Hello Bluesky! We are an independent group of Friends that support The Women's Library at LSE through fundraising, donations, publicity, advice, and activities. Find out more about our history and our work here: friendsofthewomenslibrary.org.uk

Glad you enjoyed it @satisfactory20.bsky.social! And, due to the success of the exhibition, I’m pleased to report that it has been extended to 19 September!

Dropped in to see display on Medieval Jewish Cemetery at St Giles Cripplegate - had no idea it was right under the Barbican! Thanks to organisers inc @medievaljews.bsky.social On until 16 Sep www.thejewishsquaremile.org/exhibition

Pleased I managed to get to @antiquaries.bsky.social #MagnaCarta2525 exhibition this week and see the Meeting Room transformed into a lush green space, evoking the Charter of the Forest! On until 19 Sep

Currently researching Duncan McLaren, Liberal MP for Edinburgh from 1865. On holiday in 1868 the men of the family went to a Liberal meeting at Oban, but the women did not. McLaren's wife Priscilla Bright McLaren wrote: 'As we have the misfortune to wear petticoats we are not to go’.

#womenshistory @womenshistnet.bsky.social #CallToAction 1/ To Nominate women’s websites for archiving 1st check what the British Library collected in their Women’s Issues Collection web.archive.org/web/20230510...

I learned a lot at the very interesting @womenshistnet.bsky.social conference, but unsurprisingly this was my favourite panel! Many thanks to all the organisers and speakers.

I have been glued to my laptop for the last 2 days at @womenshistnet.bsky.social annual conference online! So many highlights inc @dohertyta.bsky.social on the digital challenge, @helenantro.bsky.social on a waistcoat made from 70 gloves, @tudorfp.bsky.social on Vally Lasker, Holst’s amanuensis…

I was delighted to be on this panel, sharing some of my #NecessaryWomen research on Parliament’s earliest women librarians and archivist, plus new research on Ada Forward, first woman in the House of Lords bindery!

More great papers from @womenshistnet.bsky.social #WHN2025 conference with critical theme of archives & archiving women’s history. Chaired by @satisfactory20.bsky.social panel on women & archival practice includes fascinating paper by Susanne Jobling @qubhistory.bsky.social on equal pay legislation.

Looking forward to day 2 of the @womenshistnet.bsky.social conference online. Especially looking forward to the parliamentary themed papers from @chloechallender.bsky.social and @satisfactory20.bsky.social

She’s out today! The remarkable and unfairly forgotten Duchess of Atholl, Scotland’s first woman MP and the Conservatives’ first woman minister, turned the most unlikely rebel in British politics.

Should anyone be in the least interested, I found the blogpost I couldn't remember whether or not I'd made (labelling fail, bad archivist) and updated my recent post to include a link: lesleyahall.blogspot.com/2025/08/invi...

Loved ‘Heiress’ John Singer Sargent exhibition at Kenwood House today. Amazed to learn 102 American women married into the British peerage 1870-1914! Inc Nancy Astor of course, and Mary Chamberlain, wife of Joe. On until 5 Oct www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/whats-...

Lovely spread in today’s Glasgow Herald for Red Duchess (though why they used a large picture of Nancy Astor I do not know - sort of makes my point that the duchess really ought to be remembered alongside, or ideally ahead of, Astor)

So sad to find that Son is literally in the shop window this morning. He will always be a legend #coys

LIONESSES!!! Oh penalty shoot-outs are so miserable!

Great to visit the Joyce Butler exhibition curated by @teadevotee.bsky.social at Bruce Castle Museum today! On until June 2026 so plenty of time to plan your visit

Well that was great fun! I contributed 72 of the 3494 classifications - I’m sure I could have done more, but I was listening to all the talks at the same time! Great project

#History #SkyStorians @lselibrary.bsky.social are launching a Library Fellowships scheme to work with their archives and special collections, includes funding for travel/accommodation/subsistence up to £5k. 3 themed fellowships available. www.lse.ac.uk/library/what...

Great thread. I looked at the numbers for this division for my PhD many years ago, and concluded turnout for it was actually *above* average for this session. Lots of MPs just not voting on lots of things!

The right-wing press is going mad over votes at 16 ("a naked attempt to twist democracy in Labour’s favour", an "election-rigging move"...) Oddly, they said the same 100 years ago when the voting age for women fell from 30 to 21. Let's revisit the Mail's campaign to"Stop the Flapper Vote Folly"...

Trying something new over on Substack. I just can't express it all on a social media post! Check out Woman Walking for my adventures as a walking tour guide and lover of history, books, art, and architecture. michele706559.substack.com?r=kymtg&utm_...

