broad range of resources to the LibGuide.

The next steps will involve assessing and organising the recommended resources collected during the hackathon and create an easy-to-use guide, which places this wealth of high-quality information into a helpful context. This LibGuide will be accessible not only to University students and staff, but to anyone all over the world. In this spirit, the Hackathon focused on publicly available and open access material.

Our current plan is to launch a beta version of the LibGuide by June 2025, in time for pride month. Updates and further information will be posted here on the blog, as well on the Hackathon page itself.

Enormous thanks go to all participants for giving to freely their time and effort. Thanks also go to the History Faculty for hosting the event, sponsoring refreshments, and to their staff for supporting its organisation.

Zac Draysey, Bodleian Libraries Graduate Trainee (History Faculty Library) 2024-25

Disability History Month

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Banner with a gold background with "Disability History." written in black in the middle. The background is decorated with black and white triangles in shadow and reflection patterns

Disability History Month is an annual event that endeavours to document the history of inequality experienced by people with disabilities. The purpose of which, as stated by the official Disability History Month organisation, is to encourage for greater social change and human rights protections to improve the lives of those at present and in the future. It will be running from the 14th of November until the 20th of December.

This year, the official theme is “Employment and Livelihood,” which examines the factors that impact the employment of disabled people and how they have made a living throughout history, as well as in the present day. This will hopefully create a better understanding of these issues, so that a fair and just future might develop.

From our collections in the History Faculty Library, we have selected five books to work in accordance with this theme, as well as a further eight e-books which will be linked below. The remainder of the display commemorates the lives, accomplishments of people with disabilities as well as studying the challenges and attitudes they have faced throughout the world and over millennia.

Photograph of the Disability History Month display in the Gladstone Link of the Radcliffe Camera, 12 books and 3 posters.

Banner with a gold background with "Online Resources." written in black in the middle. The background is decorated with black and white triangles in shadow and reflection patterns

To view the SOLO catalogue record for each of these online resources, please click on the front cover pictures! Please note that you will need to log in to SOLO with your Oxford University Single-Sign-On in order to access the full text. External readers will be able to access these resources by using the Bodleian Wi-fi network within the library or by using our reader PCS with their Bodleian Log-in details.

  Work requirements : race, disability, and the print culture of social welfare by Todd CarmodyNo Right to Be Idle : The Invention of Disability, 1840's to 1930's by Sarah F. Rose

Global histories of disability, 1700-2015 : power, place and people by Esmee Cleall Blind in early modern Japan : disability, medicine, and identity by Wei Yu Wayne Tan

Black disability politics by Sami Schalk Curating access : disability art activism and creative accommodation by Amanda Cachia

Out of the Horrors of War : Disability Politics in World War II America by Audra Jennings Disability and labour in the twentieth century historical and comparative perspectives by Radu Harald Dinu and Staffan Bengtsson

On the 22nd of December, the History Faculty at Lincoln College will be hosting a Disability Month Workshop which you can find out more about by clicking here.

Banner with a gold background decorated with black and white triangles in shadow and reflection patterns

 

 

 

Come & Hack: Help find resources for LGBTQ+ History – Hackathon on Fri 29 Nov 2-5.30pm

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Two hands holding hands in front of an LGBTQ+ flag. The logos of the History Faculty, Oxford and Bodleian Libaries are displayed at the top on either side.Are you interested in LGBTQ+ history? Do you want to be part of an informal collective research effort?

Join a group of volunteers at the LGBTQ+ History Hackathon to help locate historical resources for an LGBTQ+ history online research guide. All are welcome!

When: Fri 29 November 2024 @ 2-5.30pm, drinks’ reception 5.30-6.30pm
Where: History Faculty, George Street, Oxford or remotely via Teams

Image of a hand writing writing Register in blue.How does it work?

After a brief training session on advanced Google searches, you will work individually or in small groups to identify research resources (databases, archives, websites, etc.) on a particular aspect of LGBTQ+ history. You will create brief descriptions for each resource which will then be added to the LibGuide in the course of 2024/5. We expect to spend up to 2 hours on the Hackathon with a tea/coffee break in between – and will celebrate our joint achievement at a drinks’ reception!

You will be able to join in person in the History Faculty, George St, or remotely via Teams. You will need to register to attend.

Image of a woman working on a laptop. The image is in green.

What will you get out of it?

  • Discover research materials for LGBTQ+ history
  • Learn advanced Google search from a professional librarian
  • Network with other researchers
  • Join a community-led project to create an online guide for LGBTQ+ history

What do you need?

