Central Labour College
The Central Labour College, also known as The Labour College, was a British higher education institution that provided independent working class education from 1909 to 1929. The college was founded by trade unions as an alternative to existing educational institutions, with the explicit aim of providing Marxist-influenced education for the working class outside the control of traditional academic establishments.
Established in Oxford as a direct response to the Ruskin College strike of 1909, the Central Labour College represented a significant development in the British labour movement of the early 20th century. The college was financially supported primarily by the National Union of Railwaymen and the South Wales Miners' Federation, reflecting the strong connection between industrial trade unions and educational advancement. Under the leadership of Dennis Hird, who had been dismissed from Ruskin College for supporting the striking students, the institution moved to Earl's Court, London in 1911 and became officially recognised by the Trades Union Congress in 1915.
The college played a crucial role in training a generation of Labour politicians and trade union leaders, with notable alumni including Aneurin Bevan, Jim Griffiths, and Arthur Jenkins. The institution's educational philosophy emphasised dialectical materialism and aimed to teach workers "how to think" rather than "what to think", distinguishing it from other adult education providers of the era. The college's closure in 1929, precipitated by the Great Depression and the withdrawal of financial support from the mining unions, marked the end of a significant chapter in British adult education and working-class political development.
Background
The Plebs' League and independent working-class education
The origins of the Central Labour College lay in the growing dissatisfaction among working-class students with the approach taken by existing adult education institutions. The Plebs' League, founded in October 1908 by students and former students at Ruskin College, Oxford, represented a core group of Marxist-influenced activists who sought to establish truly independent working-class education. The League took its name from the plebs, the common people of ancient Rome, symbolising its commitment to education controlled by and for the working class rather than philanthropic or paternalistic institutions. The movement's intellectual lineage can be traced back to the Marxist study classes that James Connolly organised in Scotland in 1903, through their tutors such as William Paul, who was prominent in the Plebs League, the Socialist Labour Party, the Communist Party and later the National Council of Labour Colleges.The movement for independent working-class education was based on the principle that "the working class should produce its own thinkers and organisers" and sought to create educational sites "beyond the authority of the state" and controlled directly by the working class. This philosophy stood in direct opposition to the approach taken by institutions such as the Workers' Educational Association, which working-class activists viewed as insufficiently radical and too closely tied to establishment interests.
The Ruskin College strike of 1909
The immediate catalyst for the establishment of the Central Labour College was the Ruskin College strike of March-April 1909. The strike, which lasted from 26 March to 6 April 1909, was organised by students who conducted a boycott of lectures in protest at the college's educational approach and governance. The strike was led by figures such as Noah Ablett, a miner from the Rhondda, who became central to organising the student rebellion and was later described as playing a key role as "midwife of IWCE and author of The Miners' Next Step".The striking students objected to Ruskin's refusal to teach historical materialism and Marxist economics, arguing that the college was failing to provide the kind of class-conscious education that working-class students required. The conflict came to a head when the college authorities dismissed several students and refused to compromise on curricular matters, leading to a complete breakdown in relations between the students and the college administration.
Establishment
Following the failure of the Ruskin College strike, the Plebs' League organised a conference at Oxford on 2 August 1909, attended by approximately 200 trade union representatives. A resolution was passed calling for the establishment of a Central Labour College to provide independent working class education, outside of the control of the University of Oxford and other establishment institutions. The provisional committee controlling the new college was to consist of representatives of Labour, Co-Operative and Socialist societies, following the model of the Labour Representation Committee.The college was supported financially by the National Union of Railwaymen and the South Wales Miners' Federation. The college was headed by Dennis Hird, who had been dismissed as principal of Ruskin for supporting the striking students. The college initially operated from two rented houses in Bradmore Road, Oxford, before moving to Earl's Court, London in 1911.
