I traveled to the University of Bath to look at the A. K. Chesterton Collection as I work on my Colgate University undergraduate thesis. I am studying Chesterton’s relationship with fascism in his later years of his life, when he formed the League of Empire Loyalists (LEL) and later presided over the National Front. Research has been done on the early years of Chesterton’s life and the initial developments that may have led him to adopt fascist ideology. However, I’m more interested in whether or not there truly was a definitive split from fascism, as Chesterton himself claims. Understanding his LEL years may provide some important insight.

When researching the LEL, I was surprised to stumble upon a scrapbook that had been compiled by LEL members. The LEL preferred to lobby by unconventional means, such as political stunts. They would often interrupt Tory Party Conferences with cries of “Save the Empire,” and “Tory Traitors,” and were avidly followed by the press. The scrapbook contained many clippings from these stunts. It is clear that the LEL operated in any way possible that would mean the front cover of the newspaper as its goal was to raise public awareness and influence Conservative policy relating to the Empire.

The scrapbook also contained strategies for the stunts as well. While the stunts of the LEL were widely reported, the group never reached more than 3,000 members. This was far below Chesterton’s goal, which was 20,000 members. Despite the fact that Chesterton never had ambitions for the LEL to become a party, some members did run for seats in Parliament. One such member, Leslie Greene, ran in the North Lewisham Parliamentary Election as an “independent loyalist candidate”. She lost miserably, only garnering 1,487 votes. Her opponents, Labour candidate Niall MacDermot received 18,516 votes and Conservative candidate Norman Farmer received 17,406 votes.

Despite the abundant press coverage of the stunts of the LEL, many of which are glued to the pages of this scrapbook, the LEL never became a prominent force, eventually merging with the British National Party, the Greater Britain Movement and the Racial Preservation Society to form the National Front in 1967. Despite the short life of the LEL, studying Chesterton’s leadership during this time will allow me to evaluate his relationship with fascism in the later years of his life. Chesterton’s time with the LEL is a crucial period in the development of his political ideology and his LEL years may have represented his altered relationship with fascism. The opportunity to review the LEL scrapbook made the research process for my thesis all the more interesting!

…

Article by Anna Pluff ’20, originally published on the University of Bath ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ library page, linked below.

http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/cabinet-of-curiosities/#!/story/30

SHARE

On Thursday, March 7^th, the History Department and campus community gathered in Alumni Hall for Professor Jennifer Hull’s lecture, “The Original Co-eds: The Hamilton Female Seminary and Women at Colgate, 1855-1895,” as part of the Division of Social Sciences Luncheon Seminar Series and the Colgate Bicentennial celebration.

Professor Hull, Bicentennial Research Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of History, spoke to an absolutely full room of students and professors interested in learning about how Colgate arrived at co-education. In her research, Professor Hull looked at not only a timeline of co-education, but also dove into the very question of what it means to have co-education, and how exactly we define it. While Colgate did not officially become co-ed until 1970, Professor Hull found Colgate’s history to be scattered with various manifestations of co-education. There were many cases of women taking courses on campus and even being seemingly well integrated into the fabric of life at Colgate, from early female students, to exchange students, to G.I. wives post WWII. Professor Hull also explored the history of the Hamilton Female Seminary and the possibility that it was, or could have become, a coordinate college of Colgate.

A complete presentation of Professor Hull’s research can be found on the Colgate Bicentennial page linked below.

https://200.colgate.edu/looking-back/moments/enter-women-students

SHARE

Meet Ivan Douglas a two month old kitten. He likes flowers, ukuleles, cat food, and of course history and historians! 

Ivan was a rescue by the Norwich SPCA, and was adopted when he was seven weeks old. His favorite cat food is beef Fancy Feast. Pencils, computer cables, and random twigs also seem to be important components of his diet at the moment, until they are confiscated. He also contemplatively chews on his own tail for a minute or two before recalling that he doesn’t like the flavor. Sadly, Ivan is not a candidate for feline Mensa. He’s extremely sweet-natured, with the softest fur, but his is truly the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He is loved just the same.

SHARE