Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives

Event Alert! Join Us at All Points East Festival / In the Neighbourhood
Wednesday 21 August 10am-2pm , Victoria Park FREE

We will be hosting a stall in partnership with
You can view our pop-up exhibition featuring collections from the current exhibition Cockney Rebels along with Zine-Making and a few musical surprises.

Victoria Park has a well-known history of combining music and heritage with a community focus. We can't wait to see you there!

https://orlo.uk/AY85L

Communities of Liberation update!

Our five Co-Producers have been busy with an intense series of research skills workshops, combing neglected sources to bring African peoples lives and experiences in London’s East End to light.

Here’s one of their finds from a Day Book (a daily record of baptisms) at St John of Wapping Church dated August 2, 1782 that reads "John Thompson, a Black man from New York, 30 years”

Communities of Liberation is a historical research and public art project which aims to increase awareness of the long history of the African presence in the borough of Tower Hamlets, by focusing specifically on excavating and sharing stories of individuals who lived here in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Hope everyone is keeping cool in the ☀️ today, just like these children in Cotton Street, Poplar who were photographed by William Whiffin cooling down by following the Poplar Borough Council water-cart in 1919 😎

⏰ New exhibition to launch on Saturday 3 August!

Poplarism: Poplar Rates Rebellion - a response
3 August - 30 September 2024

Local artist Clare Smith responds to events and themes inspired by the Poplar Rates Rebellion of 1921. Alongside her artwork there will be archival material exploring this history of defiance by local politicians and social reformers in Poplar.

The exhibition has been curated especially for the first floor landing space at Tower Hamlets History Library and Archives, outside the Reading Room.

Artwork by Clare Smith

As part of our Cockney Rebels programme!

Anarchy in the East End: Punk Pioneers Jah Wobble and Suresh Singh in Conversation
Saturday 17 August, 2.00-4.00pm

Join us for a discussion with East End punk rock royalty John Wardle aka Jah Wobble (Public Image Ltd, Jah Wobble & The Invaders of the Heart) and Suresh Singh aka The Cockney Sikh (Spizzenergi), as they share their early years living, working and playing music in the borough. Prepare to be dazzled by stories of their musical journeys through the East End and beyond. This event will be chaired by our own Heritage Co-ordinator and Indie Legend Debbie Smith (Echobelly). Prepare to be dazzled by stories of their musical journeys through the East End and beyond.

Book your free ticket here https://orlo.uk/YF8Ut

🚨East End Connections are launching a new project -

Stories of Struggles and Strides: Half a century of Bangladeshi endeavours in Londons East End (1950-2000)

The project will focus on East London Bangladeshi activists of the past – the pioneers who responded to challenges that the community faced in the 1970s and 1980s. It will work with a dozen community participants from diverse backgrounds, who will research, record and reveal the important history of the Bangladeshi community’s struggles and activism over a fifty-year period. The hope is that this will highlight how these movements have helped lower racial violence, discrimination, poverty and low aspirations to create the thriving multi-cultural community in Tower Hamlets today.

To find out how you can be involved in the project research please find further details on the following website:

www.eastendconnection.org.uk/community-participants-application-pack/

This is a paid opportunity.

This project is being led by East End Connections and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

East End History Club: Listening session
Saturday 20 July, 2-4pm

Join Con Maloney, author of BOOZERS, BOMPERS & BRIDGERS, as he explores live music and entertainment in public houses. After which there will be a listening session of an album called Look In At The Local - recorded at the Waterman’s Arms on the Isle of Dogs in 1964. You'll also have a chance to take a deep dive into our musical collections that didn’t quite make it into the exhibition.

Free booking here https://orlo.uk/JSI1z

The Bengali Photo Archive is now online!

This project led by Four Corners and in partnership with Swadhinata Trust and Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives worked with residents, volunteers and photographers to collect photos of the east end Bengali community past and present https://orlo.uk/BPA_SJDFD

In addition to the online gallery, the archive will also be permanently housed within the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, ensuring its accessibility and legacy.

Don't forget to visit the new exhibition I Am Who I Am Now: Selections from the Bengali Photo Archive which is on at Four Corners until 3 August!

Construction of the Limehouse Library began in 1881, and it was operational from 1901, with the support and contribution of the journalist and philanthropist John Passmore Edwards. After over a century of serving the local community, Limehouse Library closed in 2003. Now the Limehouse Library Hotel has opened its doors, as of 2022, retaining it's facade and period features.

