We are thrilled to announce the launch of the catalogue for the papers of prolific ban asbestos campaigner Laurie Kazan-Allen. 

This opens up over 75 archive boxes of materials to all researchers. 

Laurie Kazan-Allen is a hugely significant figure in the ban asbestos movement. She spent over 30 years researching, writing about and campaigning internationally to eradicate the asbestos hazard. In 1990, she was founding editor of the British Asbestos Newsletter: a quarterly publication distributed worldwide to solicitors, victim support groups, academics, medical personnel and research bodies. 

The British Asbestos Newsletter (BAN) was a vital tool to share information about asbestos, its effects and the plight of victims of the deadly substance, particularly in the days before the World Wide Web was at its height. At that time asbestos information was in the hands of multinational corporations, government agencies and other vested interests, most of whom were determined to keep tight control over key documents and information.

Kazan-Allen was also the founder and coordinator of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS), established in 1999 to work towards a global asbestos ban and to support victims of asbestos-related diseases. From the very beginning, IBAS made common cause with trade unions, labour federations, environmental campaigns, human rights organisations and other like-minded civil society groups. The links forged were vital for progressing the international coalition which motivated and sustained  all IBAS activities.

The bulk of the collection is material gathered by Kazan-Allen on various aspects of asbestos, its uses, dangers and effects. Journal articles, correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, case documentation, leaflets and statistics have all been filed under thematic headings including: countries; international agencies; asbestos companies; scientific and medical developments; legal cases; individuals involved in historical and scientific research; and others.

Laurie Kazan-Allen used these research files to write articles, speeches, and reports which are also represented within the collection and on the website of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat.

This collection joins our growing and popular corpus of asbestos-related materials: some of our most frequently consulted collections. We look forward to welcoming researchers to access this new and important collection. 

Asked for her comments on the launch of the on-line catalogue, Kazan-Allen said:

Further information:

• Catalogue for Laurie Kazan-Allen papers on asbestos
• Resource guide for asbestos collections
• International Ban Asbestos Secretariat website

Contact us to make an appointment or enquire about the collection.

Feature image: Ban asbestos campaign badges (LKA/6/11)

We are delighted to welcome David, an MSc Information and Library Studies student on placement with us in Archives and Special Collections this semester. In this guest post, he shares his insights into the Aldred collection.

As someone with a research background relating to Holocaust writing and Holocaust memory, the contents of one of the library’s special collections immediately caught my eye. Containing a range of socialist and anti-fascist pamphlets, texts and serials published between 1839 and 1971, the Andersonian library’s Aldred collection is an excellent resource for those looking to gain insight into British and American responses to historical anti-Semitism. It could be of particular interest to those, for instance, who are looking to research periods and perspectives that are not often represented in contemporary writing.

Anti-Semitism in British Culture 

As an example, titles such as A.J. LaBern’s ‘The disease of anti-Semitism’ (London: Woburn Press, 1942) and ‘The Jews: Some plain facts’ (London: Woburn Press, 1942) highlight the undercurrent of anti-Semitism that had begun to creep into British culture and media during the wartime period, with both aiming to counter this by stressing specific Jewish contributions to the war effort. 

Holocaust Memory

As the collection also features materials that were published immediately following the liberation of the concentration camps, it also provides valuable insight into another period that is often under-represented in contemporary Holocaust writing. Specifically, this would be the period that Barbie Zelizer¹ has referred to as the “first wave” of Holocaust memory. This period is generally viewed as spanning from the liberation of the concentration camps to the end of the 1940s and is heavily informed by the photographs that featured in British and American media during this time. As such, the emphasis is not yet placed on camps such as Auschwitz, which has come to form a vital part of contemporary Holocaust memory, but on places such as Dachau, Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald. In this light, Victor Gollancz’s pamphlet ‘What Buchenwald Really Means’ (London: V. Gollancz ltd., 1945) is particularly valuable, as it features a fascinating post-liberation framing of the Holocaust. Importantly, Gollancz emphasises the failure of the British media to capture the reality of the genocide as it was taking place and, correspondingly, he chastises the British government and the British public at large for failing to take decisive action in preventing the genocide. The text also offers a noteworthy discussion of collective punishment and, specifically, Gollancz questions whether the German people can be held collectively accountable for the actions of the German government. As he puts it: “People forget what an unspeakably efficient instrument of oppression is a modern dictatorship...” As with many of the resources contained within this collection, therefore, this document provides a valuable perspective that is specific to the period. 

