Greater Manchester Country Record Office & The Labour History Archive and Study Centre

Research resources for Caribbean Studies and the History of Black and Asian Peoples in the UK

CASBAH SURVEY REPORT

Introduction

Local context

Local activities related to the aims of the CASBAH project
· Local Studies Unit and Archive, Manchester Central Library
· The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Archive and Resource Centre
· List of selected publications
· List of selected theses

Greater Manchester Country Record Office
· Overview & Collection Strengths
· The Survey
· Collection descriptions
· Notes regarding the development of a survey strategy for CASBAH's subject areas
· Collection descriptions - Extract

The Labour History Archive & Study Centre
· Overview & Collection Strengths
· The Survey
· Collection descriptions
· Notes regarding the development of a survey strategy for CASBAH's subject areas
· Collection descriptions - Extract

·Acknowledgments

Section One - Introduction

Manchester was chosen as one of the five areas in which to conduct archive pilot surveys because it an important region in North West of England. All the preparations for the visit were made by CASBAH's Project Officer, Carol Dixon. The primary survey was conducted at the Greater Manchester County Record Office on 27th - 29th March 2001. In addition, half a day was spent at the Labour History Archive and Local Studies Centre, with the other half of that day spent at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Archive. A visit was also made to the Manchester Central Library.

Local Context

It is a well established fact that people of African, African-Caribbean, and Asian decent have a long and established history in Manchester. These histories remain evident in the following demographic facts that were taken from the Manchester Census 1991 - Ethnic Groups in Manchester (1994):

• 54.7% of the city's ethnic minorities were born in the UK. The term 'ethnic minority' is appropriately used in the report to include all ethnic groups and not just non-white groups. Thus, it includes white groups such as the Irish. The report states that people of Irish descent make up the largest ethnic group in the city.
• People of Asian descent and those with links to Africa and the Caribbean make up the second and third largest ethnic groups in the city.
• People to with links to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh make up 5.4% of the total population.
• African, African -Caribbeans, and those who chose 'Black other' form 4.6% of the total population.
• An overwhelming majority of people of Black and Asian decent (77%) live in 13 of the city's 33 wards.
• Significant numbers of people of West African descent live in Ardwick and Rusholme. Also living in these areas, as well as in Moss Side, Hulme, Whalley Range, and Longsight are a significant number of people of African -Caribbean descent.
• The vast majority of people with links to Bangladesh live in the wards of Longsight and Rushome. Over 50% of people of Pakistani origin live in Cheetham, Longsight, and Whalley Range.

@Manchester Census 1991. Ethnic Groups in Manchester (Manchester, Planning Studies Group, Manchester City Council, 1994).

Section 2 - Local activities: visits, research, and publications

· Local Studies Unit and Archive, Manchester Central Library
· The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Archive
· List of selected publications
· List of selected theses

Local Studies Unit and Archive, Manchester Central Library
St. Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 5PD

At Manchester Central Library's Local Studies Unit and Archive, Mr Richard Bond, the Archives and Local Studies Officer, gave an overview of the collections housed in the Archive. Mr Bond also gave a short tour of the Local Studies Library and Reading room and a demonstration of the service's recently developed Local Image Collection, a public accessible database containing digitised images of over 77,000 photographs, engravings, watercolours, drawings, and postcards from the local studies Print Collection.

Further details about the services offered by this unit can be found on their webpages at http://www.manchester.gov.uk/libraries/arls/index.htm and enquires can be sent to the following addresses: archives@libraries.manchester.gov.uk or lsu@libraries.manchester.gov.uk

Click Here to view the CASBAH database entry for the Printed sources and audiovisual materials housed at Social Science Library of the Manchester Central Library (available 2002)

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Archive and Resource Centre
Ground Floor, Devonshire House, Precinct Centre, Oxford Road, Manchester, M139DL

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Archive is based at the University of Manchester. The archive was established specifically to combat racism in the UK and promote anti-racist educational activities and resources that are grounded in community and grassroots participation and involvement.

Ms Julie Devonald provided background information about the archive's funding, aims, policies, and key objectives and gave a detailed tour of the archive's collections, printed sources, and audio-visual materials.

Further details about the work of the archive can be found on their web site http:http://www.les1.man.ac.uk/rrarchive/ and enquiries can sent to rrarchive@man.ac.uk. mailto:rrarchive@man.ac.uk.

Click Here to view the CASBAH database entry for the Printed sources and audiovisual materials housed at Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Archive (available April 2002)

List of selected Publications

The following is a list of books taken from the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Archive printed sources list:

• Global Express, (Manchester DEP and the Panos Institute) (ED.6.02/GLO)
  
• Sikh Family History Project (Manchester): Speaking for Ourselves (HIST1.2/SIN).
  