Educational philosophy and curriculum
The Central Labour College distinguished itself from other adult education institutions through its explicitly Marxist educational philosophy and commitment to dialectical materialism. The college's approach was based on the principle of teaching workers "how to think" rather than "what to think", emphasising critical analysis and class consciousness over vocational training or cultural enrichment. This pedagogical approach aimed to develop independent thinkers capable of leading the labour movement rather than merely producing skilled workers for existing economic structures.The curriculum was comprehensive and theoretically rigorous, explicitly stating that it was "grounded on a Marxist basis" and designed to provide students with a complete understanding of historical materialism and socialist theory. By 1914, the college was teaching students to "look for the causes of social evils and the problems arising therefrom in the material foundations of society; that these causes are in the last resort economic; that their elimination involves in the first place economic changes of such a character as to lead to the eradication of capitalist economy".
Core subjects included the History of Socialism in England, examining figures such as John Lilburne and Gerrard Winstanley, and "The Science of Understanding", which focused on historical materialism and Marx's conception of humans as "the historical products of social evolution - the self-made products of their own social activities ". Students also studied the Trade Unions and Law, the Industrial Revolution, Imperialism, Advanced Economics and Economic Geography, and Sociology. The curriculum was designed to integrate theoretical understanding with technical expertise, covering both elementary education for rank and file workers and more advanced education for those capable of carrying their studies further.
The college's teaching staff reflected its commitment to independent working-class education. Beyond Dennis Hird, who served as the first Principal, the college employed William Craik as Vice-Principal from 1910, who later became Principal following Hird's death in 1920. Other core faculty members included George Sims, who served as Secretary and co-leader, Alfred Hacking, who taught English grammar and literature, and Fred Charles, who instructed students in industrial and political history. The college also attracted notable visiting lecturers, including Frank Horrabin, Winifred Batho, Rebecca West, Emily Wilding Davison, H. N. Brailsford, Arthur Horner, and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence.
Student life at the college was characterised by intense intellectual engagement and political debate. The educational environment fostered vigorous discussion, with students such as Aneurin Bevan famously engaging in political arguments "into the small hours most nights". This atmosphere of intellectual ferment was precisely what the college's founders had intended, creating a space where working-class students could develop their analytical capabilities and political consciousness away from the constraints of traditional academic institutions.
Publications and educational materials
The college and its associated Plebs' League developed an active publishing programme to support their educational mission. The Plebs Magazine became a key vehicle for promoting independent working-class education, with circulation reaching 6,000 copies monthly by the climactic period around 1920. The publications department, established in 1917, sold more than 25,000 copies of pamphlets such as What Does Education Mean to the Workers? demonstrating the reach of the college's educational influence beyond its residential students.Among the most significant publications was Mark Starr's A Worker Looks at History, described as "an accessible and considerable contribution to 'history from below'". Similarly, Noah Ablett's Easy Outline of Economics enjoyed wide circulation, providing working-class readers with accessible introductions to Marxist economic theory. These publications represented a significant attempt to create educational materials specifically designed for working-class audiences, free from the academic jargon that characterised much university-based adult education.
Women's involvement and the Women's Labour College initiative
The Central Labour College's relationship with women's education reflected both the progressive aspirations and the limitations of the early 20th-century labour movement. Between 1909 and 1912, Mrs Bridge Adams made ambitious attempts to establish a Women's Labour College, efforts that were "stamped with some of the assertion of the pre-1914 movement". She emphasised the need to develop women activists in the unions, inquiring "where are the sisters of the young men who are doing such good work for their class in South Wales?"However, these efforts proved largely unsuccessful and gave way to the Women's League of the Central Labour College, which embraced socialists such as Dora Montefiore of the British Socialist Party and Rebecca West of The Clarion, as well as women trade unionists such as Grace Neal, General Secretary of the Domestic Workers Union. While it was urged that "the education of our working class women is just as important as that of the working class men", the role of the League was seen as subordinate and ancillary: to raise funds, establish a women's hostel and enrol more women students.
The experiment was largely a failure in terms of student recruitment. Apparently only three women studied at the Central Labour College: Alice Smith of the Lancashire Textile Operatives, Mary Howarth, and Jean Dott. The approach taken reflected the limitations of the era, with little attention paid to feminist arguments and women's specific oppression, as "there was no sex war only class war; men were as much its victims as women".