History Happenings This Weekend

by Kathryn Hadley

Various historically themed celebratory events are being organised this weekend and at the beginning of next week in anticipation of the Chinese New Year and St. Valentine's Day on February 14th. Here is a small selection...

Valentines Day

The season for love: A collection of choice valentines
Until February 27th
Bodleian Library, Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG
Telephone: 01865 277162
www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/bodley
This display of 38 items provides an insight into how St. Valentines Day was celebrated in the 19th century. The valentines range from creations of lace paper, silk, scraps, tinselling and artificial flowers accompanied by elaborate poetry to simple woodcuts. Some valentines were home-made tokens of love; others were produced in manufactories where skill and care were allied to business acumen.

Past Caring: A Celebration of Love in History
February 6th – 14th
A series of walks and talks are being organised as part of this innovative partnership of museums, archives and higher education organisations, which include Birkbeck College, London Transport Museum, The Wiener Library, National Maritime Museum, London Metropolitan Archive and the Hampstead Museum.
For further information visit www.pastcaring.org

Queer Hampstead
February 7th
Hampstead Museum, Burgh House
New End Square
London NW3 1LT
Telephone: 020 7431 0144
Academics and activists discuss Hampstead’s gay and lesbian past.

Rescue and Romance: Love in Word and Deed
February 9th
The Wiener Library
4 Devonshire Street
London W1W 5BH
Telephone: 020 7636 7247
A lecture by Anne Sebba telling the story of Ida and Louise Cook, two sisters who risked their lives to rescue Jewish families from Europe before the Second World War.

Love on the Streets
February 10th
Birkbeck, University of London
Malet Street
London WC1E 7HX
A walk with Mike Berlin and Eu Jin Chua, which starts at 6.00pm from Birkbeck College, followed by talks with Professor Alison Light, Professor Amanda Vickery and Juliet Gardiner at the London Review of Books Bookshop.

Chinese New Year

The Museum of London Docklands is hosting various events to mark the Chinese New Year.
Museum of London Docklands
West India Quay
London E14 4AL
Telephone: 020 7001 9844
www.museumoflondon.org.uk

Letter from an Unknown Woman
February 6th, 2pm
Free film screening organised in partnership with the Chinese Cultural Centre. A love story set against the backdrop of the Chinese Revolution.
Old Limehouse to Chinatown
February 13th, 2pm
A guided walk led by Brian Gover through the streets of Limehouse, the site of London’s first Chinatown, where Chinese sailors first settled in the 1880s.
The great voyages of Zheng He
February 14th, 4pm
Screening of a short documentary about the late 14th-century Chinese mariner, navigator, diplomat and fleet admiral.