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The Summer Schools and Other Educational Activities of British Socialist Groups.*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
Extract
The summer school, it is generally conceded, is an American invention. It was at Chautauqua, New York, beginning in 1873, that the essential elements of a summer school were first combined in one institution. Originally a Methodist camp meeting, the “Chautauqua” became an assembly for serious educational effort and for refreshing the intellectual interests of its members. But the recreational needs of the thousands of people who each summer flocked to Chautauqua were not forgotten, and organized recreational facilities were from the first an integral part of the movement. Thus the summer school, with its central idea of study in a vacational atmosphere, was born and started on a career during the course of which it has profoundly affected other institutions, such as churches, universities, agencies for adult education, and political parties.
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- Copyright © American Political Science Association 1936
References
1 Noffsinger, John S., Correspondence Schools, Lyceums, Chautauquas (Studies in Adult Education, New York, Macmillan, 1926), pp. 107–128Google Scholar.
2 On the University Extension summer meetings, see Draper, William H., University Extension: A Survey of Fifty Years, 1873–1923 (Cambridge, University Press, 1923), pp. 46–63Google Scholar; and Final Report of the Adult Education Committee (Sessional Papers, 1919, Vol. XXVIII, Cmd. 321), pp. 189–190Google Scholar. For acknowledgements of the American inspiration of these meetings, see Draper, loc. cit.; Thompson, Alice, “The University Extension Movement,” in Cambridge Essays on Adult Education (edited by Parry, R. St. John, Cambridge, University Press, 1920), pp. 155–180, at p. 164Google Scholar; and S. K. R., writing in the New Statesman, Vol. 1, No. 11 (June 21, 1913)Google Scholar.
3 Final Report of the Adult Education Committee, pp. 161–162, 200.
4 Official Guide to the National Home-Reading Union Chester Assembly (Chester, Phillipson and Golder, 1896), 64 ppGoogle Scholar. with a map. This was the eighth summer assembly of this organization.
5 Martin, G. Currie, The Adult School Movement: Its Origin and Development (London, National Adult School Union, 1924), pp. 282–296Google Scholar.
6 Price, T. W., The Story of the Workers' Educational Association from 1903 to 1924 (London, Labor Publishing Company, 1924), pp. 48–51Google Scholar.
7 New Statesman as cited in note 2; remarks of SirDavies, Alfred as reported in the Manchester Guardian Weekly, August 8, 1922Google Scholar.
8 For example, six summer schools of the W. E. A. were established before the War, but only two of these were kept open during the War. See Price, op. cit., pp. 74–76.
9 See the series entitled Holiday Courses in Europe, compiled by the League of Nations Institute of Intellectual Coöperation, and published since 1928. In this series, the following numbers of summer schools of university rank in the British Isles are listed: 1928, 17; 1929, 20; 1930, 17; 1931, 21; 1932, 19; 1933, 32; 1934, 41; 1935, 41; 1936, 35. See also the London Times, July 26, 1926.
10 Towards a Catholic Standard of Life (London, Society of SS. Peter and Paul, 1926), 86 pp.Google Scholar; The Social Teaching of the Sacraments (same, 1927); Catholicism and Property (same, 1928).
11 Firth, A. S., “The T. U. C. Summer School,” Labor Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 4 (August, 1929)Google Scholar.
12 See the annual reports of this society, 1919 and following; Woman's Leader, passim; London Times, February 5, 1929.
13 The most important contribution of the Fabian Society to the practices of the modern political party is the idea of basing a policy upon coöperative research, together with the organization of a research bureau. The Fabians may also be credited with the first use for political purposes of summer schools, circulating libraries, correspondence courses, speakers' classes, tutorial classes, and regular courses of public lectures.
