Llafur The Welsh People's History Society

Alun Burge

As I draw up these notes, two thoughts inter-play, one about the success of the meeting we held in March to hear Cymal’s proposals for a People’s History Collection and, secondly, the loss that we all feel at the death of our friend, sister and comrade, Ursula Masson. Full tributes have been made, and will be made, by Llafur elsewhere, so I will limit my thoughts to saying that Ursula epitomized the spirit of Llafur - she was equally an activist and a historian, and as much a historian as an activist. She realized the importance of the past relating to the present in deed as well as idea, and the contribution that both made to shaping the future. Her work in teaching women’s history directly related to her commitment to present day causes: the Wales Women’s Archive, which Llafur considers a sister organization, is a tribute to her vision, commitment and energy. The Society was well represented at the Celebration of her Life, and all there were struck by the depth and breadth of her life. For me, the most telling moment was when one contributor recalled saying to Ursula, who was by then very ill, that without the work that had been done in the Swansea Women’s Centre, on the picket lines of the 1984-5 miners strike, and at Greenham Common, and elsewhere, there would not have been equality of representation of women in the National Assembly for Wales and the Cabinet. Ursula replied ‘Yes, every little bit counts’. It is in that spirit that we salute Ursula, and we continue our work in the way that Ursula would want.

‘One little bit’ that we did in March was dialoguing with Cymal about the Welsh Assembly Government’s commitment to the development of a People’s History Collection. A full report of this is included in this newsletter. Other ‘bits’, currently at the planning stage, are a day-school on co-operation in Wales, and preparation on the programme to accompany our Annual General Meeting in November. The theme of the day will be sport, which is a totally new departure for Llafur, although historians of Wales are increasingly publishing on this subject. The discussion about dedicating a day to ‘sport’ was held in our January committee meeting, following a proposal made at our Annual general Meeting last November. It was made before Cardiff reached the F.A. Cup Final; Swansea were promoted (or sadly Wrexham relegated); Joe Calzage achieved further prowess in the boxing ring, or Wales won the Grand Slam. Our foresight, matched with good luck (as is needed for all sporting ventures) will, I am sure, acknowledge such successes, though will look to take us in other, perhaps less orthodox, directions.

Our website (www.llafur.org) is now running successfully, and includes an electronic version of our newsletters as well as information about future and past events, the journal and other news about the society. We welcome your suggestions on what to include – for example, the newsletter now provides an ideal space for book reviews.

Finally, we would like to improve our communications with you by having your e-mail address. This will allow us to inform you of meetings and other notices, rather than having to post letters. This will help reduce the cost of postage, as well as the time taken packing envelopes. We will only send you the same materials from the Society as you currently receive, and we will not share your contact details with anyone else. The journal of course will continue to be sent to you by mail!

If you would like to help the Society by receiving communications by e-mail, please send your e-mail address to
Siân Williams, Llafur Secretary, at s.f.williams@swansea.ac.uk

RECENT LLAFUR EVENTS:

Llafur Website Launch
www.llafur.org
23 January 2008
The Llafur website was launched at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay on 23rd January 2008. It was an enjoyable and relaxed event, helped by appropriately modest quantities of Llafur red.
Amongst the number of Assembly Members who visited the launch, special mention should be made of Christine Chapman, Leighton Andrews and Andrew Davies. Christine, who hosted the event, and welcomed all who were present, is a Llafur member who is undertaking her own historical research into women and the labour movement. It was very pleasing that Andrew, another Llafur member, who is currently Finance Minister in the Cabinet of the Welsh Assembly Government, was able to stay with us for the whole event. Leighton Andrews, the Deputy Minister for Regeneration, spoke of how he first became aware of Llafur as a history undergraduate in Bangor. His description of the Society caught its essence as well as anyone ever has. In describing its values, he talked about its generosity of spirit, the ‘greater community’ that it encapsulates, as well as its sense of popular democracy. He also talked about the way that regeneration can capture a sense of community spirit, and the economic potential of linking history and regeneration. This is a theme which the Society and Leighton could fruitfully develop further in future. Speaking on behalf of Llafur, Angela John, one of the Society’s Vice Presidents reviewed the contribution that the Society had made over the last four decades. Neil Evans, who was m.c for the evening, wrapped up the event talking about the Society’s present and future.

With an Assembly in Cardiff, Llafur has another natural constituency with which to engage. Also, the website now provides an important outlet through which we can build towards the future, providing greater services to the membership and reaching out across Wales and the world…

‘The Policy of History’: Discussion on the Welsh Assembly Government’s proposal for a People’s History Collection at Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University on 1 March 2008

On 1 March Llafur organised an event in Cardiff to consider CyMAL’s early thoughts on the proposal in the Welsh Assembly Government’s One Wales document, to ‘establish an all-Wales Collection of People's History, backed by a permanent curatorial staff with responsibility for the promotion and development of the collection'. Linda Tomos, Head of CyMAL, presented a proposal for consideration by Llafur members.

