‘[Halloween] is thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are abroad on their baneful midnight errands; particularly those aerial people, the fairies, are said on that night to hold a grand anniversary.’ Robert Burns, Halloween, 1785 Although the entomology behind the word ‘Halloween’ is Christian – ‘quite literally, the popular Continue Reading
WW1 in Photos
English tank captured by Germans, photograph taken by civilian near Hindenburg line, 1919. Amputees on a cigarette break, 1918. Wounded American soldiers enjoying weaving at the ‘Walter Reed Hospital’ Washington D.C, 1918. Americans wearing new gas masks, 1917. David Lloyd George and ‘The Big Four’, Paris Peace Conference 1919. The iconic and largely reproduced Continue Reading
Interview with Eloise Moss
What brought you back to Manchester? I just love Manchester as a city and I’ve always found the History department incredibly friendly, supportive and welcoming. I studied for my MA here and knew that I wanted to return. I noticed that while the department covers such a range of history, there was a gap in Continue Reading
Power of the Poppy
After a long, cold winter the weather the Spring of 1915 was unusually warm. Among the trampled soil and burnt out carcasses of trees, the poppies grew. Of all the symbols which stand as testimony to the First World War, the red poppy is at the forefront. In May 1915 Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, who was Continue Reading
The Suffragette Split
The Pankhurst family were crucial to the Suffragette movement in the early 20th Century. The Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) was founded in Manchester, Pankhurst’s hometown, prior to World War 1. There were six founders of the WSPU, including both Sylvia and Emmeline Pankhurst. The WSPU displayed a more militant strand of the suffrage Continue Reading