This kind of resource can therefore have tremendous value for those who are looking to gain additional insights into specific historical periods or who are looking to understand the immediate framing of certain events.  As very few of these documents will have been preserved physically, due to the inherently disposable nature of pamphlets, this collection also offers the chance to closely examine these rare materials. This is very much worth it, as these are rare and often compelling windows into global historical events.

¹ Remembering to Forget: Holocaust Memory Through the Camera's Eye. University of Chicago Press. 1998.

We’re delighted to share the latest developments in the Archie Hind centenary project. Recently we’ve been bid-writing, meeting with Hind family and friends, and conducting our first archives engagement event using the collection.

If you’re new to the project, our first blog post explores the discovery of Archie Hind’s archive, the significance of his papers, and our early plans for the centenary. You can read it here: The ‘Rediscovery’ of The Dear Green Place: Introducing the Archie Hind Centenary Project

Republication launch at Glad Café (22 September 2024)

Following the interest generated by the discovery of the Archie Hind papers, the original publisher of Hind’s novel Dear Green Place, Birlinn, agreed it was time to republish the work. It became Waterstones ‘Scottish Book of the Month’, September 2024, with a huge number of copies sold. 

We celebrated the republication with a launch event at the Glad Café, Shawlands. Around one hundred family and friends attended to listen to a panel discussion about the archive collection, watch footage of Archie Hind in interview, listen to a live music performance and reminisce about their memories of Archie and his work.

Meeting Martin Hind (7 January 2025)

It was a great pleasure to meet Martin Hind, the son of Archie Hind, when he travelled from Germany to view his father’s papers in January this year. He hadn’t seen the collection for several years and some items he had never caught sight of at all. He was a font of information about the life and work of his father, and he could give us an insight into the experience of the success and acclaim Archie received for his novel, from the perspective of someone within the Hind household! We hope to see Martin again this year.

Book group sneak preview (17th February 2025)

We were excited to share a preview of the Archie Hind collection for a group visit in February. The Strathclyde Lifelong Learning book group came to hear Eleanor Bell speak about Archie’s novel and give a short introduction to his papers. Attendees were able to see the original manuscript of Dear Green Place as well as one of the scrapbooks Archie’s wife, Eleanor, collated after the success of the novel. The book group were delighted to hear more about Archie Hind, his deep association with Glasgow, and enjoy a preview of the treasures within the archive collection. 

We have also been working on funding applications so stay tuned for further updates throughout the year.
 

We are delighted to announce that we have recently published catalogues for two oral history collections.

Glasgow Working Lives

Glasgow Working Lives oral history project (SOHC 42) includes 28 interviews with men and women who give an insight into job conditions in areas such as: the armed forces, the civil service, education, factory work, farming, fire service, healthcare, insurance and finance, and retail.  

These interviews provide a window onto the physical and psychological experiences of the working environment in Glasgow from the 1930s right up to 2000s. Several different sectors, and a large range of occupations, are covered. Interviewees reflect on how they found employment, the interview process, career progression, colleagues they met along the way, and everyday experiences in the workplace environment. 

Explore the Glasgow Working Lives oral history project catalogue.

Jean Wark: Life in a Mining Cottage

Another fascinating resource, now described on our catalogue, is an interview with Jeanie (Jean) Wark about life in a mining cottage (SOHC 28). Jean speaks about living in South Ayrshire from the 1920s to the 1950s, describing the small and basic interior of the mining cottage, games the children used to play, local customs, and the implications of mining on the health of the miners. 

Discover Jean Wark's story on the online archive catalogue.

Browse our catalogue and get in touch if you would like to listen to these incredible oral histories!