14 On the educational activities of the German Social Democratic party, see Sanders, W. Stephen, “The Socialist Movement in Germany,” Fabian Tract, No. 169 (February, 1913), p. 21Google Scholar; Lloyd, E. B., “Socialist Education in Germany: Remarkable Work of the Party,” Labor Leader, March 19, 1914Google Scholar; B. D. Allinson, “Labor Education in Germany: Establishment of Workers' Schools with Revolutionary Curricula,” ibid., August 11, 1921; Final Report of the Adult Education Committee, p. 369; and the annual reports of the party (Protokoll über die Verdhandlungen des Parteitages der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Deutschlands), especially that of 1907 (pp. 16, 90–102)Google Scholar, and that of 1908 (pp. 57–58, 87 seq.).
15 See the annual reports of the Fabian Society.
16 Nineteenth Annual Report of the Work of the Fabian Society for the Year Ending March 81, 1902, pp. 8–9; Twenty-first Annual Report … 1904, p. 8.
17 See generally the annual reports of the Fabian Society and Pease, Edward R., The History of the Fabian Society (2nd ed., London, Allen and Unwin, 1925), pp. 123–125Google Scholar.
18 See the annual reports of the Fabian Society, from the tenth (1893) to the eighteenth (1901), and Pease, op. cit., pp. 125–126. The writer has seen some of the prospectuses of the correspondence courses. On the early history of correspondence study, see Noffsinger, op. cit., pp. 3–11.
19 Eighteenth Annual Report … 1901, p. 12.
20 Pease, op. cit., pp. 120–121; Tenth Annual Report … 1893, p. 11; Twentieth Annual Report … 1903, p. 10; Twenty-first Annual Report … 1904, pp. 4–5; Twenty-fifth Annual Report … 1908, p. 13. The idea of circulating book boxes was quickly taken up by agencies of the old parties—the National Liberal Club for the Liberal party and the Association of Conservative Clubs for the Conservative party. See Ostrogorski, M., Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties (London and New York, Macmillan, 1902), Vol. 1, p. 409nGoogle Scholar.
21 On the Fabian Summer School generally, see Pease, op. cit., pp. 199–202; the annual reports of the Society, beginning with the twenty-fifth (1908); Fabian News, beginning with Vol. 17, No. 4 (March, 1907); and the prospectuses of the annual sessions of the school. On the semi-independent origin of the school, see Pease, op. cit., p. 199.
22 Fabian News, Vol. 22, Nos. 4 and 5 (March, April, 1911)Google Scholar; Twenty-eighth Annual Report … 1911, pp. 13, 22. By-laws for the governance of the summer school were adopted at this time, q. v., ibid., and in a revised form, Fabian News, Vol. 26, No. 2 (January, 1915)Google Scholar.
23 Fabian News, Vol. 22, Nos. 10 and 11 (September, October, 1911)Google Scholar; Twentyninth Annual Report … 1912, p. 12.
24 The leasing of new quarters for the school was announced in Fabian News, Vol. 23, No. 6 (May, 1912)Google Scholar.
25 The session of 1917 was held at Priors' Field, Godalming, Surrey. See Fabian News, Vol. 28, Nos. 7, 9, and 10 (June, August, September, 1917)Google Scholar; Thirty-fifth Annual Report … 1918, pp. 7–8. The meeting here was so successful and popular that the same quarters were engaged in 1920, 1921, and 1922.
26 Fabian News, Vol. 17, No. 4 (March, 1907)Google Scholar.
27 See the prospectus of the ninth session of the school (1915).
28 From time to time, there are items in the financial reports of the school for “fees and expenses of lecturers.” These items are, however, so small that it appears that there is no regular practice of paying fees to lecturers.
29 In 1922, a second summer school, in addition to the principal meeting at Priors' Field, was arranged in order to give the regulars a change of scene. See Fabian News, Vol. 23, Nos. 3, 4, and 8 (March, April, August, 1922)Google Scholar; Fortieth Annual Report … 1923, pp. 11–13.
