Refuse and Resist.

         The latest Spirit of Revolt,  “Read of the Month", since it is coming at the beginning of a new year, its only fitting that it should come from one of our new collections the John Frew Collection, it is a news sheet of the anti-polltax movement Refuse and Resist. That period when the Thatcher government tried to impose the poll tax on the people of this country was one of mass protests and open rebellion, as the people stood firm against this grossly unjust tax. Their resolve, solidarity and organisation eventually won the day and the poll tax was scrapped.

     Why not dip into the John Frew Collection and enjoy some of your own fascinating history. While there you could go on to explore the multitude of local history from the Glasgow/Clydeside area and further afield, from the numerous other collections held in Spirit of Revolt.

 REFUSE AND RESIST: Read on line. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Spirit of Revolt, More Digitised Collections.

      The volunteers at Spirit of Revolt are as always busy trying to bring the people to the archive, and bring our history to the people. We are delighted to state that two more of our collections have been fully digitised and therefore you can now read them from the comfort of your home, library, cafe, etc. No need to make you way into the Mitchell Library to do so. Though you will always be made welcome should you wish to visit us at the Mitchell.

The two collections are:

GB243 T/SOR/23 Collection No. 23, Clydeside Hunt Saboteurs.

GB243 T/SOR/35 Collection No. 35, Shirley Sampson Collection.

      Enjoy perusing these wonderful and informative collections from the comfort of your home. Of course there is a wealth of information already digitised on our website, so you could spend endless hours in that comfy chair trawling through the thousands of documents, leaflets, booklets, posters, letters, photos etc. all from grassroots activities in your local Glasgow/Clydeside area, with lots from further afield. Have a look and let's know what you think. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

Spirit of Revolt Big Day.

       Friday May 10th. 2019 was an important date for Spirit of Revolt, of course we have lots of important dates at SoR, but this one marked the occasion of our first collection being entered into the Mitchell Library Archive Catalogue and will now be available in the reading room of the archive department on the 5th. floor. Spirit of Revolt has 38 collections listed on its website, and others in the pipeline. Most of them contain thousands of documents and most have a considerable number of those documents scanned and on line to read on the website https://spiritofrevolt.info However the Allan Burnett is the first collection to be completely, scanned and on line. Hence our pride in seeing it now being readily available for the public through both our own website and the Mitchell Library Archive Catalogue.
         The scanning process is slow and time consuming, but the backbone of getting our material on line to make it easily accessible to the public at large. Have a look at our website and see what we stand for, and if you feel you would like to volunteer to be part of that operation then you can contact us at info@spiritofrevolt.info

 

       Our archivist, Paula, in the middle, and wrinkly old me, handing over the completed Allan Burnett Collection to a Mitchell archivists. 

     A proud Paula handing over to wrinkly old me, the SoR catalogue, that will be available in the reading room of the Mitchell Library Archive Department.

      A proud moment when I sit down and peruse the Spirit of Revolt, Allan Burnett Collection catalogue that will be available to the public in the reading room of the Mitchell Library Archive Department.  

       A big thank you to all those who made this possible.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

"Writers For Miners" Free CD.

        Spirit of Revolt is anarchist/libertarian-socialist archive dedicated to preserving and making easily accessible to the public at large, Glasgow/Clydeside grass-roots history of struggle. We are not connected to any political party or trade union nor do we receive any funding from any of these organisation. We are a volunteer group who give our time freely, however in a capitalist society funds are a necessary evil to survive and grow. We rely on our various outreach programs to raise funds, and the much appreciated supporters who have signed a direct debit to help sustain this project, to them, a great big thank you.
         In an endeavour to increase our funds and help secure the project, we are, for a limited period offering a CD and booklet, Writers for Miners, to anyone who signs up a direct debit for £5 or more, to Spirit of Revolt. It will be free delivery in the UK, further afield we would have to look at the cost. Have a look at our website https://spiritofrevolt.info, if you like what we are doing and think we are doing a good job, then the price of a couple of coffees a month would be much appreciated.

Details of the CD and booklet:

The Writers for Miners Events, 1984

      In 1984-85 events known as “Writers for Miners” took place on consecutive Saturdays in Glasgow’s 3rd Eye Centre to raise funds for striking coal miners at local pits in one of the most significant industrial disputes in world history.
      With 140,000 out on strike the Thatcher Government planned to break the power of the NUM union, the most well organised group of workers in the country. With 11,291 arrests and lasting 1 year it unleashed massive state repression, brutality and violence. The other unions largely did not show solidarity and the strike failed, opening the door to the destruction of working class communities, job insecurity and privatisation.
      Performers, poets, visual artists and others decided to support the striking miners in Scotland and formed artists-in-Solidarity which organised fundraising for the miners’ families by holding events. This CD is a recording of those events. James Kelman explains, “Radical history is marginalised by the State and events of this nature should be recorded otherwise they are forgotten. The STUC offered to part-fund the project but on this occasion failed to come up with the money. We still went ahead. It was hoped that a selection of songs, poetry and prose-readings might be produced eventually in the form of a couple of albums (all proceeds to the miners’ strike fund). It didn’t happen, for one reason or another…The original project was launched in support of the miners and their families. Those days may have gone but solidarity and comradeship haven’t. All proceeds from the sale of the Writers for Miners album will go toward the Spirit of Revolt (S.O.R.) Archive, in appreciation of the crucial work carried out by the S.O.R. volunteers in the preservation of radical history”.

