History Day participating organisations
- Archives Portal Europe
- Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
- Bethlem Museum of the Mind
- Brunel University Archive and Special Collections
- Guildhall Library
- History Lab
- Institute of Historical Research
- Senate House Library
- Institution of Mechanical Engineers
- Jisc
- King’s College London Archives and Special Collections
- The King’s Fund Library
- LSE Library
- London Metropolitan Archives
- London School of Hygiene of Tropical Medicine Library and Archive
- The National Archives
- Oxford Brookes University Special Collections and Archive
- Royal Society Library
- Salvation Army International Heritage Centre
- Wellcome Collection
- Related links
Archives Portal Europe is the largest online archival repository in the world, and the gateway to European archival heritage. It integrates archival catalogues from thousands of archives across Europe and makes them accessible and searchable all at the same time in a single virtual place. When available, digital objects from the web presence of the single institutions are also linked; otherwise all contacts to the physical archival institutions are provided.
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium is Ireland’s leading centre for astronomical research and education. The Observatory was opened in 1790 by Archbishop Robinson and The Planetarium was opened in 1968 through the efforts of Director Eric Lindsay.
https://museumofthemind.org.uk/
Bethlem Museum of the Mind records the lives and experience and celebrates the achievements of people with mental health problems. Our aim is to make our collections more accessible, and to provide accurate information to help in their interpretation. We hold the records of Bethlem Royal Hospital, The Maudsley Hospital, and Warlingham Park Hospital.
https://www.brunel.ac.uk/life/library/Special-Collections
Special Collections is the home of a varied range of unique and distinctive archive and book collections. Particular strengths lie in working class autobiographies, railway history, poetry and dialect, the battle against apartheid and Shakespeare.
https://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/Archives
The archives of Brunel University London and its predecessor colleges: Maria Grey College, Shoreditch College, the West London Institute of Higher Education, and those of the British and Foreign Schools Society (BFSS) date from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day. They are of local, national and international importance to the history of education and teacher training. The archives are the university’s corporate memory and are a rich and valuable resource for staff, students, the academic community and the wider public.
Guildhall Library is the library of London History. In addition, the library holds an internationally renowned collections of books on family and local history, wine and food, Samuel Pepys, John Wilkes and Thomas Moore, plus the libraries of the Clock Makers’, Gardeners’ and Fletchers’ Companies, the Antiquarian Horological Society, Gresham College and the Charles Lamb Society.
Archive collections, which are managed by London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) and accessed at Guildhall Library, include the archives of 80 City livery companies, the Lloyd’s Marine Collection and the London Stock Exchange.
https://ihrhistorylab.wordpress.com/
History Lab is the national network for postgraduate students in history and related disciplines. Based at the Institute of Historical Research, it is an intellectual and social forum designed to meet the needs of the postgraduate history community. Meetings are an opportunity for the next generation of historians to discuss ideas and to drive the study of history forward.
The Institute of Historical Research was founded in 1921 and is one of nine Institutes that comprise the University of London’s School of Advanced Study.
The IHR is dedicated to training the next generation of historians, and to producing and facilitating ambitious, innovative historical research. The Institute helps foster public understanding of history and its social, cultural, and economic importance, advocating for the long-term future of the discipline and supporting its growth and development.
2021 marks the centenary of the Institute of Historical Research. For 100 years the Institute of Historical Research has been thinking back and looking forward. In our centenary year, the IHR presents ‘Our Century’ – an exploration, celebration and reappraisal of history’s past, present and future.
IHR library: https://www.history.ac.uk/library
Join for free: https://www.history.ac.uk/library/library-membership
Collection guides: https://www.history.ac.uk/library/collections
Library catalogue: https://catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/search~S10/
British History Online: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/
Reviews in History: https://reviews.history.ac.uk/
Bibliography of British and Irish History: https://www.history.ac.uk/publications/bibliography-british-and-irish-history
History & Policy: https://www.historyandpolicy.org/
Seminars and events
https://www.history.ac.uk/search-events-seminar
https://www.history.ac.uk/search-events
Centre for the History of People, Place and Community
Find out more about Layers of London, Victoria County History and the Applied Public History: Places, People, Stories MOOC
https://www.history.ac.uk/centre-history-people-place-and-community
Research training, studying and fellowships
https://www.history.ac.uk/study-training/research-training
https://www.senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/
Located at Senate House in Bloomsbury, Senate House Library is the central library for the University of London and the School of Advanced Study. Members have access to beautiful study spaces in Central London, outstanding Arts, Humanities and Social Science, Special Collections, Archives, and digital resources.