  • An interest in, knowledge of and enthusiasm in LGBTQ+ resources, esp. for historical study.
  • If dialling in from remote: computer with Teams or Zoom, camera and microphone
  • If onsite: a laptop; ideally Eduroam wifi account (wifi access can be provided)

This LGBTQ+ Hackathon follows the success of the Disability History Hackathon Home – Disability History Resources – Oxford LibGuides at Oxford University

Upskill your research skills this term: lots of courses for historians in MT24

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Student using a computer

photo (c) John Cairns

Historians, do you want to know what fantastic resources are available in Oxford?  Do you need to improve or speed up your research method to find sources?  Have you struggled to find anything in online newspapers?  Is managing citations like herding cats? Do you want to explore the use of AI for information searching?  Do you need or want to publish your research as Open Access but don’t know how to?

We can help you with all of these. See the list of courses on offer this term:

FINDING SOURCES & RESOURCES

  • Introduction to Online Resources for Historians: Show & Tell (Bodleian iSkills) – Tues 15 Oct 2024 (week 1) @ 10am-12pm – via Teams Book your place
  • Data sources for research – discovery, access and use – Tues 22 Oct 2024 (week 2) 2-4pm – in person Book your place
  • *New* Using AI for Research: Finding, Analysing, and Sharing Information Sources (Bodleian iSkills) Wed 23 Oct 2024 (week 2) @ 10am-12pm – via Teams Book your place
  • Newspapers & other online news sources from the 17th-20th centuries (Bodleian iSkills) – Tues 12 Nov 2024 (week 5) @ 2-3.30pm Book your place
  • *New* Drop-in: Exploring Bibliography of British & Irish History – Historical Abstracts Wed 13 Nov 2024 (week 5) @12.30-1.15pm. Join via Teams (Oxford members only)
  • Discovering archives and modern manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries (Bodleian iSkills) – Thurs. 14 Nov 2024 (week 5) @ 10-11.30am – In person Book your place
  • Presentation on the UN Archives Genva Platform (League of Nations Archive) (Bodleian iSkills) – Thurs 21 Nov 2024 (week 6) @ 12-1pm – Teams Book your place
  • Confidential Print & Foreign Office files: Sources for C19th & 20th studies (Bodleian iSkills) – Tues 26 Nov 2024 (week 7) @ 12-1pm – Teams Book your place

Female student studying in a library with a laptop.

photo (c) John Cairns

MANAGING YOUR CITATIONS using reference management software

As you collect your references from catalogues, databases and websites, reference management software can be really helpful to export them into a single place, structure them, export them in a chosen citation style and, via a plugin, insert the citations into your writing. It’s best to learn about these tools as early as possible. If you don’t know which software to use, check out our comparison tables.

  • Zotero (Bodleian iSkills)
  • RefWorks (Bodleian iSkills) – Thurs 7 Nov 2024 (week 4) @ 2-4pm – Teams Book your place
  • Endnote (Bodleian iSkills)

All about OPEN SCHOLARSHIP

  • Fundamentals of Open Access (Bodleian iSkills) – Teams Book your place
    • Thurs 17 Oct 2024 (week 1) @ 10am-12pm – via Teams
    • Tues 19 Nov 2024 (week 6) @ 10am-11.30am – via Teams
    • Tue, 17 Dec 2024 @ 10-11.30am – via Teams
  • Logistics of Open Scholarship (Bodleian iSkills) Thurs 21 Nov 2024 @ 10-11.30am – via Teams Book your place
  •  Your thesis, copyright & ORA (Bodleian iSkills)  Tues 19 Nov 2024 (week 6) @ 3-4pm – via Teams Book your place
  •  Open Monographs (Bodleian iSkills) Book your place
    • Tue, 15 Oct 2024 (week 1) @ 10-11am – via Teams
    • Thurs 5 Dec 2024 (week 8) @ 2-3pm – via Teams

Other useful training

Keeping up to date with research (Bodleian iSkills) Wed 20 Nov 2024 (week 6) @ 10.30-11.30am – via Teams Book your place

Working with sensitive research data (Bodleian iSkills) Tues 5 Nov 2024 (week 4) @2-4pm in person – Book your place

Also of interest?

Michaelmas Term Welcome Tours

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Welcome to 0th Week, Michaelmas Term 2024!