30 Fabian News, Vol. 35, No. 10 (October, 1924)Google Scholar; Vol. 36, No. 10 (October, 1925).
31 On the differences between a conference and a summer school, see editorial comment in the Manchester Guardian Weekly, August 10, 1922, and August 2, 1928. Two kinds of conferences may be distinguished. There is, first, the familiar regional or national party conference, which is of the nature of a delegate convention. Such conferences are almost always large assemblies, and have to proceed according to rigid parliamentary rules. They are usually overwhelmed with business, and there is little opportunity for constructive thinking. Such conferences have a certain educational value for their participants, but it is usually slight. There is, second, the small conference made up largely of experts who are called together for an exchange of views and often for the purpose of working out a common policy. Such a conference is essentially a research agency. The joint conference of the Fabian Society and the I.L.P. in 1913 was of this second type.
32 Fabian News, Vol. 24, No. 6 (May, 1913)Google Scholar, and the prospectus of the Fabian Summer School of 1913; Webb, Sidney, “The Fabian Summer School, 1913,” Fabian News, Vol. 24, No. 10 (September, 1913)Google Scholar; Thirty-first Annual Report of the Fabian Society … 1914, p. 12; Brockway, A. F., “The Keswick Conference: I.L.P. and Fabian Society Discuss Socialist Problems,” Labor Leader, July 31, August 7, 1913Google Scholar; I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Manchester, March, 1913, p. 27; I.L.P., Report of the Coming-of-Age Conference Held at Bradford, April, 1914, p. 28.
33 Thirty-second Annual Report of the Fabian Society … 1915, pp. 9–10; Labor Leader, May 21, 1914.
34 Labor Leader, May 31, July 5, and July 12, 1917; I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Leeds, April, 1917, p. 25; I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Leicester, April, 1918, pp. 30–31.
35 Webb, Sidney, “The Fabian Summer School, 1913,” Fabian News, Vol. 24, No. 10 (September, 1913)Google Scholar; Brockway, A. F., “The Keswick Conference: I.L.P. and Fabian Society Discuss Socialist Problems,” Labor Leader July 13, 1913Google Scholar.
36 See this letter in Labor Leader, September 18, 1913.
37 Ibid., October 2, 16, and 23, 1913.
39 I.L.P., Report of the Coming-of-Age Conference Held at Bradford, April, 1914, p. 28; Thirty-first Annual Report of the Fabian Society … 1914, p. 4.
40 The study circle method was much used by the National Home-Reading Union, the Adult School Movement, and the Workers' Educational Association. See Dobbs, A. E., “Historical Survey,” in Cambridge Essays on Adult Education, pp. 35–63, at p. 54Google Scholar; Final Report of the Adult Education Committee, pp. 213, 215, 240. The study circle was developed by the American Chautauqua after 1878. See Noffsinger, op. cit., pp. 109–110.
41 Labor Leader, July 23 and September 10, 1914.
42 Ibid., November 5, 1914; Thirty-second Annual Report of the Fabian Society … 1915, p. 8; I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Norwich, April, 1915, p. 24.
43 A resolution was introduced at the conference of 1916; see I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference held at Newcastle-on-Tyne, April, 1916, p. 95. See letters urging the reorganization of the work in Labor Leader, April 19, May 10, and May 17, 1917, and March 21, 1918. See also M. R. Powell, “I.L.P. Study Circles,” ibid., October 17, 1918; I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Leicester, April, 1918, p. 31. Some study circles were also continued within the local Fabian groups; see Fabian News, Vol. 26, No. 8 (August, 1915)Google Scholar.
44 Fabian News, Vol. 23, No. 2 (January, 1912)Google Scholar; No. 10 (September, 1912); Vol. 24, No. 11 (October, 1913); Twenty-ninth Annual Report … 1912, p. 8; Thirtieth Annual Report … 1913, p. 12; Thirty-first Annual Report … 1914, p. 15.
45 Fabian News, Vol. 31, No. 1 (January, 1920)Google Scholar, and the prospectus of the class.
46 Fabian News, Vol. 29, No. 7 (June, 1918)Google Scholar, and the prospectus of the class.
47 Fabian News, Vol. 30, Nos. 7, 8, and 12 (July, August, December, 1919)Google Scholar; the prospectus of the second class; Thirty-seventh Annual Report … 1920, p. 4.
