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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Huge congratulations to @samwetherell.bsky.social for his well-deserved place on the shortlist!

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Geneva Graduate Institute @gvagrad.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

HIV/AIDS came to be understood as an overwhelmingly urban phenomenon in late 20th-century England. A new @universitypress.cambridge.org article by @georgesevers.bsky.social, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute’s Gender Centre examines "HIV/AIDS and the English Countryside" 👇 shorturl.at/BiVC9

cambridge.org

HIV/AIDS and the English Countryside | The Historical Journal | Cambridge Core

HIV/AIDS and the English Countryside

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The London Journal @thelondonjournal.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Call for chapters: Made Municipal: the LCC through its everyday objects. All reposts much appreciated. x

Made Municipal: the LCC through its everyday objects
Background
Following on from the Sixty Years on from the London County Council: Legacy, Impact, Learning film screening and conference in spring 2025, we are keen to capture and build on some of the histories and research that were represented, which highlighted the need for further and increasingly diverse scholarship about the London County Council.
The Council is often held in a certain degree of reverence regarding the achievements delivered across - and beyond - the boundaries of London from the time of its conception in 1889, and as being emblematic of a type of governance which may no longer be possible in a contemporary context. Since the publication of Andrew Saint’s edited book, Politics and People of London: London County Council, 1889-1965 in 1989, more research has emerged on the LCC, with the increasing availability of unofficial archives and the release of previously closed records revealing more nuanced narratives that have the potential to open up more diverse, representative histories.
We appreciate that talking comprehensively about the Council’s broad and interconnected operations is a monumental task, and thus we’re keen to find innovative ways to throw light on the panorama of its work, rather than focus on discrete, dislocated entities. To do so, we were inspired by Professor Andrew Saint, whose unusual contribution to the film screening night at The London Archives was a foot-long bar of LCC-branded soap. This sparked a wide-ranging discussion spanning issues of care, industry, and education in parentis, as undertaken by the LCC, and prompted us to consider that the operation of the LCC could perhaps be best understood through its material culture and its presence in residents’ day-to-day lives.

Using a lens of material culture to explore the work of the LCC allows us to break out from the thematic silos which might otherwise be imposed upon its history, crossing between departments and people - whether LCC employees or those that used its services - that will result in some fascinating and revelatory perspectives.
We are particularly interested in how this might better contextualise some of the under-represented histories of the Council, to reveal their importance within the wider spectrum of its work. Unlike histories that focus on particular departments or typologies, this enables us to shift towards traversing siloed narratives to provide a richer, more rounded perspective on the LCC, which we feel is more authentic to its operation, whilst also challenging how objects are often documented in museums and archives.

Call for chapters
Using a material culture approach, the collected volume will present a history of the LCC through a significant physical manifestation of objects that denote its municipal authority across the County of London. Each chapter will start with an image of the everyday LCC object, setting the scene for a more diverse re-telling of its history. It will be edited by the organisers of the Sixty Years on from the London County Council: Legacy, Impact, Learning film screening and conference held in March 2025, Dr Ruth Lang, Dr Dawn Pereira and Dr Rosamund Lily West.
We invite 4,000-5,000-word chapters which use an everyday LCC object as a starting point. We encourage a range of methodologies for approaching how the objects will be used as catalysts for storytelling. We are particularly interested in including those covering the early LCC period (1889-1914) and the interwar period, which is often underrepresented in LCC histories. Suggestions of types of objects include:
Objects; heraldry, uniforms, school awards, furniture, cutlery
Ephemera; pamphlets, tickets, brochures, phonebooks
Documents; official publications, maps, memoranda and minutes,
We see this approach as offering a more accessible way to delve into complex discussions on topics that may, at first glance, seem less engaging, such as regulation, commissioning, deindustrialisation plans, procurement, etc. We’re also keen to identify controversial objects that open untold/silenced stories and to consider whether there are global implications for the different themes and subjects discussed.

This publication would build upon Andrew Saint’s 1989 edited book, Politics and People of London: the London County Council, 1889-1965, which was the last book on the LCC to offer a broad history, so this would be a timely and much-needed re-examination of the LCC and its legacy. The book will be academic and rigorous and will include good-quality images to complement the visual, object-based approach. The aim of this book is to be an academic/trade crossover, with an audience of both specialist academics and an interested public.
Please email LCC60yearson@gmail.com with your name, a 50-word bio and a 250-word abstract by 31st October 2026.
Please include a clear indication of the object your chapter intends to focus upon (including images and potential sources/locations of the object itself where possible), along with a summary of its purpose and relevance, and the outline of your intended scope of investigation.