Image One : Limehouse Library Hotel, 2024

Image Two : Inside Limehouse Library, 1990

Image Three : Limehouse Library Opening, 1901

Image Four: Limehouse Library Hotel, 2024

We have new dates for the our Parents/Carer's & under 5's East End History Club! First Friday of the month term time we will host drop-in Stay & Play sessions. Parents can explore material from our collections including maps, books, pamphlets and images - while the little ones get crafty or play with the range of donated toys for 0-5. There is also a mini brunch for both children and Parents/Carer's.

No booking required drop-in session 10am-11:30am

Robin Hood Gardens: On site
Wednesday 3 July 2024, 6.00-7.30pm (Online talk)

Join us for a talk with artist and researcher Judit Ferencz and architectural historian Peter Guillery, as they explore the relation between the archive and Judit's onsite works at the Robin Hood Gardens Estate leading up to the demolition.

Image by Judit Ferencz, Alphabet book for Robin Hood Gardens, 2022

A Teams link will be sent to all those booked before the session.
Book your place here https://orlo.uk/HRSl2

A big thanks to for facilitating our zine -making pop-up workshop & Canary Wharf for hosting us this afternoon. Catch the next pop-up next Friday night 28 June for their pride comedy event 🌈

Excellent turnout last night for the launch of our major new exhibition ‘Cockney Rebels: Popular Music in Tower Hamlets, 1624-2003’.

Thank you to all who came, and if you couldn’t make it don’t worry, it’ll be running until 21 February 2025, and best of all it’s completely FREE!

NEW EXHIBITION NOW OPEN!

We're delighted to share that our poptastic new exhibition 'Cockney Rebels: Popular Music in Tower Hamlets, 1624-2003' is open from today! 🎼 🎸

Entry is FREE and we'll be running until 21 February 2025. Further details here: https://orlo.uk/3LBbG

Join us this weekend! Saturday 22 June, 1-4pm. For our zine-making workshop pop-up stall at Idea Store Canary Wharf to explore the history of changemakers from Tower Hamlets.

At our stall you can explore an exhibition of unique zines made by young people to tell the stories of famous East End events and changemakers.

Feeling crafty? Use material and copies of collections from the local history archives to make your own zines to add to the exhibition!

Free drop-in session/All ages welcome!

Join us tomorrow evening - 6:30-8pm

We are delighted to partner with Northeastern University London, an American university whose London base is in St Katherine Dock, to present a keynote talk by Kris K. Manjapra, Professor in History and Global Studies.

'What and who are the Humanities for? Manjapra (pictured) will explore powers of the Humanities with reference to specific case-studies. He will focus on archiving, technology, documentation, and data performances that take place in communities, outside the structure of universities. Retooled Humanities practices, embedded in community organisations, are essential for successful responses to the greatest social, political, and ecological needs of our times.'

Book via Link in Bio

EXHIBITION LAUNCH! 🥳 👢 🎸

Cockney Rebels: Popular Music in Tower Hamlets, 1624-2003
Thursday 20 June, 6pm-8pm

You are invited to the launch of our new exhibition 'Cockney Rebels: Popular Music in Tower Hamlets, 1624-2003' at Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives.

Join the curators, BBC broadcaster Alan Dein and perhaps some special guests as we cut the metaphorical ribbon on the first major exhibition charting four centuries of music in Tower Hamlets.

Please RSVP by booking your place at the link below (scroll down to ‘Book as guest’ if you are not an Idea Store member):

https://orlo.uk/R5MBE

About the exhibition:

From Elizabethan ballads to the birth of grime, this first-of-its-kind exhibition take visitors on a journey spanning four centuries, exploring how the East End and its people have inspired and shaped popular music. Featuring an array of over a hundred rare and unique items — such as broadside ballads, sheet music, paintings, posters, records, tapes, and ephemera — it will a cover a diverse range of musical styles divided into four chronological sections.

The first section takes a deep dive into the roots of popular music in the East End, from folk songs and sea shanties to the Victorian music halls and pub singalongs. The second explores the influence of migration and American popular culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including klezmer, jazz, swing, and calypso. Moving forward, the third focuses on the rock ‘n’ roll years from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, taking in pop, mod, psychedelia, glam rock and more. The final section covers everything from punk, disco, soul, and reggae in the late-70s, through post-punk, goth, dance, Britpop, and Asian underground to the early grime scene at the turn of the millennium.

Famous names such as Lionel Bart, Helen Shapiro, Small Faces, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Ocean, and Dizzee Rascal will be showcased alongside lesser-known but impactful artists like Max Bacon, Stepney Sisters, Bow Gamelan Ensemble, and Joi Bangla Banned.

If you can’t make it to the launch event, don’t worry! An exciting programme of free events will follow. Cockney Rebels is on show until 21 February 2025.