48 Labor Leader, March 13 and 27, 1919; I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Glasgow, April, 1920, pp. 22–23.
49 Labor Leader, July 7 and October 20, 1921; I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Nottingham, April, 1922, p. 19.
50 I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Whitley Bay, April, 1928, pp. 37–38. The subjects of the syllabi are as follows: “History of the I.L.P.,” “Principles of Socialism,” “Socialism at Work,” “Economic History,” “Foreign Policy and the People,” “Socialism and the Mining Industry,” “Socialism and Finance,” “Socialism for Women,” “Socialism and the Railways,” “Unemployment under Capitalism,” and “Industrial Policy for Socialists.”
51 New Leader, September 7 and October 12, 1923; February 8, April 18, and September 5, 1924; I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Gloucester, April, 1925, p. 54.
52 Brockway, A. F., “I.L.P. as a Socialist University,” New Leader, June 26, 1925Google Scholar.
54 Ibid., August 7, October 23, and November 6, 1925.
55 I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Whitley Bay, April, 1926, pp. 24–25.
56 Final report of the Adult Education Committee, p. 213.
57 Labor Leader, April 1, April 15, May 20, and May 27, 1920.
58 Ibid., July 21, 1921; May 18, 1922; New Leader, September 14, 1923.
59 New Leader, June 13, 1924.
60 Ibid., September 12, 1924.
61 I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Gloucester, April, 1925, pp. 24–25.
62 For acknowledgements of Lord Allen's responsibility in reviving the school, see Dollan, P. J., “The Scottish School,” New Leader, August 7, 1925Google Scholar; A. F. Brockway, “The I.L.P. Goes to School,” ibid., August 21, 1925; and I.L.P., Annual Report of the National Administrative Council … 1926, p. 29.
63 A foreign visitor to the school in 1927 wrote: “The school really is not a school at all, but a delightful holiday, with five lectures a week thrown in so as to interfere as little as possible with sports, rambles, and jolly socials and dances.” See Lange, H. M., “The National I.L.P. Summer School,” New Leader, August 5, 1927Google Scholar.
64 The announcement of the schools said: “Both are intended for active speakers and workers. …” See ibid., June 15, 1923.
65 On mock, or local, parliaments, see Ostrogorski, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 416–419. Some local parliaments were established before 1850. See The Forward View (the organ of the National League of Young Liberals), Vol. 2, Nos. 13, 17, and 20 (January, May, August, 1928); Vol. 3, No. 35 (December, 1929); Geddes, J. F., “A Plea for Local Parliaments,” Our Flag (a publication of the Conservative party), Vol. 8, No. 11 (November, 1912)Google Scholar.
66 See such criticisms in the reports of correspondents, Manchester Guardian, August 27, 28, 29, 30,31, September 1, 3, 1923; London Times, August 29, 1923. The indefiniteness of the proposals was criticized in the next annual conference; see I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at York, April, 1924, p. 108. See further on the 1923 school, New Leader, August 17, 24, 31, September 7, 14, 21, 1923; London Times, August 20, 1923; I. L. P., Report … 1924, p. 24.
67 On the 1924 school, see New Leader, May 9, 16, 23, June 6, 13, July 11, 18, August 22, 29, September 5, 1924; Manchester Guardian, August 18 to 30, 1924; London Times, August 16 to 30, 1924; I. L. P., Annual Report of the National Administrative Council … 1925, pp. 24–25.
68 On the 1925 school, see New Leader, February 6, May 15, June 19, July 3, 31, August 7, 14, 21, September 4, 1925; London Times, August 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 17, 25, 26, 1925.
69 See especially the comments of the correspondent of the London Times, August 21, 1926. See also on the 1926 school, New Leader, June 4, August 6, 13, 20, 27, September 3, 1926; London Times, August 3, 4, 11, 13, 19, 1926; I.L.P., Report of the Annual Conference Held at Leicester, April, 1927, pp. 18, 81.
