that feminism , or anti-racism , were and are only of interest to a university-educated middle class .
The popular resonance of such memories has been made more evident in recent years . Corbyn ’ s victory galvanised new public history projects . Each September , the village of Burston in Suffolk commemorates the longest strike in British history . In 1914 , Burston ’ s schoolchildren and their families struck in solidarity with their schoolteachers , who were sacked for helping local agricultural workers to unionise . Striking children , teachers and farm workers don ’ t feature in the ‘ public ’ memory of the working class promoted by most politicians and the media . ‘ Between the 1980s , when the commemoration of the Burston School Strike began , and 2015 , we ’ d have maybe fifty to 200 people coming to the event each year ’, says the commemoration ’ s organiser , Miles Hubbard . But ‘ since Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader , we ’ ve had several hundred ; we could have thousands if we could accommodate them .’ Trade unionists from
across the country join environmentalists , local teenagers , Labour Party activists , history enthusiasts and curious locals to mark the event .
Corbyn has now resigned as leader of the Labour Party . Covid-19 means that large gatherings like that at Burston are no longer possible ( the commemoration is suspended in 2020 ). But Burston reminds us that the traces of a radical working-class past survive at the grassroots . They are sustained by popular memory , passed down through family stories , or kindled into events by campaigners like Miles Hubbard . How to engage those memories and create from them a public history that can offer renewed hope and commitment for the 21st century – a century that will require internationalism , solidarity and imagination - is an urgent challenge . But if working-class history tells us anything it is that change is always possible , and often comes at the most unexpected times , from surprising quarters .
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Banner : “ We Are All Immigrants ”, created by supporters of Manchester ’ s fan-owned FC United of Manchester , in 2019 | Selina Todd
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