Archives on Show: The London County Council Photograph Collection

Our Archives on Show events are a chance for us to show you the wide range of material we hold at The London Archives.

Whether you are new to archives and curious to see what we hold, or you are an experienced researcher that wants to learn more, these relaxed events offer a chance for you to see a selection of original materials on a changing monthly theme.

This month's theme: "The London County Council Photograph Collection"

The London County Council photograph library contains approximately 250,000 photographs, recording the work of the local authority from the 1880s to the 1980s. These include a rich collection relating to London’s streets and buildings, many of them featuring places which no longer exist.

For over five years, a group of expert volunteers have been enhancing the descriptions of these photographs to make them more useful to researchers, and we are delighted to celebrate the completion of the project with this event.

In this drop-in session, we will display a large range of these photographs, showing their richness and variety. Volunteers will be on hand to describe the stories they uncovered, to explain the research they undertook and share their favourite photographs from the collection.

What to expect:

• Curated display of archival material from our collections - available for you to handle and explore at your own pace.
• Informal atmosphere with staff on hand to answer queries about items on display.
• This is a drop-in session - while it doesn't include a formal talk, members of our team will be on hand to answer questions and to discuss the selection of items.
• Each month we focus on a specific topic, type of record, or theme.

Booking Essential: You can book for a one hour drop-in session at 1pm or 2pm.