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oralhistory (formerly @notoralhistory) @oralhistory.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

This is so important. We’ve worked to incorporate our oral history practice with #ethnographic detail — enabling future reuse equipped with the contextualization that anthropological #fieldwork provides, so that interpretation can be more closely tied to the intersubjective encounter #oralhistory

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Heartbroken to wake up to the news of the attack at Berlin Pride. It reminds me of the feeling so many of us had when we heard about the shootings at Pulse in Orlando. "Do you really still need Pride?" we are often asked, condescendingly. In some ways, more than ever.

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

A pleasure to be in such esteemed company for this roundtable!

Audience members facing eight people sat in a row.

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Dr Stephanie Brown @drstephaniebrown.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

A fab couple of days @sshmedicine.bsky.social. First a brillaint roundtable with @rebeccawynter.bsky.social @janetweston.bsky.social @carolinederry.bsky.social @ciarab.bsky.social @ruthhalkon.bsky.social @georgesevers.bsky.social and Louise Jackson on Putting Police back into Histories of Health.

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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 26/06/2026

📣 Call for Applications 📣 History Workshop is seeking to appoint one Editorial Fellow in 2026, with specialism in pre-1800 CE history from any part of the globe. This is a part-time, paid role. Application deadline: 7 August 2026. Please share widely!

historyworkshop.org.uk

Call for Applications: Editorial Fellowship at History Workshop, 2026

History Workshop is seeking to appoint one Editorial Fellow in 2026, with specialism in pre-1800 CE history from any part of the globe.

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Dr. Sandra Duffy Golden @sandraduffy.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Yes! I read so much interesting work thanks to bsky. Recent books: Radical Acts by @georgesevers.bsky.social Cisgender by @perryzurn.bsky.social Femmephilia by @reproutopia.bsky.social Deviants and Trailblazers by @rebeccajanemorgan.bsky.social The Log Books thanks to @suchmayer.bsky.social rec

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Jon Will Chambers @jonchambers.co.uk · 19/06/2026

Where’s Andy Burnham going?

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Incredible opportunity to work with Dr Hannah Elizabeth @sexhistorian.bsky.social on a funded PhD project exploring unorthodox forms of health activism in postwar Britain. Full details here, do share widely! www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/...

strath.ac.uk

Unorthodox health activism in Britain after 1948 | University of Strathclyde

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Society for the Social History of Medicine (SSHM) @sshmedicine.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

📣CFPs 📣London Foundling Hospital Conference 16 October 2026 @ihr.bsky.social Hidden Identities in the London Foundling Hospital Archives, New Questions and Discoveries Deadline for proposals 1 August #histmed

history.ac.uk

Call for Papers | London Foundling Hospital Conference

Call for Papers

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Caroline Rusterholz @carorusterholz.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

My copy of Dealing With Drugs. New Histories of Risk and Benefit has just arrived. Very pleased to see my chapter published in this wonderful volume!

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Laura Kelly @tortietabby.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

I have a new article out on miscarriage in late twentieth-century Ireland. Special thanks to @delaycara.bsky.social for organising a 2024 workshop from which this & the other articles in the special issue stemmed, and for all the support through to publication. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.com

‘It’s a really empty feeling’: women’s experiences of miscarriage and pregnancy loss in late twentieth-century Ireland

This article explores women's experiences of miscarriage and pregnancy loss in late twentieth-century Ireland. Drawing on oral history interviews, newspaper and magazine articles, the newsletters o...

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Yesterday, at our AGM, I stepped down as Secretary of the LGBTQ+ special interest group of the Oral History Society. It has been such a pleasure to serve in this role since October 2018, and I look forward to continuing to be involved in this special group.

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Alice Marples @alicemarples.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

We have two new 12-month postdoctoral fellowship opportunities at the British Library! Applications open soon to co-design projects in the following areas: - Colonial Deposit and our Newspaper Collection - Local Large Language Models and Personal Born-Digital Archives www.bl.uk/services/res...

bl.uk

The Joanna and Graham Barker Fellowship Scheme

Two funded-fellowship opportunities for early career, postdoctoral researchers.

