The October Club
Founded1931 (1931) (originally)
2022 (2022) (officially reconstituted)
TypeStudent political society
Location
Websitehttps://theoctober.club/

The October Club is an independent communist organisation made up of students at University of Oxford, founded in December 1931.[1][2]

Its stated aim is to 'be a political home for radical students at the university and channel enthusiasm into building a long-term base of student-worker-community power at Oxford'. Alongside communism, it also stresses its commitment to abolition, trans-liberatory feminism, and anti-imperialism.

History

1930s

Founded with the object of ‘the study of communism in its world social, economic and cultural aspects’,[1] within its first year it gained some 300 members[1] out of a total population of approximately 5000[3][4] undergraduates.

Amongst its founders were Noel Carritt,[5] Frank Meyer[6] and Dick Freeman.[7]

Initially, it was highly critical of the Communist Party, but by the Spring of 1932, the club's core activists (approximately ten) had joined the party.[6]

According to some contemporaries, it was largely a discussion group, attracting speakers such as H. G. Wells, Bernard Shaw, Ivor Montagu, and Shapurji Saklatvala.[1] However, the club did take part in a number of political actions including organising a delegation to meet hunger marchers passing through Oxford on their journey from Lancashire to London, and participating in sometimes violent protests in 1933 against the rise of fascism in Oxford, both in the university and the city.[1]

Such was the violence of this period, that, in 1933, communist and socialist students from Ruskin College founded the anti-fascist Red Shirts and volunteered to act as stewards to defend events held by the October Club.[8]

Later in 1933, the club was banned by the university, ostensibly for its criticism of the Officers' Training Corps.[9] In 1935, the club officially dissolved itself into the Labour Club, forming a 'popular front'.[3][4]

After its dissolution, it remained as an unofficial and unrecognised society for many years.

2020s

In Trinity Term 2022, the club officially re-formed and was recognised by the Student Union with the stated aim to 'be a political home for radical students at the university and channel enthusiasm into building a long-term base of student-worker-community power at Oxford'.[2]

Upon its refounding, it had no affiliation with any national communist or socialist organisation.[2]

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Bowie, Duncan (2018). Reform and revolt in the city of dreaming spires : radical, Socialist and Communist politics in the city of Oxford 1830-1980. London: University of Westminster Press. p. 307. ISBN 9781912656127.
  2. 1 2 3 "the October Club". Oxford Student Union. n.d. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 Smith, Cameron (1989). Unfinished Journey: The Lewis Family. Toronto: Summerhill Press. p. 197. ISBN 0-929091-04-3.
  4. 1 2 Smith, Cameron (1989). Unfinished Journey: The Lewis Family. Toronto: Summerhill Press. p. 554. ISBN 0-929091-04-3.
  5. 1 2 Communist Party of Britain (2020). Red Lives Communists and the struggle for socialism. Croydon: Manifesto Press Cooperative Limited. p. 30. ISBN 9781907464454.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Whitehead, Andrew (2019). The lives of Freda: the political, spiritual and personal journeys of Freda Bedi. New Delhi: Speaking Tiger. ISBN 978-9388070751.
  7. ↑ Hertford College (1997). "The Hertford College Magazine". The Hertford College Magazine (82): 188.
  8. ↑ Renton, Dave (1996). Red Shirts and Black: Fascists and Anti-Fascists in Oxford in the 1930s. Oxford: Ruskin College Library. p. 18. ISBN 0900183-19-5.
  9. ↑ Wood, Neal (1959). Communism and British intellectuals. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 51. ISBN 9780231880053.
  10. ↑ Graham, Stevenson (19 September 2008). "Jack Dunman". GrahamStevenson.me.uk.
  11. 1 2 "Papers of Adam von Trott". Balliol College Archives & Manuscripts. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  12. 1 2 Palmer, William (1998). "Sir Richard Southern Looks Back: A Portrait of the Medievalist as a Young Man". Virginia Quarterly Review (Winter). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  13. ↑ Saville, John (5 December 2002). "François Lafitte Analyst who highlighted the 1940 refugee scandal". TheGuardian.com.
  14. ↑ "the October Club". Oxford Student Union. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  15. ↑ Meddick, Simon; Payne, Liz; Katz, Phil (2020). Red Lives: Communists and the Struggle for Socialism. London: Manifesto Press Cooperative Limited. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-907464-45-4.
  16. ↑ Duncan, Alistair (24 February 2010). "The Thirties: An Intimate History". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  17. ↑ Noorani, A.G. (10 August 2012). "A versatile communist". Frontline.
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