The Workers Educational Association

IDENTITY STATEMENT AREA

Reference code(s): WEA

Title: The Workers Educational Association

Date(s): 1903 - to date

Level of description: Fonds

Extent and medium of the unit of description: 40m

CONTEXT AREA

Name of creator(s): The Workers Educational Association

Administrative/Biographical history: The Association to Promote the Higher Education of Working Men was founded in 1903 and two years later the name was changed to The Workers Educational Association (WEA) and a year after that WEA's first constitution was drafted. The WEA was closely linked to the universities extra-mural departments, links that were strengthened with the development of university tutorial classes. The WEA was also linked to the trade union movement and in 1919 the Workers Educational Trade Union Committee was formed to give cohesion to their educational work with the trade unions. The WEA were closely involved in campaigns for better state education and in particular were involved in the campaign that proceeded the 1944 Education Act. The WEA is today a national voluntary organisation existing primarily to provide adults with access to organised learning. It is a registered charity and it non-party in politics and non-sectarian in religion. The WEA is one national organisation in England and Scotland, organised into 13 districts in England and a Scottish Association. It has over 650 local branches and 38 local organisations including 23 national trade unions.

Archival history: The Collection was transferred from the WEA headquarters in Bethnal Green to the custody of the TUC Library Collections at the University of North London in August 1998.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer: The Workers Educational Association

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

Scope and content: Collection comprises the following key sections:

Constitution papers (ref: WEA CENTRAL / 1/1/-)

Minutes - Main series (WEA CENTRAL /1/2/1-) Includes minutes of the Executive and Council minutes, Finance and General Purposes.

Minutes - Other Committees (ref: WEA CENTRAL /1/2/2/-). Includes the Council for Educational Advance, Education Advisory Committee, In Service Training Committee, Women's Advisory Committee.

Agendas - ref: (WEA CENTRAL / 1/3/1 &2-)

Financial documents - (ref:WEA central/2-). Includes statements of accounts, and staff pensions fund.

Correspondence/subject files (ref: WEA CENTRAL /3/-) Covers a wide range of subject including (and this is in no way exhaustive or definitive list of subjects covered): 1918 Education Bill (WEA CENTRAL /3/1-3, date: 1918); WEA activity in public and adult education (WEA CENTRAL / 3/3/3, date: 1945-55); Education in war-time (WEA CENTRAL/3/4/2, date: 1939 - 40); WEA documents on adult education (WEA CENTRAL/3/9, dates: 1951 - 59); Post-war university Education (WEA CENTRAL/3/17, dates:1941 - 48); Labour, Conservative & TUC conferences (WEA CENTRAL/3/30, dates: 1991); The Voluntary Adult Education Forum(WEA CENTRAL/3/29/1-3, dates: 1991-92); Teaching in adult education (WEA CENTRAL/3/26/3, dates:1968 - 74)

Publications-bound monographs (ref: WEA CENTRAL/4/1/-). Includes WEA miscellaneous pamphlets (WEA CENTRAL/4/1/1/1, dates: 1910-54); The WEA Education Yearbook (WEA CENTRAL/4/1/1/6, date:1918); Equality by R H Tawney (WEA CENTRAL/4/1/1/15, date:1929)

Publications-monologues (ref: WEA CENTRAL/4/1/2/1-).

Publications-serials-other(ref: WEA CENTRAL/4/2/2/1). Includes International pamphlets (WEA CENTRAL /4/2/2/14, dates: 1900-20); Breaking Our Silence: A Series of Essays in Women's Education (WEA CENTRAL/4/2/2/11, dates: 1985-1990).

Publications-Periodicals (ref: WEA CENTRAL /4/3/1-)

Press cuttings (ref: WEA CENTRAL/5/1-)

Photographs (ref: WEA CENTRAL/ 6a/1)

There are also records covering the activities of the various WEA districts, associated periodicals, and publications; record series covering . Also included are records of the activities of key committees including the WEA Trade Union Committee (ref: WEA CJAC, dates: 1909 - 1958); and records on key members of the WEA including R.H. Tawney (ref:WEA RHT), Ernest Green (ref: WEA E.G.), as well as key institutions including Ruskin College (ref:WEA/RUSKIN)

Series and sub-series of note include the following:

WEA work with special groups ( ref:WEA CENTRAL/3/2/1, dates: 1947-50).The special groups are include prisons, forces, hospitals, women, Polish camps, immigrants, retired people. Includes booklet `Colour and Conscience - A Study of Race Relations in Birmingham' by John Darragh. Also in this file is a pamphlet 'The West Indian Immigrant - A survey (1957)' by the Wolverhampton Fabian Society. Areas that were examined include: occupations, reasons for emigrating, feelings towards settling in the UK, training and recreation.

Publications-Monographs (ref: WEA/ C/4/1/2/7, dates:1980). The pamphlets include one entitled 'National Working Party Report on the WEA and the Black communities'. The aim of the report is rooted in a desire to determine if the aims of the WEA were meeting the needs of the black communities. There are six sections: Introduction, Summary analysis and observations on District questionnaire and community survey, the model approach, WEA provision and the black communities and the appendices.