We will be hosting a creative workshop with Trapped in Zone One

'Celebrating Brick Lane with the creation of a heritage mural in the borough. Join us for one of two workshops to help co-design a mural depicting the rich heritage of Brick Lane'

Saturday 6 July, 1-3pm - Book here https://orlo.uk/fGGs4

Launching this Saturday 1 June!

This exhibition by Judit Ferencz comprises hand-made books and booklets which trace the lifecycle of the East London council estate Robin Hood Gardens (1972). Judit’s onsite drawing practice documented everyday life on the estate in the years leading up to demolition. The exhibition, based on her PhD at the Bartlett, offers an opportunity for local residents, students and professionals in the industry alike to rethink the value given to the inhabitation of architecture and to reimagine a future where considerations of social and environmental sustainability are vital to processes of conservation and heritage listing.

The exhibition has been curated especially for the first floor landing space at Tower Hamlets History Library and Archives, outside the Reading Room where a significant part of the archival research took place.

NB: Please check venue opening hours before visiting.

This exhibition is part of the London Festival of Architecture https://orlo.uk/xEj6W

We are Live! Watch the 'Archival, Gaps Breaks & Silences' on our YouTube Channel
https://orlo.uk/XzMse

Exhibiting artists Holly Graham, Rudy Loewe, Diensen Pamben, Kelly Wu and curator Basil Olton discuss the gaps within the archive that invite us to engage critically with the silenced voices and obscured histories. Based on the writings of Stuart Hall and his essay 'Constituting the Archive', the panel will discuss how the archive has influenced their work and the connection between memory and meaning.

Check out our pottery session at Limehouse youth centre (E14 8BN) 📍🎨

Click the link in our bio for our timetables.

Announcing our next exhibition! 🥁 🥁 🥁

'Cockney Rebels: Popular Music in Tower Hamlets, 1624-2003'
20 June 2024 - 21 February 2025

From ‘The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green’ to ‘Bonkers’, the people of London’s East End have always appreciated a good tune.

Our unique history, shaped by its connection to the river as a source of inspiration, work, and migration, has produced an extraordinary musical legacy, spanning everything from folk songs and sea shanties to music hall, jazz, punk, the Asian underground and grime.

Featuring over a hundred rare items selected by staff from the collections of Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, this major new exhibition explores how our borough and its people have inspired and shaped popular music, both locally and globally, over four centuries.

Cockney Rebels will open at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives with a launch event on the evening of Thursday 20 June (6.00-7.45pm) with an exciting programme of events to follow.

Please check our website and social media nearer the time for booking information.

Come along to our Parent/Carer’s & Under 5's meet up,
and explore historical records on the famous East End. A
chance to meet other parents, enjoy a cuppa and look
through our unique collection of maps, photographs,
newspapers, pamphlets and much more.
Toys will be available for children ages 0-5 with a mini
kiddies brunch and refreshments including Tea & Coffee.

Book via eventbrite https://orlo.uk/booking_VfnQ0

We had our welcome session with the six co-producers yesterday! They explored some of our maps, deeds and parish records documenting names of people of African Heritage almost 300 years ago.

The project is underway - and we can’t wait to share the development over the coming months.

Hello!
We will be hosting a parent and Under 5's session next month at the Library. If any one has any old toys, puzzles or games for children 5 and under in good but used condition. Please drop a comment. We appreciate any donations :) Thank you in advance.

On this day in 1978 a young Bangladeshi named Altab Ali was on his way home from his job as a textile worker in the Brick Lane area when he was killed in a racist attack. His murder marked a turning point in the fight against racism in Tower Hamlets and beyond.

There will be a ceremony of commemoration held in Altab Ali Park, Whitechapel Road today, 4th May, from 6pm where there will be laying of wreaths, poetry readings and tributes.

Online Zoom Event Thursday May 16, 6:30-8pm

Utilising the archive as a mode of expression the visuals arts featured in 'What We Have Become' will discuss how the archive has influenced their work and the connection between memory and meaning.

Participating artists

Diesen Pamben

Kelly Wu

Rudy Loewe

Holly Graham

Basil Olton

Book Here https://orlo.uk/J7rh3

May is Local and Community History Month! 🥳

Valuation books can be great resources when researching local business and house histories.

This entry from 1935 shows the layout of pubs along St Leonard’s Street, now part of the A12, and includes room dimensions and floor plans.

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This ad from the 1981 Pesach edition of Hamaor, the Federation of Synagogue’s magazine, shows that the famous Bloom’s deli in Whitechapel was the place to go to get delicious food for your Passover seder meal - 'for kashrus and quality'!

Morris Bloom established the first Bloom's restaurant in Brick Lane in the 1920s before expanding to other premises in Tower Hamlets and North London. They served the East End Jewish community with kosher food for over 70 years.