This guide provides information about the collections relating to the Speech and Language Therapy profession held by Archives and Special Collections. The University of Strathclyde has taught in the field of Speech and Language Therapy, via predecessor institution Jordanhill College, since 1935.
These collections can be used to study the history of the profession in general; pioneering Speech and Language Therapists; the teaching of speech and language therapy at the University over the decades; and also to find out about the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists: the UK speech and language therapists’ professional body.
(Image below: Front page of School of Speech Therapy booklet- JCE/12/19/1/2)
Collection reference: GB 249 RCSLT
The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) is the professional body for speech and language therapists in the UK, providing leadership and setting and maintaining standards of education, clinical practice and ethical conduct. It was established in 1945 when the Association of Speech Therapists and the British Society of Speech Therapists joined forces.
These papers, donated to the University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections in 2017, comprise the official records of the RCSLT and document its foundation and activities. The bulk of the records are minutes of the Council, boards and committees of the RCSLT, but they also include copies of the RCSLT’s official journal, news bulletins and examples of examination papers.
You can view the catalogue for the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists records. Please contact Archives and Special Collections to arrange access to the papers within our reading room.
Collection reference: GB 249 ARM
This is a fully born-digital collection of papers from retired speech and language therapist Linda Armstrong relating to the history of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, and the profession in general.
The collection includes lists and analytical articles on themes such as the early members of the RCSLT, its conferences, the changing name of the profession and the RCSLT’s publications. It is the product of research carried out by Linda Armstrong, partly in collaboration with Jois Stansfield, on the papers of the RCSLT held at the University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections, and on other papers retained by the RCSLT.
The papers of Linda Armstrong relating to the history of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists can be accessed directly online.
Collection reference: GB 249 SOHC 37
This is a collection of 16 interviews (12 sound recordings and 16 transcripts) and is believed to be the first oral history of speech and language therapy in the UK. Early members of the speech and language therapy profession were recruited, by Jois Stansfield, from retirement networks and via the professional body, the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
Personal testimony, previously unheard, from these pioneers of the profession demonstrates the degree to which these women were products of their age, class and gender and the individual ways in which they negotiated challenges in their personal and professional lives.
We also hold papers relating to The Glasgow School of Speech Therapy and courses in Speech and Language Therapy at Jordanhill College of Education, which became part of the University of Strathclyde in 1993.
Collection reference: GB 249 JCE/12/19
Including: syllabi; course pamphlets; and accreditation documentation.
Collection reference: GB 249 JCE/14/19
Including: copies of published papers and articles; photographs; videotapes; lecture notes; obituaries; and speeches.
Some other records relating to speech and language therapy can also be found throughout the Jordanhill collection such as:
The catalogues for these papers are not yet available online, but you can contact Archives and Special Collections to arrange access.
(Image right: Front page of School of Speech Therapy booklet- JCE/12/19/2)
Dr Anne McAllister can be said to have kick started the Speech and Language Therapy profession in Glasgow, and indeed Scotland. She was a founder member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, and its first President.
After Dr McAllister graduated MA from the University of Glasgow in 1917, she trained as a teacher at Stow College and was appointed lecturer in Phonetics there in 1919, and subsequently at the teacher training college at Jordanhill.
She and a colleague set up the first university Speech clinic in Scotland in 1927 and the case load grew so rapidly that she started courses for the training of speech therapists in Glasgow.
She established the Glasgow School of Speech Therapy in 1935 and was Director until 1964. After Jordanhill merged with the University of Strathclyde in 1993, The Glasgow School of Speech Therapy eventually became the Speech and Language Therapy course at the University.
As mentioned above, we hold a collection of her papers at collection reference JCE/14/19/1.
(Image right: JCE/14/19/1/4)
Tha
nks to Linda Armstrong and Jois Stansfield for their research into the history of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and for sharing their findings via our blog and digital collection of papers. Thanks also to Linda for her input into this source guide.
(Image, left, of Dr Linda Armstrong- reproduced courtesy of Linda. Image, right, of Jois Stansfield- reproduced with Jois' permission)
1894 - Publication of The Disorders of Speech by Dr J Wyllie
1906 - Central School of Speech Training and Drama Art established by Elsie Fogerty
1906 - Classes for stammerers formed in Glasgow and Manchester
1911 - First hospital Speech and Language Therapy clinic in the Ear, Nose and Throat Department, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London
1927 - First university Speech clinic in Scotland established by Dr Anne McAllister
1929 - First professional training school for speech therapists opened by Winifred Kingdon Ward, attached to the West End Hospital, London
1934 - Founding of the Remedial Section of the Association of Teachers of Speech and Drama (became the Association of Speech Therapists [AST] in 1943)
1935 - Founding of British Society for Speech Therapists (BSST)
1935 - Founding of the Glasgow School of Speech Therapy by Dr Anne McAllister
1942 - Registration of speech therapists with the Board of Registration of Medical Auxiliaries began
1944 - Education Act made provision for children with speech problems compulsory rather than permissive
1945 - The College of Speech Therapists (CST) was officially founded due to the amalgamation of the Association of Speech Therapists and the British Society for Speech Therapists
1948 - the first diplomas were awarded by the College of Speech and Language Therapists
1956 - The Speech Therapists’ Professional Association was established as a negotiating body for salaries and conditions of service for speech therapists
1967 - First speech therapy graduates, from Newcastle University
1967 - The Speech Therapists’ Professional Association became the Union of Speech Therapists
1975 - Betty Byers Brown was appointed the first speech therapy adviser to the Department of Health and Social Services
1987 - First ‘Speak Week’, a national campaign to highlight the needs of people with communication problems, initiated by the College of Speech Therapists and VOCAL, sponsored by BT
1990 - Robert Fawcus became the first speech therapy professor in the UK
1991 - The title 'speech therapist' became 'speech and language therapist'
Most dates in timeline from Linda Armstrong timeline: ARM/2/1.
The University of Dundee holds a very useful thesis about the development of speech therapy in Britain by George Sykes: