Hayley Cropper's red anorak

Contemporary collecting is very important to PHM, so we were delighted when actor Julie Hesmondhalgh donated the iconic coat that she wore in ITV’s Coronation Street from 1998 to 2014 while playing the UK’s first transgender soap character. The storyline was influential in helping to shift opinions, but also brought criticism for the failure to cast a trans person to play the role. Throughout and since Julie has been a huge advocate for the transgender community.

The coat came to PHM as part of the work that was done to collect for the 2017 exhibition Never Going Underground: The Fight for LGBT+ Rights; during a year in which the museum marked the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexual acts in England and Wales (1967 Sexual Offences Act).

Liz Thorpe, Learning Officer at People’s History Museum, says ‘2017 was a year to be proud of. It really felt like a coming together of different communities to tell an important story through the objects that shaped their lives. Having never before handed over so much curatorial control there were a lot of uncertainties on what the outcome would look like, but the end result felt much more than a successful exhibition or event launch. It felt like a coming together of people that was full of interesting conversations and emotions.’