Bishopsgate Institute Archives - An Online Talk by

An online talk from Stefan Dickers about the library and archives at Bishopsgate Institute.

Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives document the experiences of everyday people, and the extraordinary individuals and organisations who have strived for social, political and cultural change. Since the archive opened to the public in 1895 it has been steadily growing, with unique collections being gifted and loaned. Some are London focused, but the lives they preserve and the issues they explore have national and global resonance.

It is now home to internationally consulted special collections and archives on the history of London, protest and activism, women’s and feminist history and the history of LGBTQ+ Britain. The collections offer both breadth and depth. They hold 150,000 books, pamphlets, maps and photographs of London. The Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (LAGNA) alone holds 350,000 press cuttings. The photographic archives over 500,000 images. They have a growing oral-history archive and the collections contain fascinating ephemera, from banners and badges to club flyers and condoms.

Stefan Dickers is the Special Collections and Archives Manager and has been responsible for the development of the Institute’s collections on the history of London, protest and activism and LGBTQ+ Britain. He qualified as an archivist in 2001 and started at Bishopsgate in 2005. Previous to this, Stefan worked in the archives of the London School of Economics and Senate House Library.