| Admin History | The Central Labour College was established in 1909 to provide 'an organisation for the training of workers for the organised labour movement controlled democratically by the representatives of organised workers'. The Mansfield and District branch of the College began running weekly study classes on economics and industrial history in January 1919, at the Labour Club on Westgate in Mansfield. The Central Labour College was disbanded in 1929. By this time, classes in Mansfield were being run under the auspices of the National Council of Labour Colleges (NCLC), which was established in 1922 for 'the education of the workers from the working class point of view, through the medium of Colleges, classes and public lectures'. |
| Custodial History | The minute book was acquired by the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham in August 1989. |
| Description | The collection consists of one volume of minutes and class lists. It records meetings of the class studying Economics and Industrial History from 26 Jan. 1919 to 15 May 1919, and weekly lectures given from 16 Jan. 1921 to 6 Mar. 1921.
After a gap, the volume re-commences in 28 Oct. 1923 and is headed 'Mansfield Labour College Class'. It records minutes of annual, committee and class meetings and the names of elected officials, and includes lists of the Sunday evening lectures and numbers of students attending. The subjects of the classes include political economy, history, geography, philosophy, political thought and science, all with a left-wing focus. There is a gap from Aug. 1941 to Jan. 1946 with the exception of lists of lectures given up to Mar. 1943.
After 1946, the volume contains minutes only. The last entry is dated 5 Oct. 1947. |