Dr Janette Martin, Research and Learning Manager (Special Collections)
Special Collections Subject Lead for History (modern), Humanitarianism and the Institute of Cultural Practice; curatorial responsibility for Modern History Archives (Social, Economic, Industrial and Political history)
This blog is a short introduction to my role in Special Collections at the John Rylands Library and my teaching, curatorial and research interests. In a career which has spanned museums, oral history, archives and academia one continuity has been a deep fascination with the stories and the lives that can be brought to life from historical records. I am at my happiest when surrounded by books or better still sifting through boxes of letters, ephemera and photographs or reading a handwritten diary. Particularly when the author is unknown and their lives unexplored. What can be more exciting and thrilling than writing history from what you hold in your hand?
I am also curious about the places I have lived, worked and visited. Why does that street have a particular name? Who is represented by that statue? What was that building used for before it became a fashionable bar? A good habit when visiting any new town or city, is to look above the shop fronts and try to decipher the remnants of the past. Whether faded ghostly advertisements of a bygone era or cast ironwork relics from an industrial past, there is so much to learn from just looking. Oh and I always try and imagine those who has walked the same spaces before me and what was there at that point in time. At times this makes me sad, as I see the Victorian backstreets and former industrial buildings of central Manchester swept away for bland, ever taller, glass tower blocks. There are few places now I think where Frederick Engels, Emmeline Pankhurst or Richard Cobden stepped
I started work at the University of Manchester, Special Collections for a second time in January 2016. My first stint 2000–06 ended when I left to do a PhD in 19th century itinerant lecturing and political oratory at the University of York. That sounds terribly intellectual — it was much more fun than it sounds. I basically unearthed stories about a bunch of political rabble rousers that used their gift of the gab to earning a living AND build popular reform movements such as Chartism, anti-slavery, temperance and free trade. They did this by travelling from town to town holding public meetings and addressing large out door gatherings. Some of the characters, such as the Anti-slavery and Temperance orator George Thompson, were found hidden in the collections housed at the John Rylands Library. Others, like the rather notorious James Acland, lurked in Manchester’s Archives Plus, the more obscure still were found only in the local news columns of the Chartist Northern Star. My thesis not only reflected my ongoing interest in ‘history from below’ but also my enduring involvement with the Society for the Study of Labour History. So when, on my return to The University of Manchester Library, I was asked to manage the modern social, economic, industrial and political history archive collections I was delighted — just my cup of tea!
So what material are in the Modern History Archive and Printed Collections? There are well over a hundred collections that fall into this category and a good starting point it the Special Collections Guide and the A-Z of Collections. As you might imagine we have many records that reflect Manchester’s industrial past from cotton manufacturer to pharmaceuticals, mining, transport and engineering. I also look after the vast Guardian Archive (2020 marks the bicentenary of this influential newspaper — look out for the exhibition), collections on Peterloo, Women’s Suffrage, the nineteenth century Anti-slavery Movement and the Manchester-based free trade movement and the Anti-Corn Law League. Wherever possible I try to build a range of these collections into the teaching sessions that we host at the John Rylands Library. These workshops introduce students to both how Special Collections operate and give them hands on experience (clean ones!) of primary sources — from which all history is written.
In addition to curating the Modern History Collections I also manage Reader Services and coordinate the Special Collections Teaching and Learning offer. Student engagement is one of my core duties, including overseeing Special Collections teaching at both the John Rylands Library and the Main Library, developing new resources and working with University of Manchester tutors to deliver collection-based sessions. Recent classes include workshops on the History MA module Cottonopolis to Metropolis, two sessions for PGCE History Teachers on how to use Special Collections in the classroom and even a workshop on zines and DIY printing. Perhaps not surprisingly, while the Library is closed due to the Covid 19 virus, my attention has turned to digitised collections and making it easier to locate and access them as teaching and learning resources. We have a surprising amount and you can find out more here.
I also co-ordinate Student MA Special Collection Placements at the Library. These are a wonderful experience for both the students involved and the Library itself. We learn so much from our placement students who bring new ideas, approaches and boundless enthusiasm. The Library values its strong links with the University of Manchester’s Institute for Cultural Practices (ICP). Recent ICP MA student projects have ranged from a Chinese artist and a Beatnik poet to The Wood Street Mission, a Manchester-based children’s charity.
On most days I do thank my lucky stars that I work in one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, surrounded by rare books, archives and manuscripts on every topic under the sun. All those people and stories to discover! But what I really like is igniting archive mania in other people and encouraging staff and students to research our collections for themselves. Please do get in touch if you want to know more about our extensive Modern History Collections or about how we use Special Collections in Teaching and Learning. We are always looking to work with staff and students and to spread the word about the spectacular collections held at the University of Manchester.