This year, Women’s History Month (March 2025) celebrates ‘Women Educating and Inspiring Generations’. To mark both Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day (8 March), we are highlighting three women who trained generations of teachers at Strathclyde’s antecedent institution: the Glasgow Provincial Training College, known from 1959 as Jordanhill College of Education. Those featured are:

• Miss Janet Gallie, Mistress of Methods (1916-1950)
• Dr Anne McAllister, Principal Lecturer in Speech Training (1919-1958) and Director of the Glasgow School of Speech Therapy (1935-1964)
• Miss Joyce Moffett, Lecturer in Speech Training (1941-1958) and Dean of Women (1958-1971)

Significantly, Miss Gallie and Dr McAllister both taught Joyce Moffett, who qualified as a teacher in 1933 and subsequently lectured at the College alongside her mentors. The transcript of an oral history interview with Joyce (reference: Acc 95/07), conducted in the 1990s reveals the esteem in which she held Miss Gallie and Dr McAllister and the knowledge and inspiration she gained from each of them.

Janet Gallie

During her 34-year career, Miss Janet Gallie taught thousands of women students the practical techniques of primary school teaching. Through lectures in the College and demonstrations lessons in its practicing school, she showed the students how to maintain classroom discipline, convey information clearly, and present themselves confidently and authoritatively before a class of children. This basic, but essential training was forever appreciated by Joyce Moffett, who described Miss Gallie as “an excellent teacher” from whom “I got most help in the practical business of teaching”.

Anne McAllister

As well as pioneering specific courses for the training of speech therapists, Dr Anne McAllister taught phonetics to aspiring primary and secondary school teachers at the Glasgow Provincial Training College. Her expertise and enthusiasm inspired many of them, including Joyce Moffett, who acknowledged that she first became interested in phonetics thanks to Dr McAllister’s classes. In 1941, several years after Joyce gained her teaching qualification, Dr McAllister, who knew of her interest in the subject, invited Joyce to join the staff of the Speech Training Department on a temporary secondment. Thus began a long and fruitful career, attributable to Dr McAllister’s influence and encouragement.  

Joyce Moffett

The temporary secondment became permanent, and Joyce Moffett ultimately succeeded Dr McAllister as Principal Lecturer in Speech Training in 1951. Seven years later, Miss Moffett was appointed Dean of Women, serving as counsellor and advisor to all the women students - over 2,000 each year – who entered the College. It was a demanding and frequently exhausting role, but also very rewarding. On her retirement in 1971, the student magazine, Spectrum, observed that Miss Moffett ‘has served the students popularly and well, giving advice and direction where required, not only in the academic sense but in the personal field as well.’ She was, and is, remembered with gratitude and affection by former students and colleagues alike.

Visit our Women's History Month display on Level 3 of the Andersonian Library throughout March 2025, during Library opening hours. Details of more activities and events can be found on Strathclyde's Women's History Month webpage.

We are delighted to introduce a guest blog post by lecturer Maria Cairney celebrating the history of Speech and Language Pathology teaching at Strathclyde.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of our Speech and Language Pathology (SLP) programme at the University of Strathclyde. Founded in 1935 by Anne McAllister DSc FRCSLT OBE as the Glasgow School of Speech Therapy (GSST), it was one of only four programmes in the UK at the time, and it has continued to run as an accredited programme ever since. This brief overview of the programme’s history is based on McCartney (1996), a former director of GSST.

A Look Back: The Origins of the SLP Programme 

The founder, Anne McAllister, was a distinguished scholar and practitioner from Glasgow. She pioneered the application of phonetic knowledge in supporting children with speech difficulties in the 1920s, while also lecturing Phonetics at the Jordanhill College of Education from 1919. Early on she established a collaboration with the cleft palate surgeon Matthew White, which continued throughout both of their careers. This collaboration established the importance of including a medical approach in speech therapy, going beyond the pedagogical tradition, which was widespread at the time.

The Glasgow School of Speech Therapy has changed affiliations over the years, reflecting its varied content and the development of the profession. In its early years it was associated with Jordanhill College thanks to McAllister’s work at the college, but it soon moved its affiliation to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow. This affiliation was maintained until 1963 when the GSST merged back with Jordanhill. Prior to merging with the University of Strathclyde in 1993 degrees were awarded from the University of Glasgow. The BSc Honours Speech and Language Pathology programme is currently part of the Department of Psychological Sciences and Health at Strathclyde.