In 1984, those involved were,

Norman McCaig, Freddy Anderson, Hamish Henderson,

 Duncan Maclean, Kathleen Jamie and Robert Alan Jamieson,

 Donald Saunders, Peter Nardini, Rab Noakes,

Nancy Nicolson, Alasdair Gray, Jeff Torrington, Agnes Owens,
Carl MacDougall, James Kelman, Archie Hind, Donald Saunders,

Tom Leonard, Edwin Morgan, Edward Boyd, Danny Kyle, 

Tom McGrath, Jeff Torrington, Agnes Owens, Archie Hind. 

Where will you get such a fabulous collection of performers on one CD?

         You can contact us at our donate page, https://spiritofrevolt.info/donate/ or at  info@spiritofrevolt.info Set up your Direct debit, send us your address and we will forward the CD and booklet. In anticipation we thank you for your support.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Once Upon A Time------

       Due to various pressures, Spirit of Revolt's   "Read of the Month" has missed a couple of months, but we have managed to get one in for March, just in time. It is from our John Cooper collection-T SOR 3-52-62. It is called Once Upon A Time There Was A Place Called Nothing Hill Gate----.

      It is a fascinating and informative history of the Notting Hill area and the Notting Hill Carnival. Well worth a read. Hopefully we will be back up to speed and get these little gems from our archive up on a regular monthly basis. We have thousands of documents and reports of actions and people already digitised so you can read them on line and we add to this wealth of information on a regular basis. So why not visit our archive regularly and dip into the wealth of documents and writings of historical events, people and their actions for that better world. Our main focus is the Glasgow/Clydeside area, though as you can see by our March "Read of the Month", we do travel much further afield. 

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

Our History, Spirit of Revolt.

         Spirit of Revolt Archive is an extensive collection of Glasgow/Clydeside non-party political struggles of ordinary people. We have rare one of documents from away back, to papers, books, magazines, leaflets and banners, etc. right up to date, plus international papers and memorabilia. As volunteers we work hard at making this material available and easily accessible to the general public by digitalising as much as possible, as quickly as possible and putting it up on our website. The range of subject matter is as varied as the people in the area we try to cover, and we consider it a very important party of the history of the ordinary people. 

           One of the latest additions to the digitalised collection is two issues of The Wolverine, a London based publication whose headline is gay voices of hostility, you can read them HERE:
           All this work is done by volunteers who give hours of their time to managing the collection and sitting scanning this material and putting it on line. Sadly time and effort is not always enough, in this capitalist world we do need money, there are always on-going needs from stationery to equipment to web hosting, but our biggest outlay is having to pay for an archivist to catalogue the collection to international standard. I'm sure there are lots of you out there with a few quid extra in your pockets and who think what we do is really worth while and are worth supporting. We are very grateful for any donation, £2, £5, or what ever, either as a one of donation or as a standing order. Thanking you in anticipation of your generosity.

Details:

 

 Unity Trust Bank plc.

 Account name: Spirit of Revolt

 Account number: 20290793

 Sort code: 60-83-01

You can contact us at info(at)spiritofrevolt(dot)info 

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The People's History Of Struggle.

        I would like to take this opportunity to talk to you about “Spirit of Revolt”, this is an archive of struggles by the ordinary people, no party political material or support, no trade union history or support, simply a record of the direct actions by people in their daily battles for a better life and for justice. The material we collect is from and about, activists dead and living, events major and small, mainly from the Glasgow/Clydeside area. Why do we feel passionate about, collecting and preserving this material? It is obvious that if you write a history and a large slice of that history is ignored or lost, then you are getting an inaccurate record, a false history, a jigsaw with parts missing. If history fails to record the day to day struggles of the ordinary people, which in many cases it does, then that people become a people without a history. However the ordinary people are certainly not without a history, they have a rich history of ingenuity, resilience, imagination, courage and endless struggles against injustice. It is important to have this recorded and preserved and made easily accessible to the people, it is a history of which we can all be very proud.
      We at Spirit of Revolt feel we do a very important job, all of us are volunteers, most are deeply involved in that history. Our aim is to collect and preserve this material, but not to have it gather dust on some shelves in dark corners of a back room. We wish to bring it alive, make it easily accessible to the public at large, by digitalising it and putting on our website for all to see, read, and hopefully learn from. We also hold exhibitions highlighting events from that grass-roots working class history, hoping that it will help people to see the value of their own history and learn from that history. 

From our poster collection.

       Sadly we live in a capitalist world, and though we are volunteers, we do have costs. Our biggest cost being the need to have a qualified archivist to catalogue this material to international standards, for ease of access and study. There are other cost involved, web design and hosting, computers, scanners and other miscellaneous equipment. All of this trying to raise funds, takes up our time, time that we could devote to the archive itself, improving access, and developing outreach projects.
        So now the pitch, if you think we do a good job, which you think is valuable, and you would like to see us continue, then perhaps you can be tempted to support us financially in some small way, no donation is too small. It can be a one of donation, or better still a small monthly direct debit donation of say two, or five pounds a month, or what ever you feel you can afford. We will be extremely grateful for every donation, you can rest assured it will help us to prolong and improve the archive and its accessibility.

 Unity Trust Bank plc.

 Account name: Spirit of Revolt

 Account number: 20290793

 Sort code: 60-83-01

 Contact us with any questions and enquiries.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk