Trustees of the Quaker Peace Studies Trust with library staff to view the newly catalogued archive of the Trust. See note at the end of text.
A concern for peace
New archives open at the University of Bradford
The Quaker Peace Studies Trust (QPST) recently transferred its archives to Special Collections in the JB Priestley Library, where the archives are being appraised, sorted and catalogued during a two month project.
The history of the QPST is closely bound up with the creation and development of the Peace Studies Department at Bradford. The Trust springs from the pacifist tradition within the Society of Friends and the particular concern of George Murphy, a Yorkshire Quaker, that funds be raised to establish the study of peace and conflict resolution in British universities.
The QPST archive forms a record of the decisions taken and the activities funded by the Trust since its initial appeal for a chair of Peace Studies at Bradford in 1972. Adam Curle was appointed as the first chair in 1974 and was responsible for developing the new department. Evidence of this survives in correspondence with Kenneth Ford, secretary of the Trust from 1974, and also in reports and histories of the department written by Adam Curle.
The archive is comprehensive and has been well cared for and organised by the trustees. It contains the following types of records: minutes and progress reports of the original Appeal Committee; the trust deed establishing QPST; annual reports and accounts; annual returns to the Charity Commission; minutes and papers of trustees’ meetings and of the Finance Committee; correspondence and title deeds relating to QPST’s ownership of Horsley House, formerly the home of the Centre for Conflict Resolution; minutes and papers of special appeal committees; correspondence and papers of trust secretaries Kenneth Ford, John Geale and Owen Claxton, and clerk, Anthony Wilson; files relating to fundraising appeals; files about grants to the Commonweal Collection and to purchase the Margaret Glover paintings; file on the Ernest Stockdale Memorial Lecture and articles and papers on the history of the Peace Studies Department and of QPST.
Access to much of this material will be restricted initially, to protect the confidentiality of the Trust’s finances. The catalogue will make clear which items are closed and for how long. As a research resource, this archive tells an important part of the history of Bradford University and highlights what is distinctive about the development of the university. At present, it is most likely to be used by the Trust itself to answer queries about past decisions and fundraising. However as time passes, it will complement the university’s own archives as a source for studying how peace came to be accepted as an academic subject area.
Helen is the Project Archivist. This article is also being published in Peace Studies News.
Caption: Trustees of the Quaker Peace Studies Trust with library staff to view the newly catalogued archive of the Trust. The framed photograph in the exhibition shows the nine Friends who formed the original Appeals Committee in 1972. Second from right is Helen Roberts, the project archivist, who previously worked on the Yorkshire Quaker Heritage Project.
