| Description | Incomplete sequence of bound and unbound copies of student newspaper that began as a short news sheet of two or three pages in February 1936 and gradually expanded to around eleven pages by 1962. Regular features throughout its existence include Guild Council news; fixtures and results for student sports teams; student society news; Carnival news; and Guild social events. Letters to the editor begin in 1938. During the period before the Second World War there are a number of articles about the lecture system enquiry; complaints about Union building facilities, particularly at Edmund Street, and student demands for a mixed common room at the Edmund Street site; student pressure for a university gymnasium; and the need for reform of the halls of residence, particularly Chancellor's Hall. From the time of the Munich Crisis in 1938 there are an increasing number of articles about the international situation including the aftermath of the Civil War in Spain, calls for air raid shelters at the University, and an article about conscription 11 May 1939. The first wartime issue of Guild News, on 2 October 1939, contains an article about students and war, and from this point onwards the newspaper carries regular reports of student debates on issues relating to the war and news items on the effect of the war on the University and student life. The issue for 25 January 1940 contains a list of members of the University engaged on various forms of National Service, and there are reports on the work of university departments in war time; appeals to help refugee students; and an article about the evacuation of Kings College Anatomy Department to Birmingham in 1940. The impact of air raids on Birmingham is illustrated by articles on fire watching, evening curfews imposed on the Guild building during air raids, and appeals for students to help with post blitz relief work in Birmingham city centre. Debates at the Guild during this time focus on race and nationality in Europe and pacifism and conscientious objection, and there is coverage of the Soviet Union at war from autumn 1942, India under British rule and the struggle for independence, and concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Central Europe immediately after the war. There are regular columns from Edmund Street during the 1940s, and also reports about social events held at the Overseas Club from 1944 onwards. From October 1942 Guild News was published fortnightly with typescript Guild News bulletins issued in the intervening weeks. The newspaper reverted to weekly publication during the late 1940s.
Post war issues of Guild News cover Guild elections in more detail with photographs of candidates and officers. Student society reports are less frequent, but there are still items about society activities and social events. There are also regular articles about travel in Europe, often from the point of view of students who have visited different countries, or who have studied there. A regular feature entitled 'personality of the week' later changed to 'profile' begins in the mid 1950s, focusing on individual students and including a photograph and brief biographical article. This no longer appears by 1960. Guild Theatre Group productions are reviewed from 1949, and there are a number of articles about the University development plan and the construction of new buildings on the Edgbaston campus including the Mechanical Engineering building in 1954, and the Main Library, Sports Centre, Haworth building, Chemical Engineering and Civil Engineering buildings in 1961. There are news items about a new hall of residence at Manor House in 1953, and about its opening in January 1954, and about the expansion of the Guild building in 1956 and 1961. The Edmund Street column continues until the Arts and Law faculties moved to Edgbaston in autumn 1960, and there was a special Edmund Street edition published 1 July 1960 containing articles by staff and students who had worked in the Edmund Street building over the years. Concerns about student accommodation are a theme during the 1950s, particularly expenses for those living in both halls of residence and private lodgings, and there is an article on the University Grant sub-committee report on the role of halls of residence in October 1957, and the first mention of plans for new halls of residence on the Vale site in March 1960. Immigration, problems of racism in Birmingham, and the presence of international students at the University becomes an issue during this period, particularly during the early 1960s around the time of the first Immigration Act, which came into law in 1962. There is an article about 'colonial' students in February 1951, and a report about events for international students at the Freshmens Conference of 1956 together with information about the Africa Society. There are a cluster of features about the work of the Student Committee Against Racial Segregation in 1961 and early 1962, and opposition to the work of this group by groups and individuals perceived to be more radical, including Shirley Fossick and Dharam Vir. There are also a number of reports about Oswald Mosley and his supporters speaking in Birmingham, as well as others with extreme right wing views. Other evidence of student interest in the city of Birmingham can be seen in articles about student work in Newtown with the Birmingham Settlement in November 1961, and about post-war development of the city centre. There is also coverage of issues of national and international significance including the Suez crisis of 1956, the publication of the Wolfenden Report, and debates around Apartheid and the nuclear arms race.
Comprehensive indexes for issues of Guild News for the academic years 1958-1959, 1959-1960, 1960-1961 and 1961-1962 1962-1963 are available as pdf documents. Click on the link in the document field in the collection description UB/GUILD
Digital copies of issues of Guild News September 1958 to June 1962 are available as multipage pdf documents online. Click on the link in the url field in the collection description UB/GUILD or on the link in the url field at UB/GUILD/F/4/9 |
| Administrative History | Guild News was a weekly news publication which ran from 1936 to 1962 when it was replaced by Redbrick. It was published and subsidised by the Guild of Undergraduates but aimed to be independent in editorial comment and content. It had a duty to disclose any mismanagement of Guild affairs and to give reasons comment with the aim of 'stimulating and fostering an informed electorate', as stated in the 1954 Freshmen's Conference handbook |