The Programme Today: Excellence in Teaching and Research

Currently our programme is ranked 1st in Scotland for Speech & Language Therapy in 2025 and it was ranked 1st in the UK in 2022 by the Complete University Guide. The Speech and Language Therapy programme is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council, and it is accredited by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT). In addition, 95% of the research in our department has been rated outstanding or world-leading, as rated by expert panels in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 - the UK-wide system for measuring excellence in research.

Our team maintains strong ties with the NHS, offering varied clinical placements. We are one of the few programmes in the UK to offer a dedicated placement focused on supporting people with Eating, Drinking and Swallowing disorders. One of our student-favourite modules “The Impact Project” allows students to tailor their own work experience with the aim of producing tangible impact with social benefit in their chosen host organisation. For example, some of our current students are helping to organise the VoiceBox 2025 competition of RCSLT Scotland. Our undergraduate students have also contributed to the team’s research projects, for example, a clinical trial of a new treatment for people with Ataxia called Clear Speech Together.

Our programme has a key role in training the future SLTs of Scotland and the UK. Some of our graduates are also currently contributing to our cutting-edge ESRC-funded research on the Variability in Child Speech project. Members of our team are also collaborating with clinicians to enhance our online resource of ultrasound and MRI videos for teaching and practicing speech therapy: SpeechSTAR. 

Looking Ahead: The Future of SLP at Strathclyde 

We are excited about the future of our programme, driven by our ambitious, curious and caring students and our dedicated and highly experienced teaching team. Thanks to the collaborations between students and staff we are currently exploring the inclusion of Virtual Reality simulation-based learning, as well as spreading the use of student-led Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programme (ICAP) among our placement partners. As we celebrate our 90th anniversary we are also looking ahead with hope for our continued excellence, innovation and impact in the profession.

Before you go 

Follow our social media channels on @Strath_SLT on X and @Strathclyde_SLT on Instagram to keep up to date with news about upcoming celebrations of our anniversary.

Reference

McCartney, E. (1996). The Glasgow School of Speech Therapy. In M. Harrison & W. Marker (Eds.), Teaching the Teachers: The History of Jordanhill College of Education 1828-1993. John Donald Publishers.

Are you a University of Strathclyde staff member and have recently published a book? If so, we'd love to include it in the Strathclyde Staff Collection, housed in the Andersonian Library's Archives and Special Collections.

Established in 1985, this permanent collection preserves print books authored by University staff, ensuring they remain accessible to students, researchers, and academics for generations to come.

The earliest publication in the collection dates back to 1799: “Tentamen chemico-physiologicum inaugurale de sanguine...” a thesis by George Birkbeck, the second professor of natural philosophy at Anderson's Institution (1799-1804). This copy is particularly special as it bears Birkbeck's own inscription to Dr Foucault and a dedication to Thomas Garnett, his predecessor and the Institution's first professor of natural philosophy (1796-1799).

By donating your book, you:

• secure your place in the University's historical record
• showcase the diverse academic achievements of Strathclyde's staff
• make your work easily available for study and reference

Did you know?

We collect books by all staff, not just academics. Whether you're a cleaner who writes crime fiction or an administrator with expertise in local history - we value and welcome your publications too!

How to Contribute

Donating is simple. Hand-deliver your publication to Archives & Special Collections on Level 5 of the Andersonian Library or post it to us. If giving us a print copy isn’t an option, let us know the details so we can record your publication.

Retiring soon? Check if your publications are already in the collection, or send us a list and we'll check for you.

Full details on how to donate and access the collection are available on our Strathclyde Staff Collection guide.

Use the Collection

The Strathclyde Staff Collection is a reference resource, available in the Archives and Special Collections reading room. Book an appointment from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, to visit us.

For more information, email Archives and Special Collections at archives@strath.ac.uk.

Last year the Diamond Jubilee of the University of Strathclyde was celebrated. This was the marking of 60 years since the institution officially became a University. 

A Royal Charter was officially granted on 23 June 1964, and 'put under seal' when it was signed by Her Majesty the Queen on 14 August 1964. This marked the completion of the formalities in the creation of the University of Strathclyde as successor to the Royal College of Science and Technology.

As the home of the Royal Charter itself, and the custodian of the Institution’s history, Archives and Special Collections were delighted to be involved in the 2024 Jubilee celebrations around campus. This blog post provides a round-up of a few of our Jubilee related activities.