70 Some aspects of the I.L.P. Summer School are described vividly in Amabel Strachey (Mrs.Ellis, Williams), The Wall of Glass (London, Cape, 1927)Google Scholar.
71 Cf. Handbook and Directory of Adult Education, compiled under the auspices of the British Institute of Adult Education (2nd ed., 1928–1929), p. 117Google Scholar.
72 Pease, op. cit., pp. 226–227; Arnot, R. P., History of the Labor Research Department (London, L. R. D., 1926), 62 ppGoogle Scholar.
73 See especially a letter by Beatrice Webb to the editor of the New Statesman, Vol. 2, No. 49 (March 14, 1914)Google Scholar.
74 Fabian News, Vol. 29, No. 9 (August, 1918)Google Scholar; Report of the Nineteenth Annual Conference of the Labor Party, Southport, 1919, p. 49.
75 L. R. D., Monthly Circular, Vol. 9, n. s., No. 1 (July, 1921)Google Scholar, No. 3 (September, 1921); X n. s., No. 2 (February, 1922).
76 West, Julius, “The Research Department,” Fabian News, Vol. 24, No. 2 (January, 1913)Google Scholar; the prospectus of the 1913 Fabian Summer School; Fabian News, Vol. 24, No. 9 (August, 1913)Google Scholar; Sidney Webb, “The Fabian Summer School, 1913,” ibid., No. 10 (September, 1913); Thirty-first Annual Report of the Fabian Society … 1914, p. 12Google Scholar.
77 See the prospectus sent out by the Research Department; Fabian News, Vol. 25, Nos. 9 and 10 (August, September, 1914)Google Scholar; Thirty-second Annual Report of the Fabian Society … 1915, pp. 9–10.
78 Fabian News, Vol. 26, No. 7 (June, 1915)Google Scholar; Thirty-third Annual Report of the Fabian Society … 1916, p. 6.
79 L. R. D., Monthly Circular, Vol. 8, n. s., No. 5 (May, 1921)Google Scholar; Vol. 9, n. s., Nos. 1 and 4 (July, October, 1921); Annual Report, 1920–21; Labor Leader, August 18, 1921; the prospectus of the school.
80 L. R. D., Monthly Circular, Vol. 11, n. s., Nos. 1 and 7 (April, October, 1922)Google Scholar; the prospectus of the school.
81 L. R. D., Monthly Circular, Vol. 11, n. s., No. 12 (March, 1923)Google Scholar; Vol. 12, n. s., Nos. 1 and 2 (April, May, 1923).
82 See these syllabi; an announcement concerning them appeared in the Monthly Circular, Vol. 11, n. s., No. 6 (September, 1922)Google Scholar. The syllabi cover a wide range of political and economic subjects, and the authors include G. D. H. Cole, M. H. Dobb, Emile Burns, and R. P. Arnot.
83 Labor Bulletin of Industrial and Political Information, Vol. 1, No. 2 (July, 1925)Google Scholar; Report of the Twenty-Seventh Annual Conference of the Labor Party, Black-pool, 1927, pp. 64–65.
84 The League Leaflet, Nos. 15, 19, 22, 23, and 26 (March, July, October, November, 1912; February, 1913).
85 Labor Woman, Vol. 1, No. 6 (October, 1913)Google Scholar.
86 Ibid., Vol. 3, No. 3 (July, 1915).
87 Ibid., Vol. 6, No. 2 (June, 1918); Vol. 9, No. 7 (July, 1921); Vol. 10, No. 6 (June, 1922); Vol. 11, No. 6 (June, 1923); Labor Party, Report of the Executive Committee … 1923, p. 62Google Scholar.
88 Labor Woman, Vol. 11, No. 9 (September, 1923)Google Scholar.
89 Ibid., Vol. 12, Nos. 4 and 8 (April, August, 1924).
90 Peacock, W. A., “The League of Youth,” Labor Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 10 (February, 1929)Google Scholar; Labor Woman, Vol. 12, No. 9 (September, 1924)Google Scholar.
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