National Co-operative Archive

Located in central Manchester, the National Co-operative Archive is home to a wide array of records relating to the history of the worldwide co-operative movement. The collections include rare books, periodicals, manuscripts, films, photographs and oral histories, and provide researchers with an unrivalled resource for the development of the co-operative movement, from the initial ideas of the eighteenth century to the present day.

As membership based organisations, co-operatives have always involved a wide range of people and form a valued part of their communities. The National Co-operative Archive provides a host of research opportunities on a whole range of subjects, including:

Prominent Co-operators

The history of the co-operative movement is full of prominent individuals that have played a part in its development and success. The National Co-operative Archive holds many interesting correspondence collections of these individuals, including papers of Robert Owen, George Jacob Holyoake and Edward Owen Greening.

Co-operative Societies

We hold many records relating to individual co-operative societies, including national organisations and some local societies. These include minute books of society committees, financial records, photographs, reports, registers, letters and histories. These records are useful for researching family history, national and local events, and for learning about the formation of co-operative societies.

Dividend and Tokens

In most businesses, the profits made would benefit the owners or shareholders. In co-operatives, the profits of the business are shared with members in the form of a ‘dividend’, also called the ‘divi’. The National Co-operative Archive holds books and pamphlets giving detailed accounts of the history of the co-operative dividend.

Advertising

Many of the collections at the National Co-operative Archive contain records relating to advertising and packaging. These records can be particularly useful when researching old products, looking at the history of advertising, and for social historians. They give a nostalgic view of consumer culture and the trends of the past.

Film and Photographs

The co-operative movement was active in making film from the turn of the nineteenth century. The films were aimed at promoting co-operative ideas and values to show non-members the benefits of membership of a co-operative society. The co-operative movement also produced advertisments for particular societies or products.

Education

Co-operative members have participated in adult education through their societies since the middle of the nineteenth centuries and co-operatives ran their own libraries long before the Public Libraries Act led to the involvement of local authorities. The catalogues of these libraries give a fascinating picture of reading habits.

Fashion

The collections can be used to research both changes in fashion and the manufacture of clothing and shoes, as the co-operative movement manufactured functional work wear along with more fashionable items. Some journals also encouraged readers to sew and knit their own garments by producing patterns. The majority of the collections range in date from the early 1900s to the 1960s and show the change in attitudes to fashion from the ‘make do and mend’ ethos of the war years to the more flamboyant styles of the 1960s and 70s.

Youth

Young people are involved in the co-operative movement in different ways, with youth groups such as the Woodcraft Folk, educational activities, events and running their own societies. The journals are a particularly useful source of information on young people and co-operatives.

Wartime

The co-operative movement took an active role in the war effort and The National Co-operative Archive holds a great deal of information in a variety of media relating to both World Wars I and II. Societies continued to provide for their members with services and used their publications such as the Co-operative News and other journals to provide news of the war and advice on how to cope with rationing and blackouts.

Architecture

Editions of the Co-operative News give information on opening ceremonies of buildings as well as progress of construction. The Archive holds journals which provide information on the interior design of buildings and photographs showing the construction and special symbols used in building designs.