# Working Class Movement Library

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Library in Salford, UK, focussing on working-class people

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Working Class Movement Library Working Class Movement Library 53°29′03″N 2°16′23″W / 53.48417°N 2.27306°W / 53.48417; -2.27306 Location England Scope Working class Established 1950s Other information Website www.wcml.org.uk

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The **Working Class Movement Library** (**WCML**) is a collection of English language books, periodicals, pamphlets, archives and artefacts, relating to the development of the political and cultural institutions of the working class created by the [Industrial Revolution](/source/Industrial_Revolution), in [Salford, Greater Manchester](/source/Salford%2C_Greater_Manchester), [England](/source/England).

## History

In 1953, two bibliophiles, Eddie (Edmund) Frow and [Ruth Haines](/source/Ruth_Frow), met at a [Communist Party](/source/Communist_Party_of_Great_Britain) Summer School. In 1956, they set up home together and the merger of their book collections was the beginning of the Working Class Movement Library. They spent their spare time and money travelling around Britain, gathering new items for the collection. By 1960, the collection was being consulted by historians and academics, and they had attracted the support of other collectors of [labour movement](/source/Labour_movement) material. In 1964, they gained [charitable trust](/source/Charitable_trust) status.[1]

By the mid 1980s, the collection had filled their [semi](/source/Semi-detached) in [Trafford](/source/Trafford). [Salford City Council](/source/Salford_City_Council) agreed to support the library and, in 1987, gave the WCML, and the Frows, a new home in a former nurses' home, Jubilee House, situated near the [University of Salford](/source/University_of_Salford). Designed and constructed in 1897 by Henry Lord (who also built the [Peel Building](/source/Peel_Building) opposite) it was built to celebrate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.

In 2007, the relationship changed when the trust took full responsibility for the housing and staffing of the collection with the council providing a lease of the building and an annual financial grant. The WCML is otherwise funded by trade union and individual subscription.

## Collection

The focus of the collection is the history of the political, industrial, social and cultural institutions of the working classes which were created by the [Industrial Revolution](/source/Industrial_Revolution).

The three main parts are the [trade union](/source/Trade_union) movement, the [co-operative movement](/source/History_of_the_Co-operative_Movement) and the [political parties and campaigns of the left](/source/Left-wing_politics). The WCML houses 30,000 books as well as journals, newspapers, pamphlets, leaflets, banners, pottery, photographs, personal papers, archives of organisations, trade union emblems, badges and other artifacts.

The library has substantial and historically significant holdings on [Thomas Paine](/source/Thomas_Paine) and [the radical movement](/source/Radicalism_(historical)) of the 1790s, [Peterloo Massacre](/source/Peterloo_Massacre), [Chartism](/source/Chartism), [ILP](/source/Independent_Labour_Party) and [Clarion movement](/source/The_Clarion_(British_newspaper)), [the campaign for women's suffrage](/source/Women's_suffrage_in_the_United_Kingdom), [the General Strike](/source/UK_General_Strike_of_1926), [National Unemployed Workers' Movement](/source/National_Unemployed_Workers'_Movement), [International Brigades](/source/International_Brigades), the 1970s radical press, the [Miners' Strike of 1984-85](/source/UK_miners'_strike_(1984%E2%80%931985)) and much else. Whilst principally concerned with Britain, the library also has a major collection on [Irish history](/source/History_of_Ireland_(1801%E2%80%931922)) from the late 18th century onwards, derived initially from the libraries of two historians; [C. Desmond Greaves](/source/C._Desmond_Greaves) and [T. A. Jackson](/source/Thomas_A._Jackson_(communist)).

The collection includes diverse cultural material including poetry, novels, prints, playscripts, songbooks and audio-visual material.

Since 1985, the WCML has been the official archive of the [GMB union](/source/GMB_(trade_union)). It also has a large collection of material from the [engineering](/source/Amalgamated_Engineering_and_Electrical_Union) and the various textile unions, especially the North west regional branches. It also holds varying amounts of material from dozens of other trade unions, old and new.

As well as holding local and national material from the mainstream UK co-operative movement, the WCML also holds archival material from local branches of the [Co-operative guilds](/source/Women's_Co-operative_Guild) and periodicals of co-partnership and workers’ co-operative organisations.

The main political parties represented are the [Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_UK) and the [Communist Party of Great Britain](/source/Communist_Party_of_Great_Britain), of whom, the WCML holds large collections of pamphlets, periodicals and [ephemera](/source/Ephemera). Many of the smaller parties are represented by collections of similar material. Campaign groups are similarly represented, as well as collections of archive material from bodies as diverse as the [National League of the Blind and Disabled](/source/National_League_of_the_Blind_and_Disabled), Manchester [CND](/source/Campaign_for_Nuclear_Disarmament), Manchester Unity Theatre, [Big Flame](/source/Big_Flame_(political_group)) and the [Jubilee Group](/source/Kenneth_Leech).

In 2023 the WCML's archives were found to have contained evidence of British colonial atrocities committed during the [Malayan Emergency](/source/Malayan_Emergency), including photographs of severed heads related to the [British Malayan headhunting scandal](/source/British_Malayan_headhunting_scandal).[2]

## See also

- [International Institute of Social History](/source/International_Institute_of_Social_History)

- [Proletarian literature](/source/Proletarian_literature)

- [Women's Library](/source/Women's_Library)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["*The Working Class Movement Library, registered charity no. 1115731*"](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=1115731&subId=0). [Charity Commission for England and Wales](/source/Charity_Commission_for_England_and_Wales).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Poole, Dan (2023). *Head Hunters in the Malayan Emergency: The Atrocity and Cover-Up*. Pen and Sword Military. pp. 46, 102.

