Association of Assistant Mistresses

Association of Assistant Mistresses: minutes, 1934-78; Joint Four minutes, 1917-60; Burnham Committee minutes, 1920-43; membership registers, 1953-78; correspondence and subject files, 1920s-70s; News-sheets, 1962-78; Annual Reports, 1885-1978; other publications; branch records (MSS.59).

The Association's early records were destroyed by bombing in the Second World War. Only Annual Reports survive from 1885.

Anna Westmacott Trust : minutes 1938-81; correspondence files, 1907, 1928 (MSS.59).

Teachers' Guild : minutes, 1888-1938; annual reports, 1883/4-1928/9; some financial records, some correspondence files (MSS.59/TG).

Education Reform Council: minutes, 1916-17 (MSS.59/ERC).

Founded in 1884 as the Association of Assistant Mistresses in Secondary Schools Incorporated, the association became the Association of Assistant Mistresses in 1894. It was set up to promote the interests of women teachers in secondary schools in the United Kingdom. British women teaching in similar schools overseas subsequently became eligible to join. In 1921 it ceased to function in Scotland. From 1917 onwards the association acted in co-operation with the Assistant Masters' Association, the Association of Headmistresses and the Headmasters' Association through the Joint Committee of the Four Secondary Associations, more commonly known as the "Joint Four". From 1921 all four organisations had their headquarters in a common building. In 1978 the Association of Assistant Mistresses merged with the Assistant Masters' Association to become the Assistant Masters and Mistresses' Association which then became the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in 1993.

After the liquidation of the Education Guild, the Association of Assistant Mistresses became involved with its legacy. The Guild began in 1884 as the Teachers' Guild, becoming the Teachers' Guild of Great Britain and Ireland in 1884. Then Guild was founded as a central professional body to promote the welfare and independence of teachers and create a closer bond amongst members of the profession. The Guild operated through a number of committees, of which the most significant were the Political Committee, the Education Committee and the Thrift and Benefits Committee. In 1916 the Guild established an Education Reform Council and from 1907 it administered the Anna Westmacott Trust, a charity for female teachers set up in 1897. In 1921 it became the Education Guild and in 1929 it went into voluntary liquidation, at which point the funds of the Anna Westmacott Trust and those of the Teachers' Guild Benevolent Fund were passed over to four trustees, one of whom was to be a representative of the Association of Assistant Mistresses.

Reference: IAAM year books and other publications in MSS.453; A.M.A.: Seventy Years of Progress( London, AMA, [1961]).

This collection is available to researchers by appointment at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. See http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/using/

The initial deposit of the records of the Association of Assistant Mistresses and related organisations was made in 1974. The records are placed in the Centre on indefinite loan.

Link to full catalogue: http://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/AAM

There are no restrictions on the use of this archive, apart from the requirements of copyright law.

This collection has been weeded for duplicates.

Further deposits are not expected.

The Modern Records Centre holds further papers of the Teachers' Guild at (MSS.413). Branch records of the Association of Assistant Mistresses are located at Cambridgeshire County Record Office and Derbyshire Record Office.

See also: Headmasters Association (MSS.58HMA), Headmasters' Conference (MSS.58/HC) and the Association of Head Mistresses (MSS.188). The Modern Records Centre also holds publications of the Assistant Masters' Association (MSS.453/AMA) and papers of the Assistant Masters' and Mistresses' Association, 1974-88 (MSS.299). Further records of the Assistant Masters' Association (including branch records) are located at London University: Institute of Education. Other papers of the Assistant Masters' and Mistresses' Association are located at the National Archives of Northern Ireland. Papers of the Joint Committee of the Four Secondary Associations ("Joint Four") are located at Southampton University Library with branch records at Cambridgeshire County Record Office, Gloucestershire Record Office and the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.