the working class movement library
founded 1958
Background
The Working Class Movement Library started life in the 1950s as the personal collection of activists Ruth and Eddie Frow. It became a Charitable Trust in 1971 and moved to its present home in 1987.
The Working Class Movement Library tells the story of working class activism, protest and campaigning through its extensive archive and library collection. The collection explores how working people have and continue to work collectively to make change and records over 200 years of campaigning by ordinary men and women
Our Building
By the 1980s the Frows’ house was at bursting point and so the City of Salford Council agreed to house the magnificent library in a Victorian building called Jubilee House on Salford Crescent. The collection has been there ever since.
Collection
We have information on:
The trades and lives of people who worked in the past - brushmakers, silk workers, tailors, boilermakers and others
Trade unions, where people have banded together to improve their working conditions
Politics and campaigns, from Chartism to the General Strike and more recent protests
Creativity and culture - drama, literature, music, art and leisure
Important people who have led activist lives
International events such as the Spanish Civil War, and aspects of Irish history
Much of this information is held in books, pamphlets or leaflets. Many more stories are told by our photos, banners and tape recordings.
Our collection captures many points of view to tell the story of Britain's working classes from the beginning of industrialisation to the present day. Our oldest items date from the 1760s. From the 1820s we have some of the earliest trade union documents to have survived.
Contact information
Belinda Scarlett, Library Manager
51 The Crescent, Salford, M5 4WX
tel: 0161 736 3601 / email: belinda.scarlett@wcml.org.uk
Admission is free to all. The reading room is open by appointment Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm
Drop-in visitors are welcome on Fridays 1-4.30pm. We hold regular exhibitions, tours and events. Find out more on our website.
Website
www.wcml.org.uk
Status
Registered charity no. 1115731
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