A Peek Inside the Papers: A People’s Paper’s Research Update
University of Manchester PhD researcher Arielle has been exploring the archive over the last two months in connection to our project on the People’s Papers. In the post below she shares some updates and tips on the archival research process and what she’s found so far, including an initial overview of the collection.
It’s been an exciting last couple of months getting to explore the Working Class Movement Library archives! In this blog I wanted to share a bit more behind the scenes both in terms of the research process itself as well as a peek at the papers we’ve been looking at so far.
Overall, they’ve been so fun and interesting to get to browse through — what a treasure trove of local history, activism and creative (and funny!) forms of media-making. As the brief selection of photos from the Manchester Free Press and Longsight News below highlights, they can include everything from (ironic) poems for Thatcher, updates on the Longsight Adventure Playground Xmas party, local resources for “getting organized,” how to squat and so much more !
They’re also a great way to learn more about what was happening in Manchester in the 1970s. They often include calendars of events and listing of community groups or activities and resources. An example below highlights what this kind of section can often look like (and the variety of topics covered!).
Along with starting to go through some of the more well-known community newspapers has also been the investigative work of learning about and trying to find more of them in the first place. As many are a bit buried in the historical record (and rarely mentioned online!), one of the important steps in this process — and an invaluable archival resource — has been to consult directories from this time period that worked to catalogue these various papers. In many cases they not only include a listing of papers for the Greater Manchester region (and beyond) but also provide insight into the social context and ethos of the papers in their broader milieu of activist and counter-cultural projects and networks. Many of these efforts of creating directories and sharing information include not only lists of publications but also a whole assortment of intriguing projects and community resources as well. This has included, for example, other places and projects in Manchester such as the Grassroots Bookshop and cooperatives like Shanti Third World Centre and the Green Door Bakery cooperative from the 1970s. I’ve been sharing these updates on the People’s Papers Instagram if you’d like to see more!
While still in progress, from these sources I’ve assembled together a list of 1970s alternative, activist and community newspapers from the Greater Manchester area with a special focus on the ones that are accessible in the Working Class Movement Library collection. If you see any that are missing, please get in touch! While sharing the initial list below, I’ll also be digging into some of these papers in more depth via additional blog and instagram posts soon and would love to talk to more people who were personally involved as well (please be in touch if you know anyone!).
In-progress list of 1970s alternative and community newspapers
- Manchester Free Press
- Longsight News
- Moss Side News
- Moss Side Neighbourhood News
- North Manchester Eye
- Riviera Press: Miles Plattings Community News
- Metro News (Bury)
- Salford Champion
- Tameside Eye
- Manchester Women’s Paper
- City Enquirer
- Link Up
- Mancunian Mosaic (Manchester Council for Community Relations)
- Casava Bami (Nello James Centre)
- The Mancunian Indian (Indian Association of Manchester)
- Mole Express (digitized online via the MDMA)
- The Catonsville roadrunner
- Manchester Grass Eye
- New Manchester Review
And more! There’s also additional newspapers mentioned that we haven’t found in the collection yet, including: the Levenshulme Post, Manchester Black Voice, Hattersley SK, Supersnazz, Timetable, and Leyth Bent and Bongs People’s Paper. There are also many bulletins and newsletters (or later newspapers) that don’t quite fit into the scope of this project but are definitely worth exploring! See the photo at the bottom for a snapshot of some additional sources.
Next steps:
Along with creating a general collections guide for accessing these archival materials, for the rest of my placement at the Library this summer I’ll be writing up some more in-depth profiles for some of these papers and posting more updates about them on Instagram. Additionally, later this summer we’re hoping to have an open archive day and other public programs that can share more about the research so far, including hearing from those that have their own direct experiences with these papers to share — so stay tuned!
If you see any community newspapers that aren’t on the list yet (I’m sure there are!) or if you know of anyone who was involved in these projects in the 1970s, please get in touch!
