Reweaving Manchester’s cotton connections
Welcome to Global Threads, a public history project that draws out new and previously under-represented stories related to Manchester’s cotton industry, particularly those linked to colonialism, enslavement and global movements of people and goods.
Science Museum Group Collection.
About the project
Global Threads began in 2019 and is a collaboration between the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at University College London, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester and a diverse team of talented researchers.
We aim to create new networks and conversations about Manchester’s textiles heritage, weaving together narratives about lived experience, resistance, solidarity and industrialisation.
Here, you can explore the research carried out by the Global Threads team so far and discover people, places and museum objects that reveal stories about Manchester’s local and global cotton connections.
Collaborations
Explore our Global Threads
The Global Threads case studies have been written by our team, who came together to carry out original research into Manchester’s people, places, memorials and museum objects. You can explore their work below, or find out more about the project’s themes and browse the case studies here.
Sarah Parker Remond
A trailblazing African American female abolitionist in Manchester
by Serena Robinson
Creativity, craft and community
Subverting power and building solidarity through textiles
by Megan Bridgeland
Riots, rebels and rhymes
Upheaval and expression in the Lancashire Cotton Famine
by Cameron Christie
Fabric of Injustice
Unveiling the Lives of Enslaved Families at Turner’s Hall
by Serena Robinson
Research supporting The Penistone Cloth: Textiles and Slavery – From the Pennines to Barbados and Beyond exhibition
Cloth, Clothing and Apprenticeship in the British Caribbean
by Megan Bridgeland
Research supporting The Penistone Cloth: Textiles and Slavery – From the Pennines to Barbados and Beyond exhibition
Native Americans and the Cotton Empire
by Megan Bridgeland
Research supporting The Penistone Cloth: Textiles and Slavery – From the Pennines to Barbados and Beyond exhibition
Control & Contestation
Clothing, Expression and Escape
by Serena Robinson
Research supporting The Penistone Cloth: Textiles and Slavery – From the Pennines to Barbados and Beyond exhibition
Cotton, Culture, and Wealth
The Manchester Athenaeum in 1859
by Ella Sinclair
Research supporting The Warp/ The Weft/ The Wake exhibition
Edisto Island and McConnell and Kennedy
The invisibilised labour behind Manchester’s mills
by Destinie Reynolds
Research supporting The Warp/ The Weft/ The Wake exhibition
Hillsborough and Manchester
Tracing profits and recovering lives in the archive
by Serena Robinson
Research supporting The Warp/ The Weft/ The Wake exhibition
Meet the team
Get to know the team behind the Global Threads project.
News and activity
Sharing our research
WATCH – IHR People, Place and Community Presentation
Sibia Akhtar
Crafting Connections
Global Threads Team
Historical Threads: Our panel at the Science Museum Group Conference
Global Threads Team
Uncovering Sources, Finding Our Threads
Global Threads Team
Sharing our research: Global Threads in the museum
Sibia Akhtar & Megan Bridgeland
Guest posts
Cottonopolis: Reflections and connections
Ruby Duncan
Founders and Funders: An Introduction
Kerry Pimblott
Related projects
Carolina Connections
Courtney Jones
A Legacy In Land
Jaden Haynes
Our Founder & Fairfield County
Katie Haynes
A Family Business
Jeevan Sanghera
Manchester’s Slave Trade Dynasty
Nancy Adams
This project has been supported by the UCL UK Office, supporting the development of collaborations and research impact across the UK.
GLOBAL THREADS 