No Gods No Masters – 8 week course

London’s radicals, secularists, suffragists and pacifists.

This 8 week course will look at some remarkable people and movements who spoke up and campaigned for progressive ideas and social change in London from the 1790s-1940s. It will tell their individual and collective stories, explore how they popularised their ideas, and influenced each other, visit sites of protest, and consider their lasting achievements.

It will be taught through interactive classroom sessions organised on a thematic basis and guided walks including a walk in this 100th anniversary year of the Representation of the People’s Act, following the footsteps of militant suffragettes. It will use written and visual materials, include archive materials from the Humanist Library paired and group discussions, and include four guided walks – in Bloomsbury, Fleet Street, Clerkenwell, and Westminster, where a number of the people and movements being explored were active.

It will pay particular attention to individuals who had a connection with the South Place Ethical Society and Conway Hall

Thursday 12th April  – Thursday 31st May 6:30 – 8:30pm

Course Outcomes

• Participants will have an understanding of the issues that engaged campaigners who fought for social justice in London between 1790 and 1940.
• Participants will gain a knowledge of the personalities and movements that drove these campaigns forward, the ideas they espoused and the methods they used.
• Participants will have experience of using Conway Hall library and archive’s resources.

Course Tutor: David Rosenburg.

David Rosenberg is an educator, writer, teacher trainer and tour guide. He is the author of Battle for the East End (Five leaves Publications, 2011) and Rebel Footprints: a guide to uncovering London’s radical history (Pluto Press, 2015) and co-author of Contemporary Slavery Teachers’ Resource (International Slavery Museum, 2012)

He taught in an inner London primary school for 22 years, and in recent years has taught adults through the Bishopsgate institute and City Lit, and organised day events on historical themes at the London Metropolitan Archives. He has led guided walks on London radical history since 2007. (www.eastendwalks.com)

Cost: £100, £75. concessions (Members, Over 65s, Students (full-time), Employment and Support Allowance or Jobseeker’s Allowance)

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We are committed to promoting inclusive practice at Conway Hall. Due to the constraints of our building, the Library is not currently accessible to wheelchair users or those with limited mobility but we are happy to discuss with you how we can make the contents and materials accessible to you. We carefully monitor which events are held in the Library, and will use your comments to enable us to develop ways to ensure that everyone should be able to attend events in the future.