Exhibitions and events
Current exhibition:
Lives on the Line: Railway Workers, Accidents and Union Action
100 years ago, hundreds of railway employees were killed and tens of thousands injured at work in Britain each year.
The statistics were known at the time 鈥� but who were the people behind the numbers? And how did worker organisations help the injured and bereaved?
This exhibition focuses on these questions, revealing the individuals and communities affected by railway workplace accidents. We explore what the largest railway union of the 19th and 20th centuries did to support them. You will see items and records produced by the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, from 1913 known as the National Union of Railwaymen. This was the forerunner of today鈥檚 RMT union, whose archives are held at the Modern Records Centre.
The exhibition comes from the Railway Work, Life & Death project, a collaboration between the Modern Records Centre, the University of Portsmouth and the National Railway Museum, working with the RMT and The National Archives of the UK.
The items shown are often everyday, but never dull; the light they shine on the lives of ordinary women and men of the past is bright. In them we can see 鈥� literally, in some cases 鈥� individuals so often overlooked.
At the Modern Records Centre between 26 October 2026 and January 2027.
![Part of a colour print of a Japanese pen and ink drawing, showing a Japanese woman, entitled 'A Beauty Reading a Letter', by Kitagawa Utamaro. [c1792]](/services/library/mrc/exhibitions/online_exhibitions.jpg)
Upcoming events
Information about scheduled events and how the Modern Records Centre can support you or your group.
Past events
Recordings of talks and collaborations, including events relating to the 50th anniversary of the Modern Records Centre, and the National Union of Mineworkers archive.