Black History Month – Carlisle and Wellmon

Carlisle and Wellmon (BL shelfmark 1SS0009976) By Jonathan Summers, Curator of Classical Music For Black History Month this year, I was delighted to find early recordings of two African American musicians made in London. The piano duo team of Carlisle and Wellmon made recordings for Columbia over one hundred years…




The Pinnacle Club: 100 years of women climbing and mountaineering

A new oral history collection looks at the role of women in the development of climbing and mountaineering




The wanderings of Blackbud: Preserving Blackbud’s Glastonbury demo

Written by Kirsten Newell, Data Protection & Rights Clearance Officer. Last year, UOSH was lucky enough to interview the Subways about their 2004 win at the Glastonbury Festival New Bands competition. You can read more about the history of the Emerging Talent Competition in this blog post on the collection,…




True Echoes: Eric Raff 1924 Efate, New Hebrides cylinder collection (C83)

The Eric Raff 1924 Efate, New Hebrides Cylinder Collection (C83) is a set of twelve black wax cylinders recorded in 1924 on the island of Efate in Vanuatu. The collection was previously known as the RAI Vanuatu Cylinder Collection as the cylinders came into the Library from the Royal Anthropological…




Recording of the week: Family mealtimes

This week’s selection comes from Dr Madeline White, Curator of Oral History. One way or another, food is at the heart of everyday life for almost everyone on the planet. We plan our days around it, share it with friends, watch TV shows about it, and food – or sometimes,…