King's College London Department of Journalism Records

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0100 KDJ; KDJ/M
Held at	: King's College London College Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/archivespec/ ›
Full title	: King's College London Department of Journalism Records
Date(s)	: 1923-1946
Level of description	: Sub-fonds of King's College London Archives
Extent	: 18 boxes and 2 volumes
Name of creator(s)	: King's College London Department of Journalism

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The University of London ran courses in journalism from around 1923. Study comprised a two-year diploma programme initially available at four participating institutions: University College, Bedford College, the London School of Economics and King's College, and comprising classes in practical journalism, composition, modern history and English Literature. Teaching was concentrated at King's College from 1935 under the directorship of Tom Clarke, former editor of the News chronicle, and teachers included Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell, lecturer in Political Economy at University College and the future Chancellor of the Exchequer. The course was suspended on the outbreak of war in September 1939 and never reinstated.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

The records of the Journalism Department at King's College London comprise minutes, correspondence, lecture notes and some printed pamphlets, newspapers and publicity material, 1923-1946; notably including minutes of the Journalism Committee of the University of London, the course's governing board, with some related papers, 1931-1945; manuscript and typescript correspondence, mainly with students, especially applications to study, regarding assignments and work placements, including correspondence with regional newspapers and publishers, but also illustrative of the broadcasting and lecturing work of Tom Clarke particularly on the freedom of the press in the late 1930s, 1923-1939; letters of enquiry from prospective students concerning the possible reinstatement of the diploma course, 1946; papers concerning The Electrical Association for Women and the Retail Trading Standards Association, including booklets and memoranda, 1935-1936; summaries of lecture notes compiled by Tom Clarke for teaching the practical journalism component of the diploma, 1935-1936; copies of The L.U.J.S. gazette, produced by journalism students, 1927-1935; newspaper cuttings concerning the teaching of journalism, 1923-1938.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Mainly alphabetical in the case of student correspondence, but otherwise broadly chronological.

Conditions governing access:

Administrative records are generally closed for 30 years except for published material and some committee and other minutes. Staff and student records are subject to an 80 year closure period after the date of leaving.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Director of Archive Services.

Finding aids:

Hand list available in the archives reading room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The departmental records became scattered throughout King's College after World War Two but were located and transferred to the College Archive in piecemeal fashion in subsequent years. Some material was received from the Registrar's Office in 1983, and the University Archives, Senate House, in 1984.

Allied Materials

Related material:

King's College London Archives: Secretarial series (Ref: KAS/AC2)

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Sources used: King's College London Calendars. Entry compiled by Geoff Browell.

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:
February 2001