Political Papers of Herbert Colin Creighton

Collection contains material relating to the political life of Colin Creighton, and includes some material relating to his wife Marion's political and campaign work for various Hull women's groups.

Material includes files relating to the Chile Solidarity Campaign (national organisation, regional Yorkshire branches, and Humberside branch) [U DX185/1], the Hull Latin American Committee [U DX185/3] and associated national campaigns relating to Latin American countries (mostly

Chile, Argentina, and El Salvador) [U DX185/2], and various local Hull political campaigns and organisations (including Amnesty International, Hull Anarchists Group, Armstrong's Defence Committee, CND and END, Child Poverty Action Group, Communist Party, Development Education Committee, Health Cuts Campaign, International Marxist Group, National Abortion Campaign, Race and Equality Council, Socialist Books, and other miscellaneous socialist groups) [U DX185/4].

Files contain a variety of material, usually correspondence, circulars, minutes, reports, information sheets, newsletters, political statements, posters, flyers, leaflets etc.

Herbert Colin Creighton (known as Colin), was a lecturer in Sociology at the University of Hull's Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology. He and his wife Marion were residents of the HU5 area of Hull and were involved in various local socialist political groups and campaigns. He was a committee member of the Hull Chile Solidarity Campaign (CSC) and also of the Hull Latin American Campaign (LAC). His wife undertook much work on behalf of various Hull women's groups, and was a committee member of the Hull National Abortion Campaign (NAC).

The Humberside CSC was a local branch of the national organisation, and operated within the Yorkshire region of the organisation. The national CSC was formed in 1973 in response to a coup d'etat led by General Augusto Pinochet on 11 September 1973. The coup resulted in the deposing of Salvador Allende's Popular Unity coalition government. Allende had won the presidential election of 1970 and the government, under his leadership, was responsible for the introduction of radical reforms. Natural resources were taken back from US companies and were nationalised. A welfare state was established, and land reform was accelerated. Although popular with the people of Chile, and inspite of a growing share of the electoral vote, Allende's government was unpopular with the military junta. As a result of the coup, tens of thousands of people were tortured and killed. Many were imprisoned, and hundreds of thousands of people fled or were expelled. The junta imposed extreme economic policies to the detriment of the working class. Over 2500 Chilean exiles settled in Britain. The intention of the CSC was to influence British governmental policy towards the military junta in Chile, and they worked in conjunction with protest movements within Chile. CSC members campaigned for an end to the oppressive tactics used by the military junta. They also attempted to bring attention to the atrocities being committed by Pinochet against opponents of his regime. Democracy was eventually restored to Chile in 1990, and shortly afterwards the activities of the Chile Solidarity Campaign ceased activities.

The Hull LAC was a local branch of a national organisation whose purpose was to raise awareness of human rights abuses in Latin American countries, as well as to monitor government policy towards these countries. Of particular interest to the LAC were El Salvador and Argentina.

The Hull NAC was part of the wider national organisation which was formed in 1975 to defend the Abortion Act 1967 from proposed alterations under the James White Abortion Amendment Bill of February 1975. The group successfully prevented the amendments and went on to campaign in favour of abortion and improved facilities throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 2003 the NAC merged with the Abortion Law Reform Association to form the 'Abortion Rights' group.

U DX185/1 Chile Solidarity Campaign (CSC)

U DX185/2 Other Latin American Campaigns (National)

U DX185/3 Hull Latin American Committee

U DX185/4 Other Hull Organisations

Access will be granted to any accredited reader

Various

Donated in two parts (1989/16 and 2009/12) by Colin Creighton

The following list is by no means exhaustive but will give pointers towards further material available on local socialist subjects and Chile.

Held at Hull History Centre:

1. Papers of Eric Lubbock [U DEL tbc]

2. Papers of John Saville [U DJS]

3. Papers of Tony Topham [U DTO]

4. Papers of John Platts-Mills [U DPM]

5. Papers of the International Marxist Group [U DMG/3]

6. Archives of Liberty (formerly the National Council for Civil Liberties) [U DCL]

Held at Other Repositories:

1. Papers of Judith Hart, Labour MP, Minister for Overseas Development (1967-1968), and prominent supporter of the Chile Solidarity Campaign. Collection held at the Labour History Archive and Study Centre (LHASC), based at the head office of the People's History Museum and managed by the John Rylands University Library of Manchester.

2. Press cuttings on Judith Hart's political career. Collection held at the Labour History Archive and Study Centre (LHASC), based at the head office of the People's History Museum and managed by the John Rylands University Library of Manchester.

3. Working papers of the Chile Solidarity Campaign from foundation in 1973 to close in 1991. Includes records of local, student and trade union bodies who joined the campaign for Chilean democracy. Collection held at the Labour History Archive and Study Centre (LHASC), based at the head office of the People's History Museum and managed by the John Rylands University Library of Manchester.

4. Minutes, reports and case files on the Chile Committee for Human Rights - Derbyshire Area. Collection held at Derbyshire Record Office.

5. National Abortion Campaign Archives. Collection held at the Wellcome Library and has been referenced as SA/NAC.