'The Parish Bazaar,' (c1947) Norman Blamey was a consummate draughtsman; his early work specialised in capturing everyday events. This painting is based on a Christmas sale, which took place annually in the Parish Hall of St Pancras Old Church in Crowndale Road.

My sister sent me an Instagram reel about a remarkable Victotian lady, who defied her class to work with sex workers. Her name…Josephine Butler. So I did what any normal sister historian would do &sent her a link to my article on Butler. Her response to send me a unrelated reel on cookies. Really!

‘Granny thinking what she is going to write in her book’: religion, politics and the Pontefract by-election of 1872 in Josephine Butler’s Personal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade (1896)

Josephine Butler’s Personal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade (1896) has long been considered as one of the crucial pieces of evidence for the campaign against the Contagious Diseases Acts. Yet few ...

tandfonline.com

I’m really looking forward to welcoming urban historians to LJMU and Liverpool! Make sure you submit your abstracts. #SkyStorian

Urban History@urbanhistory.bsky.social · 3d ago

📣 Call for papers! Next year's @urbanhistorygroup.bsky.social conference will be on the theme of Pleasure and the City Submit your abstracts by 22 February 2027 Conference details: 🗓️ 2-3 September 2027 📍 @ljmuhistory.bsky.social, Liverpool 🔗 urbanhistorygroup.wordpress.com/call-for-pap...

📣 Call for papers! Next year's @urbanhistorygroup.bsky.social conference will be on the theme of Pleasure and the City Submit your abstracts by 22 February 2027 Conference details: 🗓️ 2-3 September 2027 📍 @ljmuhistory.bsky.social, Liverpool 🔗 urbanhistorygroup.wordpress.com/call-for-pap...

Today I decided to send all my first years an attendance email, rather than just the students who’d been flagged, because I thought it would be lovely to let them know that I’d noticed their attendance, and, as a once-nerdy student myself, a tiny bit of recognition and joy never hurts.

Jack Frost has visited. There’s a lovely chill in the air. I’m wearing tights. I’ve just walked past a robin flying by. I can smell a fire burning and see smoke from a chimney. Finally, autumn has arrived. My favourite season.

🚨 NEW: Poorer students have the most to gain from university, but they’re the least likely to go. Our brand-new best practice guide argues universities should redouble efforts to support disadvantaged students 🧵

I’m such a National Trust girlie that I’ve been inspired to get William Morris wallpaper for my spare bedroom. All day my lovely decorator has been telling me about the quirks of this Georgian room. Details that can only be truly appreciated by a homeowner who isn’t doing the papering themselves

PUBLICATION DAY! So excited that my reflective piece, 'Reimagining Book History Creatively for Twenty‐First‐Century Publishing Students', has been published open access today in 'History: The Journal of the Historical Society'. #bookhistory #publishing #pedagogy doi.org/10.1111/1468...

Reimagining Book History Creatively for Twenty‐First‐Century Publishing Students

Teaching book history to twenty-first-century publishing students often proves a delightful challenge as some grapple with appreciating how this history is relevant to not only their pursuit of a car...

doi.org

Autumn bonfire Artist: CF Tunnicliffe (What to Look for in Autumn, 1960)

24 hours later I’m still annoyed that someone walked into my lecture at 11.49 to till me that they had class at 12.00 in that room & I didn’t say anything. Instead I’ve thought about it so much that if I ever write a campus novel, this would a turning point scene for the protagonist…

Good evening! This week's theme is Backs of Houses. ------ 'London Back Gardens', Islington (2016) by Melissa Scott-Miller scottmillerart.com

I’ve been to see the new Sense & Sensibility. My heart still belongs to the 1995 film which I saw over&over again at the cinema&then on VHS. BUT there’s something delightful about seeing teenage girls come with friends to watch THEIR version. Maybe that’s the delight of repeatedly adapting classics.

You Are Right, Marianne Dashwood

ALT: You Are Right, Marianne Dashwood

static.klipy.com

We always promote (as we should!) research-led teaching but tbh I find teaching-led research even more enjoyable. I love working through ideas because I'm teaching something related, or making connections because of something I had to teach

Working Man’s Hair Specialist, Bolton Open Market, 1937, photo by Humphrey Spender.

Morning all. Washing Hanging in the Street. West Yorkshire. Photographer Martin Parr, 1975.

One of my favourite postbox facts is that in Scotland the Royal Cypher for Queen Elizabeth II is a crown to avoid controversy because Elizabeth I wasn’t a Scottish queen. I’ve told some people in person today so now I’m telling you. Read more here www.postalmuseum.org/blog/royal-c...

I’m in a community pub in Edinburgh and it’s showing Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility AND I think we can all agree that this is the pub dream…

A momentous occasion has finally arrived, if you type my name into Spotify now, I’ll come up! Thanks @jovanevery.bsky.social for inviting me to speak on teaching and research identity. I had a lovely time.

In the next episode of my podcast: Creating a Satisfying Academic Career, I interview @luciejones83.bsky.social about creativity, neurodivergence, teaching and research. Available to listen (or read) now! jovanevery.co.uk/making-and-u...

Making and Unmaking Knowledge with Lucie Matthews-Jones - Jo VanEvery

In the next episode of Creating a Satisfying Academic Career, Lucie Matthews-Jones and I talk about how she’s resisted that competition between teaching and research in her own career. We talk about…

jovanevery.co.uk

I’m doing a survey for the office of national statistics. I’m sad to report that you cannot be listed as a cultural historian. You can be a social historian, a political historian, a oral historian & so on. I’m now officially a social historian. I might go off to have an identity crisis now.

I think we should have one day a week when no-one is allowed to talk about AI, so we can have a rest

This afternoon, I picked up Kate Atkinson’s new novel set during the 1951 Festival of Britian and, well, isn’t the bookshop exclusive just gorgeous! I was even given a branded red bookmark from the secret stash under the counter (probably for my chatty enthusiasm).

@wwiiadvertising.bsky.social colour me pleasantly surprised I’ve just heard your name mentioned in the new Jon Ronson audiobook! How lovely!

This afternoon, I picked up Kate Atkinson’s new novel set during the 1951 Festival of Britian and, well, isn’t the bookshop exclusive just gorgeous! I was even given a branded red bookmark from the secret stash under the counter (probably for my chatty enthusiasm).

What new(ish) work are gender historians using to talk about gender as a theory & approach for 2nd year history students. Basically the stuff that sets up a module. I’m googling & I’m not finding newish stuff. I feel like I’m still awaiting for something on intersectionality&privilege.

Gilbert Spencer once said that after witnessing hand-to-hand fighting during WW1 he tried to build about him 'a little globe of ease.' Painting this work of laundry drying gave him great contentment and peace of mind.

When it’s bedtime I say ‘Time for Bedfordshire’. I thought it was a quirk from Bridget Jones but I was surprised to see it in a novel from 1950. Now I’m delighted to find it’s a v old usage from c17th, was popular in the 1930-50s & c19th children were told to ‘climb the wooden hill to Bedfordshire’💤

Other work of the Ladybird artists ‘Sunday Afternoon’ (The design for a jigsaw) Artist: Ronald Lampitt

I’m a little tardy but big shout to @djrgrey.bsky.social &William Bainbridge for organising Friday’s conf on Victorian belonging. It was a really stimulating day with great papers&sandwiches. I was introduced to the wonderful Wiltons Music Hall confirming that the best confs are always off campus!