• Aditi, South Asian Dance in Schools: Teacher's Handbook (ED.6.02/NAT).

List of selected Theses

The following is a list of selected theses from the John Ryland University Library of Manchester:

• Ahmed, Jalil, 'The experiences of black academic staff in further and higher education', (Manchester: University of Manchester, 1998).Ref: k1972449
  
• Gazdecki, Zygmunt David, 'Afro-Caribbean offenders and their access to black community resources', (Manchester: University of Manchester, 1997). Ref: q9205324
• Hamilton-Taylor, Janet Malverna, 'The impact of income support on the structure of African Caribbean families', (Manchester: University of Manchester, 2000). Ref: M0044841MU
• Hennings, Jean, 'The maternity care experiences of Bangladeshi women in one NHS Trust hospital', (Manchester: University of Manchester, 1996).Ref: q712221x
• Payne, A J, 'The Politics of the Caribbean Community - 1961-76' (Manchester: University of Manchester, 1996). Ref: s1791682
• Wilkinson, Vincent St.Clair, 'An investigation into the permanent exclusion of African Caribbean pupils', (Manchester: University of Manchester, 2000). Ref: M0047642MU
  

Section Three- The Greater Manchester County Record Office

Overview

The Greater Manchester County Record Office (GMCRO) was opened in 1976. The main function of GMCRO is to store historical records relating to the Greater Manchester area, and to make them available to members of the public for research. The Record Office's collecting policy has been designed to supplement rather than duplicate those of the district record office.

There are over 4 miles of shelved records that date back to 1197. Records found at GMCRO include the following:

• Greater Manchester Country Council
  
• Public records for the Greater Manchester Area including courts, hospitals, taxation and motor vehicle liscensing
  
• Estate Papers (including the Egerton, the Leghs of Lyme Hall and the Asshetons of Middleton)
• Business Records
• Trade Unions
  
• Solicitors
  
• Groups and Societies
• Maps
• Genealogical Records (including the General Register Office name index, the International Genealogical Index and the National Probate Index - grants of wills, 1858 - 1950)
• The Documentary Photography Archive (DPA)
  

The GMCRO Survey

• Scope of the Survey

• Thematic Spread

• Survey data

• Notes in regards to the development of a survey strategy for CASBAH subject areas

• Archive Collection Descriptions - Extract

Scope of the Survey

After consultation with Elizabeth Oxborrow-Cowan and further background research at the Historical Manuscripts Commission, the following collections were selected for surveying:

1. Miscellaneous Small Collections:

· Q4/ Booklets relating to Manchester, 1936-55 (sample)
· Q12/ Ministry of Housing Bulletins about slums, 1970-1971
· Q17/ Greater Manchester Council Handbooks, 1976-1980

2. Greater Manchester Council

· Equal Opportunities Committee files
· Council Minutes, Annual Reports and Policy Committee files

3. The DPA Archive

· Archives of Family Photographs
· Contemporary Commission Collection
· Donations and Deposits

Other Collections
4. B & S Astardjan, Cotton Exporters (Ref: B/AST/)
5. The Manchester Ship Canal Company Photographic Collection (Ref: B10/ 10)
6. Records management inventory for the North-West Arts Board

Thematic Spread

Black and Asian History

• Social and political organisations
• Photographic and oral histories
• Shipping and Trade

Survey data

Descriptions of the following collections have been uploaded to the CASBAH database:

1. DPA/ Deposits and Donations - Family Photographs and Albums

· Black History Project
· Roots Festival Committee History Project
· Sikh Family History Project

2. DPA/ Contemporary Commission Collections:

· C3 'Afro Caribbean Youth in Moss Side' by Clement Cooper
· C6 'Moss Side, Manchester' by Clement Cooper

3. Greater Manchester Council

· Equal Opportunities Committee files
· Council Minutes, Annual Reports and Policy Committee files

Click Here to view the CASBAH database entries (available March 2002)

Notes regarding the development of a survey strategy for CASBAH subject areas

1. Business Records
   GMCRO's greatest strength lies in those records that reflect the area's industrial inheritance. Business Records (such as the Manchester Ship Canal Company collection) are a potential source of relevant information and a record group worth further investigation.
2. DPA Collections and associated oral history projects
   The DPA collections are a wonderful resource. The collections offer an important visual dimension to our investigative work, whilst allowing us to map projects and initiatives that were rooted in photographic collecting and the preservation of oral accounts of life in the region. Connections can be made between the DPA collections and the Oral History Archive housed at the Record Office of Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland and the Black and Asian Minority Experience Project (BEME) housed at Wolverhampton Archives and Local Studies.
3. Collections related to the Arts: Records management inventory for the North-West Arts Board. GMCRO provides a record managament service for the NorthWest Arts Board. The North West Arts Board [NWAB] is the regional arts board for Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, the High Peak district of Derbyshire, and the unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Halton and Warrington. NWAB is one of the ten regional arts boards in England and part of the national arts funding system. North West Arts Board aims to (1) Support work that is adventurous, creative, challenging and exciting, (2) work with partners to help the arts and creative industries grow and to unlock new funds for them, (3) change perceptions about the arts and the artists' role in society, and (4) plan for growth in the arts.

