The Campaign for History

Bringing the Past into the Future

The Institute of Historical Research is a world-renowned research centre promoting the study of history.  Situated in the heart of Bloomsbury, the IHR is a haven for independent scholarship, bringing together researchers from the UK and around the world for collaboration and partnership.

Founded in 1921, the IHR has been home to some of the most important publishing projects of our time: the History of Parliament, the Dictionary of National Biography and the Victoria County History. And for over 80 years it has run a full programme of seminars and conferences, and supported postgraduate students from around the world.

Today, the IHR occupies a large wing of Senate House, off Russell Square.  It houses a huge open access research library of 180,000 volumes, hosts over 50 research seminars per fortnight, and provides a range of listings, publications, digital, consultancy, and training services for the history profession across the UK.  We also run a junior research fellowship programme and support the Centre for Metropolitan History.

The highlight of our year is the international Anglo-American Conference of Historians held every July, and we also collaborate with several London museums and libraries, as well as other local and national organisations, in a colourful calendar of public events.

The amount of funding the IHR receives from government has reduced in real terms from 60% of its income ten years ago to 30% today.  In response to this pressure, we have successfully raised over £12 million during this time – almost without parallel across the history sector in the UK.  This funding enabled the IHR to take a great leap forward in its academic activities, and hugely enhanced its international profile and reputation.  However, nearly all of this funding has been restricted to specific projects which have now been completed, and only a few of these have produced ongoing resources or sustainable income.