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CPGB
Oral History Project
In recent years the historiography of British Communism has been transformed by the opening of the CPGB and Comintern archives. Amid the understandable excitement about these new documentary sources there is a danger that historians of the British CP may neglect the task of preserving another vital source, which is now rapidly disappearing, namely the recollections of Party veterans.
As Rob Perks of the National Sound Archive has pointed out, oral testimony is a vital ingredient in writing labour movement history: firstly, it fills gaps in the documentary record; secondly, it 'provides the personal angle on great events which is often missing and enables surviving documents to be looked at with fresh insights'; thirdly, it can shed light on 'the hidden agenda absent from the written minutes'; and finally, it 'gives voice to the neglected aspects' of labour history, particularly the role of women and ethnic minorities.
Furthermore, oral evidence is indispensable for the task of mapping out a 'history from below' of the [British] CP, giving full weight to its grass roots within industry and working-class communities. The Communist Party Oral History Project is a broad-based group that aims to bring together oral historians and [British] CP veterans who are willing to be interviewed, and to build up a database of existing tapes of party members. In the long term the Project aims to create, in conjunction with the National Sound Archive, a central collection of copies of tapes and transcripts.
The Project would like to hear from anyone who can help with this work. We are particularly anxious to find sources of funding. Anyone who can help should contact the secretary, Mike Squires, at 50 Elmfield Road, London, SW17 8AL (tel: 0181 673 8283).