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Don' miss Prof. Lucy Delap's paper on Disabled Women, the Labour State, and Enterprise In Twentieth Century Britain this Friday 12 June at 5:30 pm in person at the IHR, London and on Zoom. #Skystorians

history.ac.uk

Disabled Women, the Labour State, and Enterprise In Twentieth Century Britain

Women's History Seminar

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Raphael Samuel History Centre @rshc.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Responding to a growing urgency to rethink class in historical terms, Gianmaria Brunazzi discusses ‘E. P. Thompson in Italy: Reception, Translation, and Class as a Historical Problem’. Join us, 18 June, Bloomsbury www.EPThompsonInItaly.eventbrite.co.uk @bbkhistorical.bsky.social @qmul.bsky.social

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Michael Lombardi-Nash @lombardinash.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Now in translation, all 23 volumes (1899-1923) of the Annual of Sexual Intermediaries, ed. Magnus Hirschfeld. eBook, paperback, hardcover. Early #GermanGayMovement #Intersex #Transgender #lgbtqHistory in real time #MagnusHirschfeld 🌈🏳️‍⚧️ www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1CCLYZ

amazon.com

Annual of Sexual Intermediaries Volume IV Part 1 (1902)

Amazon.com: Annual of Sexual Intermediaries Volume IV Part 1 (1902) eBook : Hirschfeld, Magnus, Lombardi-Nash, Michael: Kindle Store

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Dr Hannah J. Elizabeth @sexhistorian.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Dream team of @carorusterholz.bsky.social @georgesevers.bsky.social & Naomi Samake-Bäckert starting day two at #MBS26 with their panel on 'Race and sexual reproductive health in post-war Britain'

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The Historical Journal @historicaljnl.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

📣Out now on #firstview! George J. Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social @gvagrad.bsky.social on 'HIV/AIDS and the English Countryside' #Urban #Rural #Heteronormativity #Sexual #Morality #History #Demography 20thc 🗃️ 👉Read open access here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Britain was an overwhelmingly urban phenomenon. Towns and cities were home to the majority of people living with HIV and boasted most of the hospitals which diagnosed and treated them. The epidemic was not simply understood as urban because of demographic epidemiological factors; it was also seen as antithetical to rural life. This article explores the ways in which HIV/AIDS was positioned as urban through a particular cultural construction of rurality in late twentieth-century England. This cultural imaginary rested on a nostalgic construction of the English countryside in which conventional heteronormativity buttressed social, moral, and sanitary stability. The English countryside was frequently thought to be in need of protection from HIV/AIDS, whether in the form of metropolitan producers shoe-horning the virus into cherished rural soap operas, or more directly from the urban import of HIV and the gay men understood to be its most likely carriers. This article examines the cultural mentality in which rurality was mobilized as distinct from HIV/AIDS, pointing to the wider anxieties about changing rural life for which the epidemic often acted as a proxy.

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Radical Online Archives @radonlinearchives.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

For Pride Month, Radical Online Archives has many collections of LGBTQ+ historical documents from across the world listed. Here is a selection of those listed. hatfulofhistory.com/radical-onli...

Issue 5 (Winter 1977) of Gay Left, a socialist journal produced by gay people (UK), with a group of people in front of Karl Marx's grave

Front cover of issue 7 (Winter 1973) of The Body Politic, a Canadian gay rights journal. Orange cover with 'Gay Liberation Journal' in the middle.

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

My latest article has just been published in The Historical Journal. It looks at the ways in which HIV/AIDS was positioned as not just an urban problem, but one that was antithetical to rural spaces. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.org

HIV/AIDS and the English Countryside | The Historical Journal | Cambridge Core

HIV/AIDS and the English Countryside

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I'm so pleased to see that this chapter has been published. It's in a wonderful open access collection, Sexual Violence in Medicine and Psychiatry: Addressing Harms Through Interdisciplinarity which emerged from the SHaME project at Birkbeck. Link here: link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

A good day, so I’m celebrating! Andrea Althaus, Linde Apel, Janine Schemmer and I have submitted our book Reusing Oral Histories: From Archive to Analysis! It will be the 15th book in Routledge’s excellent Practicing Oral History series and, all being well, should be out later this year.

