The Collectors, The Cameraman, The Poets and the Pits
Miners’ Strike 40th Anniversary Exhibition at the Working Class Movement Library
Forty years ago, Christmas 1984, Britain’s miners had been on strike for nine months. They faced a bleak time, unable to heat their homes or even buy presents for children. Their plight led to a festive season outpouring of support for their cause from working class people and organisations, both in the UK and internationally. Despite the immense pressure from the Tory government and the media to return to work, the vast majority of miners would stay out throughout Christmas and into the new year.
Opening to coincide with this anniversary, the Working Class Movement Library’s unique and fascinating exhibition explores the Miners’ Strike 1984/85 using contemporary artefacts, photographs and poetry. The artefacts are all from the Library’s own collections. The photographs were taken by John Harris, who operated ‘behind the lines’ during the dispute, capturing events from the strikers’ viewpoint. Almost all the poems were written by women during the strike, many of the them miner’s wives, and published in works now in the library’s archive. Together they provide a powerful insight into the strike from the perspective of those who were there.
The Library contains the most extensive collection of material related to the 1984/5 Miners Strike in the UK, including books, pamphlets and papers, as well as hundreds of items of ephemera from banners and placards to posters and personal diaries. The library also has a remarkable collection of pin badges produced during the strike. Often handmade and created to respond rapidly to changing issues and events as the strike progressed, they visually and succinctly reflect the concerns of the people involved. Most items have never been on public display before. The library is about to embark on a major transformation, and this exhibition will play a part by highlighting this collection to a new and diverse audience.
As part of our commitment to work in new ways with new partners, our artefacts will be displayed alongside contemporary images of the strike by acclaimed photographer John Harris, and their significance explored via poetry and recollections from people who were involved. Combined they will support our mission to provide open access to our collections so that working class people can learn from, and interpret, their history in order to enable them to apply a class perspective to contemporary politics and economics.