The Regional Heritage Centre is based at Lancaster University and engages the community in the history of the local area. They run a programme of events, one of which focused on Political Radicalism and Dissent in the Early 20th Century which we were delighted to contribute. 

It was great to learn from the other speakers about radical ex-servicemen, local suffragists, and dissent associated with World War I. We also learned a great deal from attendees, many of whom had been active in politics or protest over the years. To capture some of the audience's ideas about the project, we invited them to record the names of prominent women or places associated with protest in the North.

We weren't disappointed! The images below show some of the responses we collected and we very much enjoyed going through them and following up some of the great ideas attendees shared with us. 

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We've been really busy over the last three months setting the project up and getting organised. We've heard from some fascinating women who have offered to tell us their stories of protest, brought together a fantastic team of volunteer citizen researchers, and enjoyed publicising the project through local and national media. Here's a bit more about what we've been up to. ​

We've really enjoyed introducing the project to a range of people and organisations across the North. As well as colleagues from the People's History Museum and Sheffield Museums who are part of our Advisory Board, we've engaged with Beamish Museum, the Working Class Movement Library in Salford, Sheffield and Lancashire Archives, as well as our own fantastic library here at Lancaster University. Here are a few photos from our travels. 

The response to our media calls to get involved has been terrific. We really enjoyed speaking to Jenny Murray on Radio 4's Woman's Hour, and talking about the project on BBC Radio Lancashire and BBC Radio Manchester.

As well as radio, the project's been featured in The Northern Echo, Lancaster Guardian and Westmoreland Gazette. 

As well as a wonderful team of volunteer citizen researchers, we're working with some terrific designers. Andi and Green are developing the activities that will be part of the events we've got lined up over the next few months, and we've had a great time designing and refining our ideas with the help of one or two of our volunteers.