   The records of the NWAB were not examined but it is clear from the list of records received that there are sources relating to Black and Asian Arts and Dance in the region. The organisations, projects and funding schemes that are listed include the following: Caribbean Dance projects and schemes, Calabash archive, Dance agency bids, Africa Oye Papers, Abasindi co-op; Multi Asian Arts - assorted documents and papers, Asian Dance - reports, Black Dance - reports, Africa Arts, Archives of the Black Arts Alliance (1993).

Collection description - Extract

Contemporary Commission: Moss Side, Manchester. By Clement Cooper
Ref: GMCRO/DPA/C6.

The commission is a consolidation of work undertaken in the Church of God in Moss Side and the Robin Hood pub. The collection had been organised into the following sections: (1) photographs (negatives, contact sheets and prints) on the Church ; (2) photographs and information sheets (negatives, contact sheets and prints) on the pub; (3) tape recordings ; (4) printed ephemera acquired in the course of the commission and miscellaneous material; (5) material relating to the exhibition; (6) material relating to the publication (7) prints supplies by Clement Cooper which did not form part of the current commission ; (8) correspondence; (9) material deposited 14 September 1992 ; (10) material deposited 29 September 1993;and (11) subsequent deposits and an appendix listing the prints supplied by the photographer.

The photographs include church and pub scenes, attendees and pub goers, as well as close-ups of children, young adults, and elders of African and African-Caribbean descent. The tape recordings are of sermons preached at the Church of God, and of group conversations with churchgoers.

There is also a transcript of a discussion between Clement Cooper and Audrey Linkman (DPA member of staff). The issues highlighted in the study undertaken at the Church of God include social customs and dress, youth culture, elders and missionaries. The issues highlighted in the study of the Robin Hood and other clubs (Volta Club, African Corner) include social life and customs, and multicultural and multi ethnic relations.
The church and the clubs are key areas of importance to African (West African in the case of the African Club and the Volta), and African-Caribbean groups in the Moss Side area of Manchester.

Section Four - The Labour History Archive and Study Centre

Overview
The Labour History Archive and Study Centre (LHASC) is the only specialist repository for the political wing of the Labour movement. It holds records the records of the Labour Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain as well as the personal papers of radical politicians, writers, and left wing organisations.

Subject covered in the collections include:

· The Labour Party
· The Communist Party of Great Britain
· 19th Century political and social history
· 20th Century social and economic history
· Women's history and politics
· Workers' organisations and trades unions
· The politics of the left
· The European Community
· Foreign Policy
· Race relations and immigration
· Fascism and anti-fascism in Britain
· Socialist Sunday Schools 1909-1970
· The Unity Theatre 1930's-

LHACS is managed by the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, and housed at the People's History Museum, the archive collections complement the objects, photographs and banners found in the museum' s collections.

Admission to LHASC is free but please make an appointment. For further information or to arrange a visit, contact the archivists by telephone on 0161 228 7212 or by e-mail: LHASC@fs1.li.man.ac.uk

The LHASC Survey

• Scope of the Survey

• Thematic Spread

• Survey data

• Notes in regards to the development of a survey strategy for CASBAH subject areas

• Archive Collection Description - Extract

After consultation with Stephen Bird and further background research at the Historical Manuscripts Commission, the following collections were selected to be examined:

1. The Labour Party Archives
   • National Agent's Department / Labour & the Black Electorate (1980s)
     
   • Research Dept/Race Relations & Immigration (1929-68)
     
   • International Dept/ Correspondence relating to the West Indian Islands and India (1929-64)
     
   • Papers of British Asian and Overseas Fellowship (1953-72)
2. Communist Party Archives
   • Papers of Kay Beauchamp relating to Movement for Colonial Freedom (1961-1979)
     
   • National Race Relations Committee (1968-82)
     
   • CPGB Black members' Caucus (1991)
3. Other Collections
   • The Manchester Negro Association (1944 - 1953)

Thematic Spread

Caribbean Studies

• Empire
• Political organisations
• Decolonisation, Anti-colonial & anti-imperial struggle

