The
City Archives in Sheffield will be home to two university students over the
next few months. Sabrina
Webster and Chantelle Francis are studying for an MA in Public Humanities at
the University of Sheffield. They have
chosen to base themselves in the Archives and Local Studies Library in a quest
to find out more about the city’s recent Cold War history...
Do you remember the Socialist Republic of South
Yorkshire? Symbolised by the red flag
flying high above Sheffield Town Hall on May Day, South Yorkshire County Council
represented a particular period within the history of Sheffield and South
Yorkshire. Some may remember the Council
with nostalgia, others with irritation, and others may never have known it
existed. Admittedly, before we started
this project, we were of the latter variety.
This is the first in a series of regular blog posts
aiming to track our journey, as we explore the archives, learn more about the
Council, and engage with those connected to its forward-thinking work and
philosophy.
Much of the material relating to the Council’s heyday -
from minutes to policy documents, leaflets to stickers - has been collected and
stored within Sheffield City Archives’ vast collections. Brief given, we were both very
excited to get to explore the material within the Archives -
especially as we had no idea what to expect and so much to learn about the
Council. However, when we arrived for
the first time, this excitement quickly turned to shock at the sheer quantity
of material available. Overwhelmed is an
understatement!
It quickly became clear that there were a plethora of interesting topics
and themes relating to the Council: strikes
within the coal and steel industries, industrial decline and high unemployment
- not to mention the fractious relationship between the Council and Thatcher’s
Conservative Government. We spent a good
while discussing possible topics and decided that our primary aim in
this project is to draw parallels between some of the issues faced in the 1980s
and those facing society today - 30 years on.
The pivotal moment came when we saw the ‘Nuclear Winter’ leaflet (pictured). The stark image of a mushroom cloud immediately caught our
attention and we became further intrigued by the information in the leaflet’s
bottom-right corner, stating that the event was sponsored by South Yorkshire
County Council. We continued to dig, and found countless advertising flyers, information
leaflets, and correspondence between the Council, the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament (CND), and Government officials.
What particularly stood out to us was the rhetoric used when both
defending and supporting the provision of nuclear weaponry. Almost a sense of déjà vu. There was actually a mainstream news article
with a similar headline that very day - one side arguing that nuclear weapons are
essential in upholding the UK’s status as a significant global power, and the
other side condemning the arms on moral, legal and financial grounds. It echoes almost word-for-word some of debates held recently between David
Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn on the issue in the House of
Commons. The parallels are uncanny.
After just one day in the archives, we were both hooked on the nuclear
theme. The next stage of our project is to make contact with various people and
organisations related to the Council and, in particular, its anti-nuclear
position and actions. We are looking
forward to sharing our progress as our project gets underway.
Sabrina Webster and Chantelle Francis
Public Humanities MA Students
University of Sheffield
