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 moreEvents, activities, and resources to connect you with PHM's unique collections and stories, exploring the development of democracy in Britain. Be inspired by the radicals of the past and present to become the radicals of our future.
Whether you’re looking to explore PHM’s collections, create something at home, connect with others online or learn about the people who changed the world, there are always ideas worth exploring.
Explore ideas worth fighting for throughout two Family Friendly galleries at the national museum of democracy. Meet the revolutionaries, reformers, workers, voters, and citizens who believed in and continue to inspire ideas such as equality, social justice, co-operation, and a fair world for all.
Suitable for all ages.
Take a 3D tour
Discover ideas worth fighting for past, present and future in this online conversation and tour of PHM’s main galleries, with actor Alfred Enoch and PHM’s Head of Collections & Engagement Jenny Mabbott. Part of Google Arts & Culture’s Art for Two series.
Suitable for all ages.
Watch and listen
History is being made. Explore one of PHM’s recent acquisitions through Google Arts & Culture; photographs of 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in Manchester through the lens of photographer Jake Hardy.
Suitable for ages 11+
Explore
Take a virtual tour on PHM’s YouTube channel to discover stories about those who have campaigned for nature and the environment over the last 200 years.
Suitable for ages 11+
Watch and listen
The artist Cliff Rowe donated over 1,600 paintings, prints and drawings to PHM in 1985. A lifelong socialist, Rowe focused a lot of his work on industry, working life, and people. In July 2020, members of PHM’s staff team looked at the collection in the context of Covid-19 and picked paintings that resonated with them.
Suitable for all ages.
Find out more on artuk.org
Explore and celebrate ideas worth fighting for through a selection of PHM shop’s range of products – available to buy online! All purchases support the museum, helping us continue to champion ideas worth fighting for.
Visit PHM's online shop
Steven Fielding, Professor of Political History at the University of Nottingham discusses five highlights from PHM’s collection for a series of films available on the museum’s YouTube channel.
Suitable for all ages.
Watch and listen
Discover ten treasures chosen by the PHM team that capture the ethos, spirit and importance of the museum’s collection.
Suitable for all ages.
Explore PHM's collection
Explore PHM’s collection through 15 short films made as part of the Citizens project, charting the history of liberty, protest, rebellion and reform.
Suitable for all ages.
Watch and listen
Make your own Doodle Den at home, pick up a pencil and explore PHM’s collections through sketching, scribbling and silliness.
Suitable for ages 5+
Get doodling!
Discover the power of storytelling in addressing climate grief and create a multi-ended story where the reader chooses the destiny of the planet.
Part of the Think Globally, Act Locally project, 2021.
Suitable for ages 7+
Create your story
Make a hydroponic experiment to build your own window farm. Recycling a plastic drink bottle with a bit of fabric and some gravel, get your first crop planted.
Part of the Think Globally, Act Locally project, 2021.
Suitable for ages 7+
Get growing
Explore how textiles are used in protest with artist Helen Mather in the online workshops. Or use the accompanying resources to create textile pieces inspired by PHM’s collections and the issues of today.
Suitable for ages 11+
Get stitching
As the Vital Voters of the future, PHM invites young people to take a three minute film challenge to let the world know what matters to them.
Suitable for ages 10 to 17.
Get involved
November 2021’s Late event saw the launch of the Australian-British digital history project with screenings and a panel discussion exploring the story of radicals and rebels transported as political convicts to Australia.
Suitable for 11+
Watch the recording online
October 2021’s Late event was on the origins of Jewish immigration social history in Manchester and London. We heard from experts exploring the everyday life of Jewish immigrant communities.
Suitable for 16+
Rediscover the stories
June 2021’s Late evening explored the themes of the British Museum’s Spotlight Loan Crossings: community and refuge, on display at PHM from Saturday 29 May to Sunday 5 September 2021.
We heard from Syrian artist Issam Kourbaj about his work Dark Water, Burning World, alongside guitarist and songwriter Ewan McLennan who performed a collection of his songs including Lampedusa.
Watch again
May 2021’s Late was an evening of discussion, talks and workshops, bringing our worries, hopes and ideas together to help us tackle the climate crisis and climate grief.
Scroll to the bottom of the event page to find topics discussed captured through visual minutes, and find out how to build your own window farm!
Suitable for ages 11+
April 2021’s Late was an evening with Modus Arts presenting a series of deep listening sound videos developed from testimonies collected during their groundbreaking Tape Letters project, from Pakistani immigrants who settled in Britain between 1960 and 1980.
Suitable for ages 11+
Watch and listen
February 2021’s Late was an evening of talks focusing on how migration has influenced LGBT+ history and the fight for LGBT+ rights.
Part of OUTing the Past Festival, an international celebration of LGBT+ history.
Suitable for ages 18+
Watch and listen
On 20 November 2020, 100 years of discoveries, disposals and debates were explored through a live streamed online presentation and discussion about the archive of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) on the centenary of the party’s formation.
Suitable for ages 16+
Watch and listen
November 2020’s Late was an online artistically performed story and accompanying discussion exploring the ways in which colonialism, conflict, race and migration connect with climate change, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and people arriving from there to the UK.
Suitable for ages 12+
Watch and listen
PHM’s Have Your Say discussion from July 2020 was on Covid-19 and independent living, including insight from disabled people sharing their experiences of independent living and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Suitable for ages 16+
Watch and listen
July 2020’s Late was hosted by PechaKucha Night Manchester, presenting a virtual evening of speedy talks and workshops on the theme of migration.
Hear from an eclectic mix of speakers from the worlds of design, art and social action.
Suitable for ages 16+
Watch and listen
June 2020’s Late saw an hour of conversation and cooking with PHM and Heart & Parcel, a Manchester based food and women’s project focused on developing English language skills whilst cooking. Enjoy a cooking demonstration of pierogi and salad from Heart & Parcel’s cookbook, which includes recipes from some of the women they have supported.
Suitable for ages 16+
Watch and listen
Watch an animation and explore a series of learning resources for all ages to find out about what happened at St Peter’s Field in Manchester on 16 August 1819.
Learn more
Designed specifically for primary schools, access the world’s first comic book telling the story of Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of British Feminism.
Download the accompanying six week scheme of work and explore the concepts of feminism, mindfulness, and preserving the past through engaging activities.
Suitable for Key Stage 2.
Learn more
Listen to a series of PHM’s podcasts, sign up to an online course and learn about the Manchester suffragette banner to find out more about the campaign for women to have the vote in Britain.
Learn more
Find out more about the development of trade union activity and the campaign for better working conditions in Britain.
Learn more
Voting is vital. Want to know why? PHM’s Vital Voters vloggers have explored 200 years of democracy in Britain to discover why we all need the right to have our say.
Suitable for ages 10 to 17.
Learn more
Want to know how voting works and what parliament does? UK Parliament has come up with a series of short, snappy animations to explain everything.
Suitable for ages 10 to 17.
Learn more
Sign up to take part in this free online course that uncovers a century long struggle for rights and representation, from the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 to the first women winning the right to vote in Britain in 1918.
Suitable for ages 16+
Learn more
Read posts from the PHM team and other experts, with behind the scenes stories, coverage of the museum’s exhibitions, events, and Learning Programme, and highlights from PHM’s unique collection.
Read and subscribe
Join PHM’s free museum membership by taking this fast and fun quiz! Find out which radical you are and help us match your interests to what’s on offer from PHM.
Take the quiz!
Are you more independent or community-focused? Experimental or measured? Prefer work or play?
Take our quick quiz to find out which radical you are! At the end we’ll offer you access to our free e-newsletter which matches your interests to what’s on at PHM.
