Modern Records Centre (MRC)

Research Resources for Caribbean Studies and the History of Black and Asian people in the UK

CASBAH SURVEY REPORT

Introduction

The Modern Record Centre Survey

• Archive Collections

Survey Data

• Archive Collection Description - Extracts

Section One - Introduction

The Modern Records Centre aims to collect and make available for research original sources in British political, social and economic history, with particular reference to labour history, industrial relations and industrial politics.

The type of material held by the Centre includes the following:

• Signed minutes
• correspondence files
• runs of printed journals and ephemera of trade unions
• the Trade Union Congress Registry files (1920-87)
• Records of employers' and trade associations.

The MRC also holds the records of interest groups and political organisations, and of individuals and business (particularly the motor industry). The Centre provides accommodation for consultation of the Library's 41T&U series, including the Board of Trade Library collection.

Also housed at the Centre is the 'Gurharpal Singh Archive - Communism in the Punjab,'(1920 - 1970s).

For further information about the Modern Record Centre, visit their website at:

http://www.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/index.shtml

Section Two - The Modern Record Centre Survey

The CASBAH survey was conducted at MRC between 7 - 11 August 2000. After consultation with Christine Woodland, the following collections were targeted:

1. Trades Union Congress 1920-1989
2. International Transport Workers Federation
3. Transport and General Workers Union
4. National Union of Seamen

Due to the size of the collections and the retroconverting of some of the material to be examined, the following methodology was devised:

• The TUC 1920-1960 - Files were examined and reference and title of files (both obvious and potential) were inputted.
• TUC 1970-1989 - Box lists meant that sampling of material had to done on site. Sampling techniques developed in previous surveys (e.g. by date, by place, by name to ascertain if series is relevant to our project) were used.
• International Transport Workers Federation - fond descriptions are available on The Archives Hub. The Hub provides a single point of access to descriptions of archives held in UK universities and colleges. NRA list was used to flag uncertain collections for further research at MRC and note obviously relevant ones as above to fill in details later.
• Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) - Collection is mostly un-catalogued, with some box lists. As un-catalogued material will not be included, the aim was to sample the box listed material. Appled same sampling techniques and assumptions as above.
• National Union of Seamen (NUS)- same procedure devised for the TGWU was followed

Section Three - Survey Data

Decriptions have been created for the following archive collections:

1. The Trade Union Congress Collection - MSS 292
2. MSS.292 Trades Union Congress Registry Files, 1920 - 1960
   
3. MSS.292B Trades Union Congress, 1960 - 1970
   
4. MSS.292C Trades Unions Congress Additional Files, 1920-1960
   
5. MSS.292D Trade Union Congress Files, 1970-89
6. NUS - National Union of Seamen - MSS.175

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

Archive Collection Descriptions - Extracts [1] [2] & [3]

MSS.175/ 7/ LE/ 103 - 106 - National Union of Seamen Miscellaneous Records/Legal Papers (1925-1945) 'Rex versus Ali Said and Others: Case of riotous assembly and incitement to riot involving Somali and other foreign seamen'.

Covers the proceeding of a court case involving 'Arab… coloured and white men 'objecting to new policies put in place in agreement with the NUS. The riot took place in South Shields and the files include verbatim minutes of the proceedings held in Durham, Autumn Assizes. Twenty-five men , most of whom were Arabic speakers, were charged with riotous behaviour, and assault on members of the public and police constables whilst resisting arrest. the men pleaded not guilty to both charges.

The disturbance centred around a new rota system which saw all 'Arab and coloured men of the like' being issued a number according to the time they registered which would ensure that when their number came up, they would be called to work. This usurped the then common practice of Black and Asian proprietors securing work for their tenants for a fee. Those arrested included white men who were also aggrieved with the new policy. The records provide history of the Arab and coloured population in Durham and the impact of unequal employment policies on their lives that led to this particular disturbance.

The records also detail the friction between the NUS and Seamen's Minority Movement. The men were found guilty of rioting. Ali Said had been in the UK for 26 years and owned a lodging house. He was jailed for 16 months and the judge recommended his deportation. Several others were jailed, one was freed, and all those without ties or British citizenship were deported. Mention was made of one 'coloured' man who had a British passport, the number of men who were married to English women, as well as the character of the white men charged, and the men who had been up before the law on other charges prior to this incident.

Records of the Caribbean Congress of Labour newsletter, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Background Brief series on various Caribbean states and records of the Commonwealth Trade Union Council and the International Labour Organisation. There are reports, press releases, newsletters, news clippings, correspondence, and pamphlets. Records cover such issues as Caribbean women trade unionists, Unions in the Caribbean, life in the Caribbean, general Elections in the Caribbean, Caribbean educators study visits to the UK, the activities of the West Indian Welfare Trust, and racial discrimination policy in the UK. Caribbean countries specifically mentioned include Bermuda, Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Trinidad, Belize, St Vincent, and Jamaica. Of use to those interested in history of race relations between the TUC and the commonwealth that predates post-war Caribbean migration.

MSS.292D/ Box 1944- 1957/file 805.9-805.93)Sociology: People and Human Relations-Colour Problems and Racial Discrimination

This sub-series contains correspondence, reports, papers, conference proceedings, speeches, pamphlets, press releases, and news clippings. The reports include those from the Select Committee on Race Relations and Immigration and the TUC Equal Opportunities Committee. Issues covered include housing, welfare, education, employment, and discriminatory practices.

There are also records of the charity organisations involved in anti-discriminatory policy-making and a listing of ethnic minority organisations of the period address the wide range of issues facing the Black and Asian communities. There are also records detailing trade unions charged with discriminatory practices and of not representing their members. These records include correspondence, complaint applications, and reports on proceedings.

There are also records related to the work of the Community and race relations committee and the TUC work on race relations. This is an extensive series and is of use to those interested in the issues facing black and Asian communities during the 1970s, the organisations created to fight discrimination and policy emanating from government and from the various branches within the TUC.

Created March 2001 by Dr. Roiyah Saltus - Blackwood

Updated: March 2002