This year, Senate House Library is celebrating its 150th anniversary – take a look at our celebratory online exhibition: https://london.ac.uk/senate-house-library/exhibitions-and-events/exhibitions/senate-house-library-150
Senate House Library’s collections:
https://london.ac.uk/senate-house-library/our-collections
Senate House Library catalogue: https://encore.libraries.london.ac.uk/iii/encore/homepage?lang=eng&suite=shl
Senate House Library research strength subject guides: https://london.ac.uk/senate-house-library/our-collections/research-strengths-of-our-collections
Senate House Library special collections, archives and manuscripts: https://london.ac.uk/senate-house-library/our-collections/special-collections
Senate House Library exhibitions and events: https://london.ac.uk/senate-house-library/exhibitions-and-events
How to become a member of Senate House Library: https://london.ac.uk/senate-house-library/membership
www.imeche.org/library-archive
Founded in 1847, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers is a learned society and membership organisation representing mechanical engineers. The Institution strives to improve the world through engineering by developing engineers, promoting engineering, informing opinion and encouraging innovation.
The archive collection includes the records of the Institution and records of mechanical engineers and engineering firms providing a perspective on the history of the Institution and the history of mechanical engineering.
Online archive catalogue: http://archivecat.imeche.org/calmview/
Virtual Archive: https://archives.imeche.org/
Vision: for the UK to be a world leader in technology for education and research
Mission: to power and empower our members with the technology and data they need to succeed
Our learning and research resources support UK academics, teachers, students and researchers by providing access to a wide range of learning and research resources and content services.
The Archives Hub enables you to search across the archives held at over 350 institutions across the UK. It covers most UK universities, many specialist repositories, national, local authority, museum and business archives, and includes physical and digital archives. Search for specific materials, search by name and topic, or browse and take advantage of the huge potential for serendipitous discovery.
https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/
The Historical Texts and Journal Archives services deliver high quality digitised content for research, learning and teaching, in a way that enables cross-searching of collections and supports discovery and access. Historical Texts provides access to almost half a million digitised historic books, from the birth of printing in England to the early twentieth century. Journal Archives contains over five and a half million facsimile articles, more than half as part of the British Periodicals collection of publications from the nineteenth century or earlier, and the rest from scholarly journals across a wide range of subject areas.
https://historicaltexts.jisc.ac.uk/
https://journalarchives.jisc.ac.uk/
Library Hub Discover allows you to quickly discover and locate material across the holdings of 172 UK national, academic, and specialist libraries. A freely available service to help you find what you need for your research, learning, and teaching, including Open Access material you can use immediately online.
https://discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/
The British Association for the Advancement of Science: Collections on the History of Science 1830s-1970s is a new digital archive that brings together under one roof about 1m pages of manuscripts, papers, images, maps and correspondence of important scientists drawn from the BAAS and over 10 UK universities. The digital archive is free to all UK Jisc members thanks to a collaboration between Jisc and Wiley.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/collections
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/collections/special-collections
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/collections/archives
Online exhibitions: https://kingscollections.org/exhibitions/home
Archives and Special Collections blog: https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/kingscollections/
Storymaps exhibition by a recent Archives intern: https://bit.ly/3vGig4u
King’s Libraries offer a huge multidisciplinary information resource base including over 1.2 million printed books and ebooks; more than 60,000 journals, reference tools, statistical data, official publications, maps, music scores, multimedia resources, photographs and manuscripts, as well as Archives (5 million items) and Special Collections of international standing.
Digital Scholarship https://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/collections/digital-scholarship
UK Medical Heritage Library project https://archive.org/details/kingscollegelondon
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/consultancy-support/library-services
The King’s Fund Library provides a unique and free source of information on health and social care policy and management. We are here to support you remotely providing access to reliable resources and expert advice.
Digital archive
Delve into the history of The King’s Fund and of health care in London. Our freely available digital archive contains King’s Fund publications from the turn of the 20th Century.
https://archive.kingsfund.org.uk/
From our archive
Discover the contents of our archive through our online exhibitions, blogs and library events
The King’s Fund Library database
Search our free online database of health and social care policy literature. This collection focuses on the healthcare system in England spanning from 1948 to present day.
https://koha.kingsfund.org.uk/
Ask a librarian
Do you have a health or social care question? Need to check a reference or a fact? Our free enquiry service will soon have you up to speed.
