The Politics Behind the Chocolate

The Rowntree Society are hosting a free public talk, The Politics Behind the Chocolate, at the De Grey Lecture Theatre, York St John University on Saturday 31 October. It runs from 2pm to 4pm, and while admission is free, you'll need to book a place in advance.

Most of us know the Rowntrees as the chocolate family, and we've heard about their Quaker beliefs, but there's a whole other side to their story that doesn't get as much airtime. This talk looks at the political ideas and connections that shaped them, and it grew out of research carried out over the summer by one of the Society's interns. It sets out to explore the political currents that underpinned their work: their involvement with Liberal politics and their engagement with socialist ideas as the landscape shifted across the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

That story runs through workers' welfare, poverty, housing and social reform, and leads to the trusts Joseph Rowntree established in 1904. The Rowntree Society itself is a registered educational charity that builds and shares knowledge about the family, the company and the trusts, with a focus on how they still speak to local, national and global challenges today. They run several research projects alongside this one, including Refugees & Rowntrees, From Kit Kats to Colonialism and Rowntree Political Connections and Influences.

If you're heading over, the De Grey Lecture Theatre is at York St John University, with the entrance on the corner of Clarence Street and Lord Mayor's Walk, York YO31 7EX. The talk is free, but booking is essential, and it runs from 2pm to 4pm on Saturday 31 October.