Collection: People’s History Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  People’s History Museum’s collection is organised as two distinct entities: the ‘Object Collection’ (also known as the ‘Museum Collection’) and the ‘Archive Collection’, which is cared for by the Labour History Archive and Study Centre (LHASC); the history of the Archive Collection is laid out in the Collecting Policy of LHASC. The Object Collection is cared for and managed by the Collections team to Spectrum 5.1 standards, and is used throughout the museum galleries. Objects not in use are stored at the museum’s off_site storage facility in both accessible and deep storage.

  The Object collection is made up of two- and three-dimensional objects and ephemera. The collection was first established in the 1960s, by the Trade Union, Labour, Democratic and Co-Operative History Society(TULC).The TULC collected radical and working class historic objects, which were at the time largely ignored by academia and the museum sector. The TULC opened the National Museum of Labour History (NMLH) in Limehouse in 1975, and the collection grew in size and prestige. Key collections were added during this time, largely from socialist and left-wing donors, including the Walter Southgate bequest (a founding member of the TULC) and the works of communist artist Cliff Rowe.

  Following the closure of the Limehouse museum in 1987, the Object Collection was moved to Manchester and the museum was reopened on Princess Street in 1990. With the continued growth of the collection, the museum opened a second site in Spinningfields in 1994, and re-named to the people’s History Museum in 2001; in 2010 the Spinningfields site re-opened after a redevelopment and became the single site of the museum. From this time, the collections grew significantly in size and scope.

  The collecting focus of the museum has expanded and developed significantly over the years, and has also shifted in such a way as to leave areas of the current collection out of scope for use (see priorities for rationalisation). As the focus of current affairs and the museum has shifted away from Trade Union activism towards grassroots campaigns, so too has the collection. In fact, the scope of the collection has continually widened since the move to Manchester, without any real assessment of the collecting policy to assess which areas may no longer fit, or be needed, within the collection.

  The collection, when at Limehouse, focused heavily on early radicalism, socialism, and the fight for universal suffrage. The collections effectively worked to track the formation of Left-Wing mainstream politics, from Thomas Paine to the Labour Party’s election into government. A key area of this was, of course, the formation of Trade Unions, the shift in Unionism from the New Model Unions, and strike movements, such as the Dockers Strike, the General Strike, the Miner’s Strike, and the Grunwick Strike.

  Following the move to Manchester, this focus continued with the addition of more objects relating to key campaigns at the time, such as the campaign against Poll Tax, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and the Anti-Apartheid Movement. Key political moments continued to be collected, and semi-regular deposits were received from the Labour Party, including the campaign in the run up to the 1997 General Election. The collection, by this time, also included several deposits of workmen’s tools, as well as some occupational costume, but the focus of the collection had started to shift. In 1998, the whole of the collection was Designated as being of National Importance.

  The shift continued significantly following the completion of the “One Site” project – the redevelopment of the Spinningfields site and reopening as the sole gallery space for the museum.1 Following the redevelopment, several key changes to the running of the museum once again expanded the focus of the collection; in 2010 the Directorship changed from Nick Mansfield, who had run the museum since its move to Manchester, to Katy Ashton; in 2015 DCMS removed support funding from the museum, leading to a contracting of resource; and a strategic change to themed programmes as the focus for the museum, led by community participation, changed the focus of the collections curation.

  The change to the ‘Programme-led Approach’ had a very strong impact on the museum’s collection. The first three programmes looked at anniversaries of key events: the decriminalisation of homosexuality(2017); the Representation of the People Act (2018); and the Peterloo Massacre (2019). Following these, two key themes were focused on: Migration, and Disability Rights and Activism). With each of these, the collections team sought to strengthen the areas of focus. This was largely done through the acquisition of objects loaned to the museum for exhibition by members of the community, and saw huge success for the LGBT collections in particular.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2025

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The Object Collection is Designated, and estimated to have between 60,000 and 100,000 objects, varying in physical size from large banners to coins, medals and badges; around 12,O00 records are available on the museum’s collections database, some of which are object groups or overall collection records featuring hand-lists of individual items.

  Estimates have been made for the types of collections the museum currently holds.

  These object types, with their sub-groups, can be defined as follows:

  Numismatics and Para- Numismatics

  • Medals
  • Coins and Notes
  • Tokens
  • Badges

  Works on paper

  • Prints
  • Posters
  • Photographs*
  • Unframed Drawings and Paintings on paper
  • Sketchbooks

  Books and Bindings

  • Books
  • Scrapbooks
  • Photograph Albums
  • Autograph Books
  • Bound card collections

  Artworks (Fine and Decorative)

  • Paintings
  • Framed Works on paper
  • Sculpture
  • Ceramics

  Textiles

  • Banners
  • Painted Textiles
  • Costume

  Furniture

  • Large Furniture (tables, desks, bookcases etc.)
  • Small Furniture (tills, office tidies etc.)
  • Signage
  • Ballot boxes

  Social and Political history objects

  • 3-dimensional social history
  • Ephemera and leaflets
  • Placards
  • Presentation items
  • Union Regalia

  Some areas of the collection are best organised by donor – whether these were from individuals or groups. These collections tend to be stored together within the off-site store:

  Department of Employment

  Office furniture; photographs; leaflets; posters. This large collection came to the museum when the Department of Employment merged with the Department for Social Security to become the DWP.

  CPGB Collection

  Posters; 3-d objects; banners. This is the largest collection from the Communist Party of Great Britain, and was donated in 1994.

  CPGB Klugmann and [xxxx] collection

  Tokens; medals; prints. The collection of tokens and medals was purchased from the collection CPGB in 1991.

  Communist Party Picture Collection

  Photographs; Negatives; Prints. This collection was donated in 2000; it includes photographs, which were transferred to LHASC,as well as prints.

  Brooks and Niven Collection

  Posters; designs; leaflets; artworks. The collection includes a large number of posters relating to the Daily Worker and the Second World War, but also some design work and mockups of the posters.

  Cliff Rowe Collection

  Artworks; sketchbooks; book sleeves; publications. This collection was donated by the artist upon his retirement, and included the contents of his studio.

  Walter Southgate Collection

  Ephemera; 3-d objects; tokens.

  Co-operative Wholesale Society

  Household furniture; advertisements; milk tokens; packaging.

  Collinson Collection

  Postcards; badges; ephemera.

  Ernest Hole Badge Collection

  Badges; Artworks. A collection of badges acquired in 2019, relating to Ernest Hole, who owned the Gay’s The Word bookshop in London.

  Llewelyn T Smith Card collection

  Greetings Cards.

  John Gorman Collection

  Photographs; Sales Catalogues; Banners.

  Ken Sprague Print Collection

  Folios; Poster Prints; Designs. We have multiple folio collections of Ken Sprague prints, donated by the Ken Sprague Fund.

  Chile Solidarity Campaign

  Posters; 3-d objects; banners. A large collection relating to the Chile Solidarity Campaign, mostly catalogued.

  Key collections from groups: DoE, LP, CPGB, TUC, TGWU, CSC. There are also some large collections on long-term loan to the museum.

  Labour Party Collection

  3d objects; posters; ephemera.

  TUC Collection

  Banners; posters; ephemera; placards; 3-d objects; badges.

  Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign

  Posters.

  TGWU

  Photographs; Ephemera; Sashes; Badges.

  Manchester Unity Friendly Society

  Ceramics; Sashes; Regalia.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2025

  Licence: CC BY-NC