IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 A/NEA
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
Date(s): 1887-1959
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 2.48 linear metres
Name of creator(s): National Education Association | 1888-1959
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The National Education Association (NEA) was formed to give effect to the resolutions of the Education Conference Committee which was held in 1888 in reaction to the report of the Cross Commission, 1886-1888. The Cross Commission was formed to look into the competing systems of education then current: School Board Schools which were supported by rates, and voluntary schools (including Church schools) which were supported only by donations and fees. The report suggested that all schools should be rate-aided.
The Association aimed to promote a "free progressive system of national education, publicly controlled and free from sectarian interest" both by publicising and advancing the School Board System and by undermining denominational and private schools. Formed in 1888 and formally constituted in 1889 under the presidency of A.J.Mundella, the NEA acted as the education sub-committee of the Liberation Society, whose aims were the disestablishment of the Church of England, the attainment of religious equality for non-conformists and the preservation of the rights of conscience.
The NEA was disbanded in 1959 and its duties taken over by the Free Church Federal Council.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the National Education Association, including minutes; papers relating to the formation and endowment of the Association; financial accounts; annual reports; correspondence; case files; NEA publications; other publications; Parliamentary publications; circulars from the Ministry of Education; education pamphlets and reference papers.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
A/NEA-1: Administration and Finance; A/NEA-2: Publications; A/NEA-3: General Files and Bundles.
Conditions governing access:
These records are open to public inspection, although records containing personal information may be subject to closure periods.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to these records rests with the depositor.
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
The Free Church Federal Council inherited the records of the NEA in 1959.
Immediate source of acquisition:
Records deposited in 1972, 1973 and 1974.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
See also the papers of the Liberation Society (A/LIB).
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: June to August 2010.