The appendices includes the list of organisations contacted and the demographic spread of the black population. The national organisations include the Caribbean Teachers' Association, the Indian Workers Association, the National Association of Community Relations Councils, the National Convention of Black Teachers, the National Federation of Self-help Organisation (The Marcus Garvey College)

Publications-Serials-Other, date:c1940s). This is a series of articles and pamphlets, including one entitled 'Race, Reason and Democracy' by W.E. Style, and 'What about Race?

WEA Study outlines (ref: WEA/ C/4/2/2/3, date: 1939).Pamphlets listed include 'Race, Nationalism and Politics,' The Colonial Empire by T.L. Hodgkin

Pamphlet: National Working Party Report on the WEA and the Black Communities (ref: WEA CENTRAL/4/1/2/7, date: 1980c)There may be further deposits in the future It has not been possible to arrange the collection according to strict rules of provenance for individuals and departments due to the level of disturbance that the collection has been subjected to over the years. There are some cases where collections of files seemed to have been compiled by individuals or the linking factor is an individual. In these cases the collections have been listed as originating from this individual. The Collection is mainly divided into material from the central organisation and from the various regional organisations. Other linked organisations, including the Central Joint Advisory Committee and the Workers Educational Trade Union Committee, are listed as separate record creating bodies within the organisation and not as part of the Central office.

WEA CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM:

/1 INSTITUTIONAL ARCHIVES

./1/1 CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS

../1/1/1 Constitution and Standing orders

../1/2 MINUTES

../1/2/1 Main Minutes Series

/1/2/2 Minutes from other committees

../1/2/3 Minutes from conferences

../1/3 AGENDAS

./1/3/1 Main Series of agendas from the National Conferences

../1/3/2 Presidents Agendas

/2 FINANCIAL RECORDS

../2/1 PRINTED ACCOUNTS SERIES

../2/2-4 OTHER FINANCIAL RECORDS

/3 CORRESPONDENCE (includes all subject files)

/4 PUBLICATIONS../4/1 monographs (bound volumes and unbound pamphlets, booklets, and leaflets)

/4/2 serials

../4/2/1 Reports

../4/2/2 Other Serial publications

../4/3 Periodicals

/5 PRESS CUTTINGS

/6a PHOTOGRAPHS

/6b OTHER MEDIA (videos, CD ROMs etc)

/7 STATISTICS

/8 MISCELLANEOUSWEA Archive structure:

FONDS - WEA Archive. WEA/ ....

SUB FONDS - Archive creators within the organisation as a whole

Central - WEA/C../...

Districts - WEA/D/...

WEA Joint organisations - WEA/WETUC/...etc

Individuals - WEA/RHT/...etc

SERIES - Classification scheme as outlined above to apply at series level.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals: There may be further deposits in the future

System of arrangement: It has not been possible to arrange the collection according to strict rules of provenance for individuals and departments due to the level of disturbance that the collection has been subjected to over the years. There are some cases where collections of files seemed to have been compiled by individuals or the linking factor is an individual. In these cases the collections have been listed as originating from this individual. The Collection is mainly divided into material from the central organisation and from the various regional organisations. Other linked organisations, including the Central Joint Advisory Committee and the Workers Educational Trade Union Committee, are listed as separate record creating bodies within the organisation and not as part of the Central office.

WEA CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM:

/1 INSTITUTIONAL ARCHIVES

./1/1 CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS

../1/1/1 Constitution and Standing orders

../1/2 MINUTES

../1/2/1 Main Minutes Series

../1/2/2 Minutes from other committees

../1/2/3 Minutes from conferences

../1/3 AGENDAS

./1/3/1 MMain Series of agendas from the National Conferences

../1/3/2 Presidents Agendas

/2 FINANCIAL RECORDS

../2/1 PRINTED ACCOUNTS SERIES

../2/2-4 OTHER FINANCIAL RECORDS

/3 CORRESPONDENCE (includes all subject files)

/4 PUBLICATIONS../4/1 monographs (bound volumes and unbound pamphlets, booklets, and leaflets)

/4/2 serials

../4/2/1 Reports

../4/2/2 Other Serial publications

../4/3 Periodicals

/5 PRESS CUTTINGS

/6a PHOTOGRAPHS

/6b OTHER MEDIA (videos, CD ROMs etc)

/7 STATISTICS

/8 MISCELLANEOUSWEA Archive structure:

FONDS - WEA Archive. WEA/ ....

SUB FONDS - Archive creators within the organisation as a whole

Central - WEA/C../...

Districts - WEA/D/...

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

Conditions governing access:

Conditions governing reproduction: Rules for access are as for the TUC Library Collections.

Language/scripts of material: TUC Library Collections

Physical characteristics: English

Finding aids: Generally good, there will be notes in the list if an item is unsuitable for use, is being rebound or there is a duplicate which should be used in place of the original

ALLIED MATERIALS AREA

Existence and location of originals: Paper list in the library, more detailed lists exists inside some files and volumes and for the photographs

Existence and location of copies:

Related units of description:

Publication note: Part of the Archive for the International Federation of Workers Educational Associations held alongside the WEA Archive

DESCRIPTION CONTROL AREA

Recorder's note: http://www.unl.ac.uk/library/tuc/geninfo.shtml#top

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:

Interest:

Specific group: Caribbean#Black#Asian

Subjects

Trade unions

Adult education

Personal/Corporate names

Workers Educational Association

Places