People’s History Museum will close on Sunday 31 December 2023 and re-open on Thursday 1 February 2024 so that it can carry out further work as part of the Welcome Project at PHM, which stems from the museum’s vision to be an exemplar for accessibility.
Find out morePHM is the national museum of democracy, telling the story of its development in Britain: past, present, and future.
On this blog we share posts from the PHM team and other experts, with behind the scenes stories, coverage of PHM's exhibitions, events, and Learning Programme, and highlights from the museum's unique collection.
After a year marked by ongoing strike action, People’s History Museum have uncovered strike related objects in the museum’s collection. These objects, collected from 40 years of picket lines, represent major UK strikes of the 1980s and 1990s, with more recent acquisitions illustrating contemporary strike action.
On 5 July 2023, the National Health Service (NHS) celebrated its 75th birthday. Launched by Minister of Health Aneurin Bevan in 1948, the NHS aimed to bring free and reliable healthcare to all. The establishment of the NHS as a universal healthcare system was a key moment in health equality and in socialist policy. However, it is not without its difficulties.
Sarah Thompson-Cook is a Mental Health Nurse and Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at Manchester Metropolitan University. In this blog, she explores the history of mental health services in the NHS, and the ongoing crisis recognised by organisations such as the Socialist Health Association.
In this blog we’ve asked People’s History Museum’s (PHM) Interim Director Becky Peters to introduce the new Welcome Project at PHM, which is revitalising the museum’s visitor experience, as the exciting first steps begin on site today.
Art historian Simon Faulkner considers the history and meanings of the raised fist using examples that include posters and photographs from People’s History Museum’s collection.
2023 marks 50 years since the Chilean military coup of 1973, during which time democratically elected socialist leader President Salvador Allende was killed. The coup led to international outcry. In the aftermath, individuals and organisations around the UK rallied to Chile’s aid. Campaigners demanded human rights for the people of Chile, protesting the violent repression of the country’s dictator General Augusto Pinochet.
Carole Concha Bell is a PhD student at King’s College London and freelance writer. She arrived in the UK with her family as a child refugee fleeing the Pinochet regime in 1975, and is a founding member of the Chile Solidarity Network and press officer for Mapuche International Link. In this blog, she reflects on the Chile Solidarity Campaign (CSC) that emerged in Britain.