Clinton, Alan Michael

The collection comprises correspondence, research notes, publications and drafts compiled by Alan Clinton during research for his book Printed Ephemera: Collection, Organisation, Access published by Clive Bingley in 1981 (1976-1980); Correspondence, organisational documents, ephemera, handwritten notes and other material regarding Clinton's involvement with the Oxford University Labour Club and other groupings, including the Socialist Labour League, his time serving on Islington Council, various publications and articles (1964-1990), Trotskyist and other left-wing pamphlets and journals, 1960s-1980s, including Workers Press and Newsline.

Born Dublin, June 1943; came to England with his family when he was 11; studied at Xaverian College, Manchester, and read history at Merton College, Oxford, where he became actively involved with politics as a member of the Labour Party and also joined several socialist and Trotskyite groupings. Clinton gained his PhD at Chelsea College, University of London, researching trades council activity (under Ralph Miliband) and industrial relations were to remain his main intellectual interest, publishing the book The Trade Union Rank And File: Trades Councils in Britain 1900-1940 in 1977. In the 1980s, Clinton wrote books on printed ephemera, libraries, unions, housing and safety at work. His large work, Post Office Workers: A Trade Union And Social History was published in 1984. During the 1970s, Clinton was instrumental in setting up the Workers' Socialist League and devoted much time to its campaigning and publications. In 1982, he was elected to Islington council and almost immediately became chief whip; in 1986, he became deputy leader to Margaret Hodge, and leader himself, 1994-1997. As well as politics, Clinton also taught widely, holding temporary posts at Leeds University, the Bodleian Library, Oxford, Imperial College, South Bank Polytechnic, the Institute of Housing, the Irish Studies Centre and North London Polytechnic. In 1988, he took more permanent employment as a history lecturer at Bristol Polytechnic (subsequently the University of the West of England). Clinton's last work Jean Moulin, 1899-1943: The French Resistance And The Republic was published in 2001. He died in January 2005.

No further arrangement at present.

Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Access to archive collections may be restricted under the Freedom of Information Act. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Gifted to Senate House Library by Owen Clinton and Alison Appleby in April 2005.

A box list has been compiled for this collection.

Compiled by Stefan Dickers on behalf of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Alan Clinton's papers are also held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick (ref. MSS.539). These mainly comprise archives of Trotskyist organisations such as the Workers' Socialist League, circa 1970s-1980s.

None available until listed.