League of Nations Union

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0097 LNU
Held at	: British Library of Political and Economic Science   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.lse.ac.uk/library ›
Full title	: League of Nations Union
Date(s)	: 1918-1971
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 155 volumes and 5 boxes
Name of creator(s)	: League of Nations Union

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The League of Nations Union (LNU) was formed by the merger of the League of Free Nations Association and the League of Nations Society, two groups working for the establishment of a new world order based upon the ideals of the League of Nations. It became the largest and most influential organisation in the British peace movement, played an important role in inter-war politics, and launched education programmes that had a lasting impact on British schools. The LNU's popularity dwindled during World War Two, and when the United Nations Association (UNA) was founded in 1945 to promote the work of the United Nations, the LNU arranged for the wholesale transference of its organisational structure and its membership to the UNA. However, under the provisions of its Royal Charter, the LNU was able to continue until the mid-1970s, albeit in a limited capacity, in order to handle bequests, and administer the payment of pensions to former employees. The administrative structure of the LNU consisted of a General Council, which met twice a year and held final responsibility for LNU policy under the Royal Charter of Incorporation granted in 1925; an Executive Committee, which met every two weeks and co-ordinated campaigns, analysed branch reports and resolutions, monitored the work of the numerous specialist sub-committees, supervised the staff, and generally acted as the central policy-making body of the LNU; and regional LNU branches, which had their own independent management structures.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the League of Nations Union, 1918-1971, including minutes of the General Council, 1919-1945, with some background papers; minutes of the Executive Committee, 1918-1946, including some minutes of its predecessor, the League of Free Nations Association; minutes of the Organisation Committee of the League of Free Nations Association and the LNU, 1918-1919; minutes of the LNU Administration Committee, 1936-1939 and 1944; minutes of the LNU Management Committee, 1918-1929; financial material, namely minutes of the Finance Committee, 1922-1938, and accounts, 1945-1975; material relating to specialist committees and sub-committees of the LNU, 1918-1957, notably the Advisory International Committee, 1940-1941, the Appeals Committee, 1930-1936, the Branches Committee, 1930-1939, the National Youth Committee, 1933-1936, the Christian Organisations Committee, 1921-1939, the Council for Education in World Citizenship, 1940-1944, the Economics Committee, 1928-1939, the Editorial Committee and the Publicity Committee, 1925-1938, the Education Committee, 1919-1939, the Industrial Advisory Committee, 1930-1944, the International Policy Committee, 1919-1925, the Overseas Committee, 1931-1939, the Refugees Committee, 1935-1939, the Regions Committee, 1930-1937, the Religious Ethics Committee, 1921-1930, the Research Committee, 1918-1919, the Services Committee, 1931-1932, the Women's Advisory Committee (later Council), 1937-1957, and the Standing Committee of National Youth, 1935-1939; material relating to branches of the LNU, namely the British Universities League of Nations Society, 1926-1936, the Geneva Institute of International Relations, 1925-1938, the Hampshire Federation of the LNU, 1932-1938, and the London International Assembly, 1941-1945; pamphlets, reports and leaflets produced by the LNU, [1918]-1962; miscellaneous material removed from the volumes of minutes and retrieved from the United Nations Association collection, [1919]-1971, including papers relating to the LNU Peace Ballot, [1934-1935], the transfer of the LNU membership to the UNA, [1945-1946], and the LNU Youth Groups.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:

System of arrangement:

The collection mainly comprises bound volumes, though there are also publications and loose documents (mainly reports and duplicate minutes) removed from the bound volumes, as well as material recovered from the United Nations Association collection.

Conditions governing access:

This collection has been microfilmed and the originals withdrawn from public use for preservation purposes. The microfilm must be used. Apply to Archivist for originals.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright retained by the United Nations Association. Microfilm copies only.

Finding aids:

Printed handlist and online catalogue available.

Archival Information

Archival history:

The records of the League of Nations Union were kept at its headquarters in Grosvenor Crescent until financial difficulties forced the Union to move to smaller premises in St Martin's Lane in the early 1940s. The records went to the home of Geoffrey Mander, where many of them were destroyed during the Blitz, and the remainder were removed to the United Nations Association headquarters at the Albert Embankment.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The collection was deposited in the Library by the UNA in 1971, with a further accession in 1985.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The British Library of Political and Economic Science also holds the records of the United Nations Association (Ref: UNA).

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Sources: Who's Who 1897-1996 (A & C Black, 1996); British Library On-Line Public Access Catalogue 97; Historical Manuscripts Commission National Register of Archives. Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Jan 2001