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/consultancy-support/library-services/ask-librarian
The British Library of Political and Economic Science was founded in 1896, a year after the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Arriving at a time when the social, legal and economic environment was becoming increasingly significant; providing materials from all over the world; the Library would enable such research and the ‘laboratory’ of the social sciences was born.
Over the years many significant private collections and papers were donated and collections built to support LSE research and teaching.
Browse our new Digital Collections via our AtoM page: https://lse-atom.arkivum.net/
Browse our Women’s Rights Collection: https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/suffrage
Browse our Digital Library for Fabian Society Tracts, Beatrice Webb’s diaries and more: https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk
Our collection highlight pages: https://www.lse.ac.uk/library/collection-highlights
Our archive catalogue: https://archives.lse.ac.uk
Our online exhibitions: https://www.lse.ac.uk/library/whats-on/exhibitions
Images on our Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lselibrary
Our Google Arts and Culture platform for online exhibits: https://artsandcultre.google.com/partner/lse-library
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/london-metropolitan-archives
Located in Clerkenwell, London Metropolitan Archives is home to an amazing range of documents, images, maps, films and books which chart your London history from 1067 to today.
Whether you’re tracing your family history or researching the history of your neighbourhood, if you’re interested in London or Londoners, it is the place to visit!
https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/library-archives-service/archives
The LSHTM Archives hold documents, letters, photographs, maps, publications and objects relating to tropical and infectious diseases and public health issues. Collections date from the mid-nineteenth century. The Archives also includes material on the history and development of the School since its foundation in 1899.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
The National Archives is a non-ministerial department, and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales. We are the guardians of over 1,000 years of iconic national documents. The records reflect the culture and heritage within Britain since the 11th century.
Alongside the rich archival holdings of The National Archives there is a large, comprehensive and interesting research library that is accessible to all. It contains thousands of printed and online sources that compliment and support research into the archives.
https://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/collections/special-collections/
The Oxford Brookes University Special Collections and Archive contains archival and published material related to our five collecting themes:
- Food and Drink
- Art and Architecture
- Publishing and Literary Prizes
- Allied and Public Health
- Oxford Brookes University
More information about the collections and how to access them is available on our webpages.
https://royalsociety.org/collections/
Case study: Dr Aaron Hanlon
https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/lisa-jardine/aaron-hanlon/
Case study: Pamela Mackenzie
https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/lisa-jardine/pamela-mackenzie/
The Lisa Jardine Grant Scheme
https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/lisa-jardine/
https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/about-us/international-heritage-centre
Salvation Army International Heritage Centre on Twitter: https://twitter.com/salvarmyarchive
Institutions of Empire seminar series: https://twitter.com/InstOfEmpire
https://wellcomecollection.org/
Located on Euston Road, Wellcome Collection features permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as the Library. The subjects covered include: spiritualism, sexology, climate, anatomy, herbals, psychology, addiction, diet, pain and disease. The items are part of a global collection around the broad topic of health and the human condition. We house an eclectic art collection featuring Goya, Van Gogh, Yinka Shonibare and art created by patients.
Library enquiries:The library | Wellcome Collection
Research Development: Events for researchers | Wellcome Collection
Related links
History Day
Find out more about History Day: https://historycollections.blogs.sas.ac.uk and the other organisations involved in the Discover collections gallery: https://historycollections.blogs.sas.ac.uk/discover-collections
From the TUC Library Collections: a digital exhibition based on the life of the iconic women’s trade unionist Mary Macarthur To Fight, to Struggle to Right the Wrong: https://www.tuc.org.uk/MaryMacarthur
School of Advanced Study
The School of Advanced Study at the University of London forms the UK’s national centre for the support of researchers and the promotion of research in the humanities. The School of Advanced Study supports History Day.
The School of Advanced Study Library collections include:
- Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library: https://ials.sas.ac.uk/library
- Institute of Classical Studies Library: https://library.ics.sas.ac.uk/
- Institute of Historical Research Library: https://www.history.ac.uk/library
The Warburg Institute Library, Photographic Collection and Archive: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library-collections
You can learn more about History Day on the History Collection website.
If you are an organisation interested in participating in History Day 2021, find out more about how to get involved.
If you want to receive updates on the latest news and announcements about History Day, subscribe to our mailing list.