What's Online: Out in the City - Queer Club culture in London, 1918–1967

What's On-Line is a series of free, pre-recorded online talks delivered by our experts, here at The National Archives.

Online talk

‘London’s greatest bohemian rendezvous said to be the most unconventional spot in town’

Despite the risks involved, the twentieth century saw a thriving underground queer community develop. Our records show a wonderful defiance to live and love despite the law.

Using unique archive items, this talk seeks to tell the important story of some of the clandestine LGBTQ+ spaces that were raided and closed by police and the covert methods of communication that had to be relied upon.

The talk will explore a number of spaces, from the Caravan Club, known as ‘London’s greatest bohemian rendezvous’, to the lively Shim Sham Club, so named after the Harlem tap dance.

Through photographs, court reports, witness statements and even tantalising love letters that were never meant for our eyes, this talk will give an insight into these little known underground venues and the powerful voices of individuals inside them.

This talk will be presented by Victoria Iglikowski-Broad, Principal Records Specialist in Diverse Histories.

To register for this talk please use this link: https://prod.flowapp.com/s/uH2kQBZcdk?refToken=EB

This online talk will be presented via the FLOW platform.

In order to attend this online event you will need either:

The latest version on Google Chrome

The latest version of Mozilla Firefox

Internet Explorer and Safari for MacOS are not currently supported by FLOW.

You can register and attend the event on Android mobile devices using the latest version of Android and the Google Chrome browser. IOS is not currently supported.