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

On Monday evening I will be joined by Katerina Suverina in Geneva to talk about drag and HIV/AIDS activism. Do join us if you can! www.graduateinstitute.ch/communicatio...

graduateinstitute.ch

Using drag in HIV/AIDS activism: cases from Russia and England

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

I’ve had a wonderful time in Amsterdam, talking about sexual health & queer histories. Yesterday it was great to meet students from across the Netherlands in a masterclass on queer history, who are doing such interesting work! Thanks to Jesse van Amelsvoort and Gianmaria Colpani for the invitation.

A picture of me sat delivering a talk next to a screen showing images of nightclubs in Leicester and London.

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Past and Present @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

From the current issue: "(Un)Remembering Sexual Violence in South African History" by Emily Bridger (@uoearchhist.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...

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Taj Ali @tajali1.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

My book on the history of British South Asian political activism is out this September! Available to pre-order now from all good bookshops and online.

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

I’m on my way to Amsterdam where, later today, I’ll be speaking about Black HIV/AIDS organising in Leicester, and the establishment of new public sexual health work in the early 1990s. Room E1.02 Bushuis building, Kloveniersburgwal 48, 16:00-17:30.

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

I was sorry to read that the Rev. Dr. Malcolm Johnson, a pioneering gay priest within the CofE and a major figure in the Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement, died in February aged 89. As Rector of St Botolph without Aldgate in London, Malcolm provided a home for the LGCM and blessed gay couples.

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Bertha Mason @thornfieldhall.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

This is a really important piece. University of Glasgow research suggested that about 335,000 people died early as a result of Tory austerity policies. www.gla.ac.uk/news/archive... This suggests those policies left us ill-prepared for Covid and have blighted healthy lives for years to come.

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Next month, I'll be speaking at the Graduate Institute about the research I've been working on recently. I'll be looking at sexual and reproductive health experiences in three English cities and asking what they tell us about Britain's decolonising decades. www.graduateinstitute.ch/communicatio...

graduateinstitute.ch

An Intimate History of Postcolonial England: Sexual and Reproductive Health in Three English Cities

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

I am broadly supportive of not including place of publication in citations, with the obvious exception of the erasure of Basingstoke from our work.

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George Severs @georgesevers.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

There is a February sale on at @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social which means you can get my book Radical Acts: HIV/AIDS Activism in Late Twentieth-Century England for just over £16. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/radical-a...

bloomsbury.com

Radical Acts

Drawing on activist campaign literature and materials, broadcast media, and new oral history interviews, Severs reconstructs and discusses the overlooked world…

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David Veevers @davidveevers.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

And what are one of the key engines of the ‘Manchester model’, according to this article? Universities.

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Richard Ovenden @richove.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

The study points to using libraries and visiting museums as bringing these enormous brain health benefits ... who would have thought? Well, librarians and museum folk for a start ... www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

theguardian.com

Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study finds

Cognitive health in later life is ‘strongly influenced’ by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments, say researchers

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Mass Observation Archive @massobsarchive.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Today is the day! Record your day and be part of recording queer lives and histories in the UK. Sketch, type, write, or photograph your day. Even if you think your day isn't very interesting we'd still love to have it in our collection! All types of days, boring or brilliant are welcome #LGBTplusHM

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British Library @britishlibrary.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Apply for our PhD placement scheme to get involved in extraordinary research at the Library. There are eight available placements exploring a variety of themes including war poetry, 21st-century digital tools, illustrated newspapers and decarbonisation. Find out more: link.bl.uk/PhDPlacements

The front page of the Daily Graphic newspaper published Saturday 25 August, 1917, featuring portraits of 'Women in the Order of the British Empire', including Lady Byron, the honourable Mrs Alfred Lyttelton, Her Majesty the Queen.

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Sarah Crook @sarahcrook.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Please do share this doctoral opportunity with MA/MSt students - four years of AHRC funding to work on the history of children's play in Wales, supervised by me and the lovely and brilliant Dr Jacky Tyrie. Any questions get in touch! www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate...

swansea.ac.uk

History: Serious about Play: Childhood, Play and Policymaking in Wales, 1945 to the present (RS936) - Swansea University

We offer a wide range of funded and fully funded research scholarships in all subject areas. Explore your options and apply now.

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Dr Will Butler @wbutlerhistory.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

My team are looking for a new team leader and Modern Britain (post-1782) specialist. Closes 22nd February and do get in touch if you have any questions www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQJ050/t...

jobs.ac.uk

Team Leader Modern Britain at The National Archives

Start your UK & international job search for academic jobs, research jobs, science jobs and managerial jobs in leading universities and top...

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