On Saturday 28th July, we held an event at the Nottingham Mechanics, showcasing aspects of our work at the Sparrows' Nest by introducing two of our archival collections. Two members of the Solidarity Federation came to Nottingham and held great introductory talks, e.g. about the ideas and strategies of syndicalism (thanks again!).

About a dozen people attended and many thanks to all who came!

Our talk focussed on the wonderful records in "Ron's Collection" (named after the person who rescued and donated the documents), one of the many different archival collections held at the Sparrow's Nest.

Ron's Collection primarily contains internal documents such as letters or conference materials, recording activities of the Anarchist Federation of Britain (AFB), which subsequently became the Syndicalist Workers Federation (SWF). This collection has recently been crucially supplemented when the Solidarity Federation entrusted us with another sizeable archival collection, containing among many other materials numerous newspapers and pamphlets which tie in with Ron's Collection.

Together these collections provide researchers with fascinating opportunities as they contain many unique records documenting the activities of syndicalists and other radicals from Britain and around the world.

There are many reasons why we think these collections are so cool and important: For example they contain sources covering the period 1944-64. Whereas much has been written and talked about events during the years of Spanish Revolution as well during the iconic summer of 1968, it seems that the years in between have largely been overlooked. These documents can be used to re-examine what was a fascinating period. Furthermore the stuff offers information not only about a bunch of syndicalist in Britain but there is correspondence from and to people in 25 countries, referring to a total of 195 groups, parties, splinter groups etc.

Many of the documents are letters by people who subscribed to papers such as World Labour News. Usually they say why they were late with paying their subs before giving some info what they have been up to/what happened in their area. Therefore the docs are marvellous sources containing information on groups and their activities (e.g. involvement in strikes - both wildcat and "official" and anti-fascist work - for instance against Franco's regime), on individuals, their thoughts, actions, motivations, living and working conditions etc. and of course a libertarian perspective on events of the day (e.g. Cold War and arms race, Cuba, Hungary, introduction of welfare systems etc.).

There are 1.164 processed documents in Ron's Collection. In this case processing meant taking heaps of papers stored in carrier bags and old cardboard folders, smoothing them carefully, getting rid of any bits of cellar tape and nasty bits of rusting metal. The documents were then scanned, catalogued and sorted and are now stored in acid free archival boxes.

Both the catalogued information as well as the scanned materials will hopefully be online very soon, as soon as we can deal with some technical issues with our current server.

The records reveal thoughts and actions of many extraordinary people who deserve to be remembered and whose lives and struggles are highly relevant as they often mirror conflicts and problems we still face today.

The documents exemplify what treasures can be hidden in old boxes on attics and we appeal to you not to chuck anything of that kind away, not least before dropping us a mail that is. There is only a few of us and we have little resources and time, but all of us are dedicated this project and will try our utmost to preserve materials for the future and make them accessible to interested users.

We are always happy about (and in dire need of!) any kind of support and of course hope to see you at the Nest very soon!

Regular opening times are every Monday 11.15am - 2.30pm (or get in touch for alternative arrangements).

Come, browse and research in our archival collections and our library. Aside from books, pamphlets and papers on anarchist theory and action we hold numerous archival collection recording struggles in Nottingham, Britain and around the world.

Please see the pdfs below for some examples of the materials, information on the collection and the database etc.