The Radcliffe Camera (incl. History Faculty Library) will be holding welcome tours for new students during 0th Week and 1st Week. The tours will introduce you to the library spaces and services, and talk in a little more detail about the collections in the Camera and Gladstone Link, particularly the collections of the History Faculty Library.

The tours will take place at the times below. No booking is required and the meeting point will be in the Lower Camera reading room on the ground floor. Just ask staff to direct you should you need help.

0th week: Wed to Fri: 10:30 / 11:30 / 12:30 / 2:30 / 3:30 /4:30

1st week – Mon to Fri: 11:30 / 3:30

Information about all the welcome tours taking place across the Bodleian Libraries can be found here:

https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ask/getting-started/under-post-graduates

We look forward to welcoming you to the library!

Black History Month

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As of the start of October, we at the Radcliffe Camera History Faculty Library are celebrating Black History Month! The theme for this year is “Reclaiming Narratives,” which aims to highlight underexplored aspects of black history and experience, as well as encouraging aspects of global history to be examined and told by members of the black community through their perspectives. Another goal of this theme, as mentioned by the official UK Black History Month organisation, is to honour the work of black people throughout history with accomplishments in fields such as the arts, sciences, law, and of everyday life, the “unsung heroes.”  In accordance with this, we have curated a collection of History Faculty Library material in the Gladstone Link to suit this theme, as well as an array of online material which will be linked below.

Our online collections can be accessed via SOLO with a Single-Sign-On Oxford University Login, as well as from our reader PCs and Bodleian WIFI network within the library for Bodleian card holders. If you are a member of the university and would like to access our online collections remotely, then please check out our remote access service (note that this service is not available to external readers.)

Click on the images to be directed to the SOLO record for each resource!

Oxford University will be running a series of events and lectures during this month, which you can find through this link. In addition to this list, Kellogg College will be hosting its annual Black History Month lecture on the 15th of October, which you can find details for here. 

History Thesis Fair for undergraduates on Thurs 25 April (week 1): explore – discover – meet specialists

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We are delighted to run the History Thesis Fair for second-year undergraduates this year on THURS 25 APRIL 2024 2-4pm, Exam Schools.

Come and meet over 50 specialists to talk about resources for your dissertation topic! History Thesis Fair: Discover sources for your research A pictorial collage of different archival materials to advertise the History Thesis Fair on Thurs 25 April 2024, afternoon, North Writing School, Examination Schools. Colleges B-N 2-3pm, Colleges O-W 3-4pm. It’s an opportunity to explore, be curious, network, meet and learn.

The Fair is an excellent opportunity for students to gain a wider perspective on the wealth and riches of research sources available for your field of study.

At the Fair you can learn about resources you may not yet have yet considered and meet the curators of collections who can guide you towards relevant material or useful finding tools.

30 stalls will cover many areas:

  • Special Collections, libraries and archives, e.g.
    • Archives & manuscripts
    • College Libraries (Special Collections) & College Archives’ Collections
    • Early Printed Books
    • Oxford Brookes University Special Collections and Archives
    • Oxfordshire History Centre
    • UK Government and International Intergovernmental Publications
  • Topical stalls, e.g.
    • Biography
    • Economic & Social History
    • English
    • Digital Scholarship
    • LGBTQ, Gender & Sexuality
    • History of Science & Medicine
    • Visual culture
    • and more
  • Geographical stalls, e.g.
    • Africa & Commonwealth
    • East Asia & South Asia
    • Eastern Europe and Russia
    • Great Britain & West Europe
    • Middle East, Hebrew & Judaica, Caucausus & Central Asia
    • Latin America
    • United States

You will also have an opportunity to speak to other students who have previously written dissertations and learn about their TOP 10 TIPS.

At our Information Skills stall, learn what courses are laid on to help you develop the skills you will need.

The format of the Fair encourages you to explore and discover new materials at your own pace, to be curious, to network and to make connections to experts and their peers while also learning about creative use of sources in Digital Scholarship.

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.

Get yourself kitted out for your research 

Hand cupping a seedling.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Doing research on your thesis also means that you will need to learn new skills, deepening your knowledge of resources and sources and how to go about locating and using them.

To help you on this exciting journey, the library has organised a series of talks, classes, and workshops which are designed to

  1. Upskill your information searching and research skills;
  2. Learn about the rich sources available to them in Oxford (and beyond) and know how to access them;
  3. Learn how to handle the material, incl. archives, correct citation practices, ethical research practice, etc.;
  4. Get to know relevant experts in Oxford libraries and archives.

Check out the classes and workshops set up for you to help you learn the skills you will need.