Black and Asian History

• Social and political organisations
• The State: Trade unions and 'race'
• The State: The Labour Party- 'The black electorate'

Survey data

Descriptions of the following collections have been uploaded to the CASBAH database:

1. Manchester Negro Association
2. Papers of Kay Beauchamp (papers relating to Movement for Colonial Freedom/Liberation, 1961 - 1979)
3. Labour and the Black Electorate

Click Here to view the CASBAH database entries (available April 2002)

Notes in regards to the development of a survey strategy for CASBAH subject areas

Trade Unions & related organisations
The development of subject-based themes has been an important organising feature of the survey process. Trade unionism is a theme that was developed in the partner surveys, the Trade Union Congress Library Collections and the Modern Record Centre surveys in particular. The collections uncovered at the Labour History Archive and Study Centre provided another layer of knowledge to this key subject area.

Archive collection description - Extract

Manchester Negro Association (1944 - 1953)

The "Negro Association", Manchester was founded in 1943 by Dr Peter Milliard (1882 - c.1953), a Manchester-based GP originally from British Guiana (Guyana) who settled in Manchester in the early 1930s.

The Association served both political and social functions for Manchester's Black communities, whose members included African students, Black servicemen stationed in Britain who served with the British armed forces and merchant marine during the Second World War and members of Manchester's long-established Black community who were descendants of the West African seamen that had been settling in the city since the turn of the 20th century.

The Association held monthly meetings at which issues related to the end of colonial rule in Africa and the Caribbean were discussed. Many of the members were involved in pan-Africanist politics and helped to establish the UK Pan-African Federation (PAF) in Manchester in 1944. The Federation was a "Pan-African united front movement" which helped organise and host the fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester in 1945.

Custodial history:
Donated to the Labour History Archive in 1995 after a National Museum of Labour History exhibition commemorating the 5th Pan African Congress, entitled "Africa in Manchester: the Pan African Congress in Manchester, 1945".

Scope and content:
This collection comprises one membership ledger and 11 items of correspondence pertaining to the "Negro Association", Manchester.

The membership ledger contains 77 entries for members of the Association between 1944 and 1953. The first entry in the initial membership list is for Dr Peter McD. Milliard (President of the "Negro Association"), dated 1st April 1944. In general, entries are listed by first initial and surname without titles. Where titles are displayed these denote doctors and female members of the Association. Out of 77 entries, 7 are female, including an entry for the president and founder of the "Liberia Charity Society Inc.", listed as a "visitor".
Representatives from other associations/societies, such as the "West India Committee, Norfolk St. London" and the "P.A.I., Oxford Road, Manchester" are also listed and several entries list the numbers of members who were serving in the armed forces at that time. There is an entry for Jomo Kenyatta (1891-1978) - president of the Kenya African National Union (1960), Prime Minister at Kenyan independence in 1963 and president of the newly formed republic in 1964 - who is listed as a member of the Association and a Manchester resident during 1945.

The addresses of members of the association tend to be concentrated in the following districts/wards of Manchester: Whalley Range, Moss Side, Greenheys, West Didsbury and Chorlton-on-Medlock.

In addition to members' names and addresses there are 29 pages listing subscription details, meeting attendance information and quarterly finance statements and comments on the number of active members on roll (which tended to average at 30 active members throughout the 1940s).

The file entitled "Manchester Negro Association - Letters and Minutes 1951" contains 11 documents (dated 1.10.1950 - 25.1.1952) comprising 5 letters, 3 sheets of statistics, 2 manuscripts listing members' names and addresses, 1 set of minutes and 1 hand-written policy document detailing the constitution of the "Negro Association" Manchester.

Most of the letters deal with membership subscription issues, written by members of the Association to the treasurer. One of the letters, from the Secretary of the African Students' Association (c/o University Union, Manchester 15) to the secretary of the Negro Association, is dated 12th July 1951 and contains details of a request to arrange a joint meeting of members of the respective associations. The only typed document in the file is a set of minutes recording the joint meeting of the African Students' Association, Africa League, and the Negro Association held in Manchester on 9th September 1951. The meeting discusses strategies for counteracting the stereotyped portrayal of all members of the Black community in Manchester as users of "dope" by the local press.

Lastly, there is a 4-page document entitled "Suggested Revised Constitution of the Negro Association, Manchester", containing sections on: (1) The Name of the Association; (3) Activities; (4) Membership; (5) Meetings; (6) Subscriptions; and (7) Officers. Under "aims" the document states that the Association "…represents the progressive opinion among African people and people of African descent and fosters the realisation of their fundamental unity".

Created March 2001 by Dr. Roiyah Saltus - Blackwood

Updated: March 2002