Supporting colleagues

We continued to answer historical and collections related enquiries from around the University. Last year, more of these took on a Jubilee flavour and we were able to supply images, information, and even some archive footage to colleagues within Communications, Events, and Alumni to support their articles, pamphlets, events, and videos. Some examples include: 

• images and key dates for the official Jubilee landing page
• footage for the Jubilee video
• an article in the University’s staff newsletter celebrating International Women’s Day
• images for press pieces on the Jubilee
• an LGBTQI+ workshop and event 

Strathclyde at 60 blog post series

To celebrate the Jubilee, we launched a blog series called ‘Strathclyde at 60’ on our webpages. Each post highlights an item from the archives and special collections, creating a breadcrumb trail of the University's history and development. Stay tuned to our blog for more ‘Strathclyde at 60’ posts.

Jubilee summer Fete with guest appearance of the Royal Charter

A highlight of the jubilee celebrations was the summer fete organised by the Events team on 14th August 2024. We were invited to bring the original Royal Charter onto campus, the foyer of Learning & Teaching Building, to join the sunny celebrations, and to let people have a peek at the original document. Our presence was also advertised as an opportunity for staff to “Ask an archivist” any historical questions they might have.

We arranged a special display case to keep the Charter safe and a member of the team was on hand throughout, to engage with fete-goers. It was great to meet with our colleagues around the University and celebrate together!

Oral History Trail

The Jubilee year gave us an excellent opportunity to showcase one of our fascinating oral history collections.

‘The University Experience, 1945 – 1975’ was an oral history project carried out by the Scottish Oral History Centre in 2002-2003. It involved interviews with all manner of students and staff across the institution: professors, cleaners, administrative staff and students from all faculties. Many of the interviewees reflect on what the atmosphere was like as the institution transitioned from a technical college into a University, and also give insights into life in general at Strathclyde in the past. 

We worked with our colleagues in the Events team to design and mount a physical oral history trail around the city centre campus. Seven quotes are accompanied by an archival image and the QR code links to where the recordings can be heard. It encourages people to explore the institution, and presents an opportunity to hear Strathclyders of the past reflect upon key moments, and the atmosphere of the institution, at a pivotal time in its history.

Visit the Jubilee Oral History Trail page for details, or dive deeper into our full collection on the University Experience LibGuide page. And if you're on campus, take a stroll and see how many you can spot!

 

Curated in conjunction with Alex Kabaj, Graduate Intern in the University’s Equality and Diversity Office, our display for LGBT+ History Month 2025 highlights the development and early activities of the student Gay Society at Strathclyde (now the LGBTQ+ Society).

Known as Gaysoc for short, the Gay Society was established in 1971, a decade before homosexuality was legalised in Scotland. Run by students, for students, it was the first such initiative at a Scottish university. 

Gaysoc’s primary objective was to provide a safe, supportive and non-judgemental space for gay students (men and women) to meet each other, talk and socialise informally. The Society also organised annual programmes of meetings and social events, promoted through its regular column in the Strathclyde Telegraph student newspaper. 

The display, which is part of an ongoing project to uncover Strathclyde’s LGBT+ history, features a selection of Gaysoc’s newspaper columns published between 1975 and 1992. As well as highlighting the Society’s activities and achievements, these emphasise the significant challenges faced by LGBT+ students over the period.

The Society, together with the Students’ Association at Strathclyde, also supported countrywide gay and lesbian rights campaigns organised by the National Union of Students and the Scottish Fight the Clause Campaign (a movement against the implementation of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which banned schools from teaching - or promoting - the acceptability of homosexuality). Two posters relating to these campaigns, illustrating the broader LGBT+ activism of the time, are included in the display.

The eventual repeal of Section 28 in the year 2000 was a significant win for LGBTQ+ rights in Scotland, but it also revealed the deep-rooted prejudices that still linger in society and its institutions. As we reflect on this turning point in our history, we are reminded that the fight for equality and acceptance is far from over.

The display can be viewed on Level 3 of the Andersonian Library throughout the month of February, during Library opening hours. Discover more activities and events on Strathclyde's LGBT+ History Month programme.

Content note: The archive materials presented include some strong language, homophobic slurs and stereotypes, and discussions of loneliness and poor mental health.