Ongoing work to organise uncatalogued material in the Westminster College Archives has revealed documents that pinpoint the creation of the college archives.
On 5 February 1974, the Westminster College Library Committee considered a report titled, ‘Archives of the College’. The report proposed the creation of a new College archive, the main functions of which would be,
‘To remove from their logical sequence in the Library those items relating to the history of the College, and to arrange them together for study by interested parties, particularly during the O.W. Week-end. To collect further items.’
This rather modest mission statement was followed by an outline of the material to be collected; books, periodicals, photographs, duplicated letters, and posters. The librarian recognised that it would be necessary to coordinate with the Westminster College Union Society in order to preserve college records, as they had appointed their own archivist in 1973 (see previously blog post of 31 January 2017, https://ocmch.wordpress.com/2017/01/31/archives-library-westminster-college-student-archivist-1973/). The future collecting policy was rather vague at this time, but the librarian recommended that copies of official photographs should be retained, and that college secretaries should be encouraged to forward copies of documents marked ‘A’ for archival purposes.
In financial terms it was estimated that the labour involved in establishing the archive, and the acquisition of shelving, furniture, and conservation materials would amount to £435. The librarian was concerned that archival work should not take time away from the library staff, who were already at ‘full stretch’. It was therefore suggested that ‘student labour’ could be utilised during the summer, as a ‘basic minimum to get the archive started’. The location of the archive was also an issue, with mobile storage, or a tutor’s study suggested as possible solutions. The current library space was deemed to be unsuitable ‘because of lack of space’.
When the report was considered by the Library Committee on 5 February 1974, the following was recorded in the minutes,
‘It was agreed in principal that it was desirable to establish an archive’
Other recommendations were also made further to the report. It was agreed athat the collection should be restricted to matters relating to Westminster College, and not Methodist education in general. Material would be accepted from the Union Society and reviewed by library staff, whilst the Principal and Registrar would be consulted about the transferal of other official records. More curiously, it was suggested that a sound recording should be made each year to document visiting speakers and college productions, etc. The minutes of a subsequent Library Committee meeting of 15 May 1974 shows that a stack in the existing library was eventually designated as an Archive Centre, and that funds were to be sought from the College finance department in order to manage the collections.
The identification of the 1974 ‘Archives of the College’ report confirms the establishment date of the Westminster College archives, and the foundation of the present collection. The current work on the uncatalogued portions of the collection will make the Westminster College archives more accessible than ever before.
Daniel Reed, Assistant Archivist
Westminster College Oxford - Research 
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