📢Still time to register for our Transcribathon (next Thursday)📢 - Join us to transcribe on Zooniverse, discuss interesting findings, hear talks from the research team, ask questions - Attend in person or online, for all or part of the afternoon willstranscribathon.eventbrite.com #EarlyModern 🗃️

Listen through to the very end of this fab podcast from @histparl.bsky.social oral history project - there are audience vox pops, and mine is the very last voice! It was great to hear clips and get the MPs reflections live in the room 🗃️

Proud to be celebrating completing my first piece of freelance work - dusting off my palaeography skills to transcribe some 18th/19thC wills! Find me here www.maritakayanagi.com 🗃️

🎉 Parliament Matters podcast hits 100 episodes tomorrow! Across 100 episodes, we've heard insights from politicians, academics, historians, and others about the institution at the heart of our democracy: Parliament. Subscribe below to keep hearing more 🔽 buff.ly/HIjYCWm

I was very pleased to be back at Parliament for this @alcs.co.uk event this evening - had interesting conversation about writing and AI with @glovelace.bsky.social and others

Pleased to visit Parliament today with @micheleinboston.bsky.social and find #NecessaryWomen in the shop! (displayed on top shelf) #shelfie

Call for Papers, please share! “Power Couples? Collaborations at work and at home, c.1750-1914” workshop to be held at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany 11-13 May 2026. Deadline for expression of interest 1 Sep 2025. Please see more info in the attached & email me if any questions.

We’re approaching the centenary of this monumental act in 2028. What would a meaningful anniversary look like to you? What should heritage organisations prioritise or showcase? We’d love to hear your thoughts. #EqualFranchise #PublicHistory #GenderHist

A pensioner gives her verdict on an organised excursion to Cambridge, early 1960s: the colleges were dirty, she disliked the fish and chips, but the cemetery was fun.

Enjoyed trip to Handel Hendrix House today inc curator tour and harpsichord recital, and pleased to find Mary Delany visited #WomensHistory 🗃️

'An army of lady cyclist detectives'

Wonderful to be here this evening at Bruce Castle to launch a new exhibition on Joyce Butler MP as part of @teadevotee.bsky.social @ukri.org AHRC project on the amazing Joyce Butler who we owe so much to re gender equality in UK. @womenshistnet.bsky.social #skystorians

Starting my first day post-Parliament with a 10 AM meeting to discuss the next Women’s Legal Landmarks book, over a bacon and egg naan roll #civilised

What’s your sign?

The calendar has counted down and I will be leaving the Parliamentary Archives at the end of the week. My thanks to everyone I have worked with over the last 33 years. I have had some wonderful experiences.

📢📢📢 CfP: What is a Parliament? Interdisciplinary workshop on 19th September 2025 in London. Full details below. Kindly sponsored by Birkbeck, the University of Birmingham and @psa-parliaments.bsky.social Please apply and/or spread the word!

Today is my last day working in the Parliamentary Archives after nearly 25 years! I am v grateful to colleagues for many cards and gifts. I have a shiny new website to support next phase of life www.maritakayanagi.com

Local authority run county record offices and local archives are absolutely the under appreciated repositories of British history.

During the long 1754 election campaign, Lady Susan Keck laughingly told her nephew that her campaigning had brought her to unusual biscuit prominence: 'I am now a woman of the utmost consequence and I am sold in Gingerbread in all the fairs.' [HMC Hamilton (suppl.), 176-7]

Spurs won a trophy and I don't know how to act normal ever again www.youtube.com/shorts/OPGgy...

With thanks to @lizgloyn.bsky.social for tracking down and sharing the publicly available update and @themedievaldrk.bsky.social for flagging it on BlueSky, confirmation that "non print legal deposit" sources are gone for foreseeable future at the British Library 😐 bl.libguides.com/electronic-l...

V pleased to be in Brussels today for conference on the Documentary Heritage of International Associations organised by @profginab.bsky.social and Daniel Laqua #archives

#COYS from a hotel room in Brussels with choice of commentary in French or Belgian

So I think I need to do a sober thread on just how disasterously bad the new trove.scot website is, in comparison to the sites - especially Canmore - that it's replacing. tl:dr - the new site is not fit for purpose; switching off the old sites on 24 June 2025 is way way way premature.

Delighted to say that I have been elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in recognition of my contribution to historical scholarship. A small glimmer of light in an otherwise brutal week, but this has absolutely made my day.

Overjoyed to find that @ukparliament.parliament.uk #VE80 display on Parliament’s War Effort features no fewer than 4 #NecessaryWomen! Find out about these pioneering women who worked for Parliament- on in Westminster Hall to 19 Sep

📢 Calling all researchers! Women's History Scotland offers a Research Bursary to support work on women’s and gender history in Scotland. 📝 Applications close 31 May 2025 – don't miss out! 🔗 Apply here: womenshistoryscotland.org/projects-and... #WomensHistory #ScotHist #ResearchFunding