## External sources

- [Official website](http://www.wcml.org.uk)

v t e Communist Party of Great Britain Leadership General Secretaries Albert Inkpin (1920–1928) J. R. Campbell (1929) Harry Pollitt (1929–1939) R. Palme Dutt (1939–1941) Harry Pollitt (1941–1956) John Gollan (1956–1975) Gordon McLennan (1975–1989) Nina Temple (1989–1991) Assistant General Secretaries Fred Peet (1920–1922) John Gollan (1947–1949) George Matthews (1949–1956) Bill Wainwright (1956-59) Bill Alexander (1959–1967) Reuben Falber (1968–1979) Chairs Arthur MacManus (1920–1927) Willie Gallacher (1943–1956) Harry Pollitt (1956–1960) Frank Stanley (1964–1967) Tony Chater (1968–1969) John Tocher (1969–1971) Irene Swann (1972–1974) Mick McGahey (1974–1979) Ron Halverson (1980s) George Bolton (1980s–1990) National organisers Tom Bell (1920–1921) Bob Stewart (1921–1923) Harry Pollitt (1923) Idris Cox (1930s) Robbie Robson (1933–1940) Dave Springhall (1940–1943) Peter Kerrigan (1943–1951) Mick Bennett (1951–1954) John Gollan (1954–1956) Bill Lauchlan (1956–1966) Gordon McLennan (1966–1975) Dave Cook (1975–1981) Ian McKay (1982–1991) National industrial organisers Ernie Woolley (1925–) Finlay Hart (1937–1939) Peter Kerrigan (1939–1942) George Allison (1942–1951) Peter Kerrigan (1951–1966) Bert Ramelson (1965–1978) Mick Costello (1979–1982) Pete Carter (1982–1991) History Foundation Congress Campbell Case Zinoviev letter Mass trespass of Kinder Scout British Battalion 1945 general election Final Congress Publications Marxism Today Morning Star Workers' Weekly Associated groups Communist Party Historians Group Jersey Communist Party Democratic Left National Minority Movement National Unemployed Workers' Movement New Politics Network New Times Straight Left Young Communist League Connolly Association Predecessors British Socialist Party Communist Labour Party Communist Party (British Section of the Third International) Communist Unity Group South Wales Socialist Society Splits Communist Party of Britain Appeal Group Committee to Defeat Revisionism, for Communist Unity Communist League Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist) Communist Party of Great Britain (PCC) Workers' Socialist Federation Fife Socialist League New Communist Party of Britain New Left Revolutionary Marxist–Leninist League Other topics Britain's Road to Socialism British left Election results Far-left politics in the United Kingdom Members of Parliament Percy Glading Tankie

v t e Buildings and structures in the City of Salford, England Italics denote building under construction High-rises (over 100 metres) Cortland at Colliers Yard (153m) Anaconda Cut (131m) Bankside at Colliers Yard (129m) Affinity Living Riverview (110m) X1 Michigan Towers Building 3 (109m) Embankment Exchange (107m) Eda (101m) Highrises (over 50 metres) X1 Media City Tower 1 (85m) X1 Media City Tower 2 (85m) X1 Media City Tower 3 (85m) North Tower (80m) Salford Shopping Centre (75m) Peel House (55m) Notable lowrises Boothstown Mines Rescue Station Centenary Building Forest Bank Islington Mill Kersal Priory Lowry Hotel Ordsall Hall Peel Building Port Salford Public Baths Salford Civic Centre Salford Lads' Club Salford Museum and Art Gallery Salford Royal Hospital Salford Town Hall Threlfalls Brewery Wardley Hall Waterpark Hall Working Class Movement Library Worsley Court House Worsley Old Hall Places of worship Salford Cathedral Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation Monton Unitarian Church Sacred Trinity Church St Andrew's St Augustine's St Clement's St James' St Luke's St Mark's St Mary the Virgin, Eccles St Mary the Virgin, Ellenbrook St Paul's St Peter's St Philip's St Thomas' Transportation Anchorage Broadway Clifton Eccles Interchange Eccles Exchange Quay Harbour City Irlam Ladywell Langworthy Manchester Barton Aerodrome Moorside MediaCity UK Patricroft Salford Central Salford Crescent Salford Quays Swinton Walkden Weaste Shopping centres Salford Shopping Centre Swinton Square The Lowry Public houses Black Friar Coach and Horses, Weaste The Crescent The Crown Eagle Inn The Ellesmere The Grapes, Eccles King's Arms Lamb Hotel, Eccles The Maypole Punch Bowl Queen's Arms, Patricroft Royal Oak, Eccles White Horse, Swinton Sports and entertainment Broughton Cricket Club Ground The Cliff CorpAcq Stadium Manchester Tennis and Racquet Club Moor Lane Victoria Theatre The White Hotel Memorials Mark Addy Joseph Brotherton Charles Hallé Clifton Hall Colliery Disaster Oliver Heywood Bridges Albert Bridge Barton Road Swing Bridge Barton Swing Aqueduct Blackfriars Bridge Cadishead Viaduct Clifton Aqueduct Clifton Viaduct Irwell Railway bridge Media City Footbridge Palatine Bridge Salford Quays Bridge Southern Railway Viaduct Trinity Bridge Victoria Bridge Lists Castles Churches Grade I listed Grade II* listed Mills Monuments Schools Tallest Listed buildings in Eccles Irlam Salford Swinton and Pendlebury Worsley

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF National United States Other Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Working Class Movement Library](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_Class_Movement_Library) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_Class_Movement_Library?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.