Bishopsgate Institute’s Special Collections and Archives have been collecting material on Labour and Socialist History for over 100 years. We are now one of the major repositories for this subject in the UK.

Our collections include the archives of politicians and activists, such as Jack Gaster, Noreen Branson, Sam Russell, Joyce Butler and Bernie Grant, and organisations, such as the Evening Standard Outside Chapel, General Federation of Trade Unions and the National Miners' Support Network.

We’re also proud to hold the library and archive of politician and trade unionist George Howell (1833-1910). The Howell Library offers a rich variety of material covering the political, social, philosophical and religious questions of his time. The Howell Archive contains his own personal and political letters and manuscripts, alongside the records of the First International, Reform League and Plimsoll Fund.

The Special Collections and Archives also holds 25,000 books and over 10,000 pamphlets on labour and socialist history, spanning from the nineteenth century to the present day.