Linda explained that they were seeking to create a permanent collection that would reflect the diversity of Wales through the story of ordinary people. Initial content could include stories of local communities, the role of women, sport and the experiences and contribution of migrants. Use of IT will be maximised to develop access to the collection online, including possibly through social networking sites, blogs, flicr, and through ‘second life’. It would be interactive and would consciously seek to be appealing to younger people. The project would look to exploit old and new, whether existing oral history collections or through the digital stories currently being generated. She saw it as a potentially democratising approach.

The discussion was wide ranging, whether on the importance of events in history, the potential relationship between this initiative and activities in community and economic regeneration, or links to the heritage sector. Consideration was also given to how to extend current interest in family history to larger historical issues, the possibility of using ‘health’ as a theme, whether sport should be broadened to also include culture or leisure, and the use of languages. There was a lengthy discussion on how ‘women’ should be considered, possibly through work, as a part of a broader equalities agenda, which could also include sexual orientation, or as part of a wider ‘gender’ perspective. Attention was also paid to the large scope of the undertaking, that the resource should be indexed and searchable, and (amongst many others) copyright and permissions. Those present had no issues with the broad concept as outlined. A large number of potential sources, collaborators and media were suggested. Suggestions were made on work strands/themes and how accompanying methodologies could be structured. The (e/im) migration theme was endorsed.

Angela John, Llafur Vice President who opened the day, pointed out that the world becomes the community when using the web, and that we should be mindful of the audience when constructing a platform.

CyMAL is looking to develop sustainable partnerships, with a wide range of bodies and organisations, and hoped that Llafur would participate. Local history societies and the Welsh Women’s Archive were also identified as important contributors.

Special thanks should go to Elin Jones who chaired the morning session in such an inspirational way for the maximum benefit, and enjoyment, of the 35 who took part.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

Robert Owen and His Legacy
Gregynog Hall, Newtown
14-17 August 2008

A major international conference to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of Robert Owen (1771-1858) will be held 14-17 August 2008 at Gregynog Hall near Newtown in Montgomeryshire, Wales. Plenary speakers include Professor Gregory Claeys (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Ian Donnachie (The Open University). Llafur is supporting the conference which is organized by the Department of History and the Centre for the History of Wales and its Borderlands at Swansea University. Please visit Llafur’s website for more details.

Robert Owen and the Co-operative Movement in Wales
Pontypridd Museum
6 September 2008

Llafur is organising a day school to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Robert Owen of Newtown, the ‘father of the Co-operative Movement’. The day school will start at 11am on Saturday 6 September, and will be held in Pontypridd Museum. Speakers include Brian Davies, Alun Burge, Roger Davies, Mervyn Wilson, and Chris Williams. The event is free. Please contact Siân Williams s.f.williams@swansea.ac.uk to book your place.

History of Welsh Sport
SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
1 November 2008

The Llafur AGM will be held on Saturday 1 November as part of a day school on the History of Welsh Sport. The day school will be held at the SWALEC Stadium, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Speakers include:
Martin Johnes, Laura McAllister, Andrew Hignell and Carolyn Hitt. Further details will be distributed to all members in due course and will be available on the Llafur website.

FUTURE EVENTS OF INTEREST TO LLAFUR MEMBERS:

NAASWCH 2008
University of Toronto
The 2008 conference of the North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture and History will take place from Thursday, July 31, to Saturday, August 2, 2008, on the campus of Victoria College in the University of Toronto. The conference will be sponsored by the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, the Centre for Medieval Studies, and the Celtic Studies Program of St. Michael's College.

Awards for collaborative Welsh history research

Academics from Swansea University's History Department have received two awards for collaborative research with the National Waterfront Museum and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.

The awards, worth almost £48,000 each, have been made by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Collaborative Doctoral Awards Scheme. They will fund two prestigious postgraduate studentships for projects on 'Shipowners, maritime and urban history' and 'The historic sporting environment of Wales'. The awards are intended to encourage and develop collaboration between universities and non-academic organisations. They also provide opportunities for PhD students to gain first-hand experience of work outside an academic environment.

The first project, which is collaboration between the National Waterfront Museum and Dr Louise Miskell, a senior lecturer in History at the University, will investigate the role of shipowners in urban history. Records on the ownership of vessels at the port of Swansea, held at the National Waterfront Museum and the West Glamorgan Archive Service, offer an opportunity to identify the principal financiers active in Swansea's maritime community during the 19th Century and assess the extent to which they formed a cohesive identity group with a distinctive voice in town government.

The second project, which is collaboration between the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and Dr Martin Johnes, lecturer in History at the University, will examine the historic sporting environment of Wales. Using old maps, historic photographic collections, and the records of sporting organisations such as the Welsh Rugby Union, the Football Association of Wales and local leagues, the project's researcher will catalogue the major sports venues of Wales and identify the historical and architectural importance of lesser known and forgotten venues.

For further information, please contact the History Department at Swansea University email: history@swansea.ac.uk

If you would like any material to be included in the next version of the Llafur newsletter please contact Stephanie Ward at sjw00@aber.ac.uk. We are particularly interested in including short reviews of new publications.