Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, 1954 - 2008
Scope and Contents
The Pugwash Archives:
A small quantity of archives relates to the pre-history and early history of the Pugwash movement (mainly the second half of the 1950s), including some relating to Bertrand Russell (instigator of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto) who served as first president of Pugwash (RTBT 5/1/1 - 3). Some appears to have been brought together to inform research into the history of the movement. Drafts of histories and related correspondence are also included (RTBT 5/1/4)
The core archives - representing over half the Pugwash archive in terms of physical quantity - are those relating to Conferences and other meetings, including correspondence regarding planning and arrangement, research papers presented, formal proceedings and notes of discussions. They represent an almost complete series for the period 1957 - 2005, except for some gaps representing meetings near the end of Joseph Rotblat’s life, when he was unable to attend (RTBT 5/22/1-17)
Soon after its origin, Pugwash evolved structures for governance and management. Archives include minutes and meeting papers for the Continuing Committee (consisting of a few key people), of the much larger governing Council into which it evolved, and of the smaller Executive Committee which was created in the 1970s to provide a focus for decision making (see RTBT 5/3/1 - 4).
There is also a considerable amount of correspondence (RTBT 5/4). Some relates to matters of international significance (such as the development of official Pugwash views on issues such as the United Nations Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and other matters , the Vietnam and Iraq Wars); some relates to awards and international recognition of the movement (notably the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded jointly to Pugwash and Joseph Rotblat in 1995); some relates to routine and internal matters. There is also a large quantity of correspondence with Pugwash participants, supporters and other named individuals.
Pugwash was an international movement, but in many countries national groups grew up for those sharing its aims, which organised their own activities and contributed financially to Pugwash activities. The archive includes correspondence with these national groups and some records of their activities and publications, 1959 - 2005 (RTBT 5/5/1 - 2 and RTBT 5/5/6).
From the 1970s, students and other young people were also encouraged to participate and to organise their own activities both nationally and internationally, and there are some records of these activities as well as of the central International Student / Young Pugwash organisation (ISYP) which developed at the end of the twentieth century. (RTBT 5/5/3 - 5)
For the British Pugwash Group (RTBT 5/6), in which Joseph Rotblat played an active role, there are minutes of meetings and more extensive records of its campaigning and publication activities 1960 - 2005, as well as records of the celebrations organised by the Group to mark Joseph Rotblat’s 90th birthday and records of the British Pugwash Trust.
To provide legal structures for the management of contracts, finances, taxation and receipt of charitable donations, formal entities were established, whose sole purpose was to benefit Pugwash and its aims. The Society for Education in the Applications of Science (SEAS) was established as a UK charity in 1968 and wound up in 1991; minutes, accounts and other archives are held 1960 - 1992 (RTBT 5/7/1). Pugwash Limited was established as a company under UK law in 1962 and continues to exist (as at 2013); minutes of Board of Directors meetings, accounts and other archives are held 1962 - 2003 (RTBT 5/7/2). The Pugwash Foundation was established under Swiss law in 1987; some copy minutes, accounts and other archives are held for the period 1984 - 2004 (RTBT 5/7/2; not complete).
In its early days Pugwash activities were run on a voluntary basis, with Rotblat and other members of the Continuing Committee carrying out all the administrative and financial activities themselves, but later an office was set up and secretarial assistance employed. Some archives relating to staff and financial matters, 1958 - 2002 are represented (RTBT 5/8). Offices with their own staff were also established in offices in Rome, Geneva and Washington DC; no records of these are held, though occasionally copies of correspondence with these offices were sent to the London office.
RTBT 5/9 consists of publicity and other material produced by Pugwash together with press cuttings and other papers concerning Pugwash and printed copies of circular emails to which Pugwash subscribed.
RTBT 5/10 is material not strictly relating to Pugwash which originated with Bernard Feld (1919 - 1993), Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who as Secretary General of Pugwash was based at the Pugwash London office in London during the mid 1970s.
Dates
- Creation: 1954 - 2008
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
Biographical / Historical
The Pugwash Conferences:
The purpose of the Pugwash Conferences is to bring together, from around the world, influential scholars and public figures concerned with reducing the danger of armed conflict and seeking cooperative solutions for global problems.
The Pugwash Conferences take their name from the location of the first meeting, held in 1957 in the village of Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada, birthplace of the American philanthropist Cyrus Eaton, who hosted the meeting. The stimulus for that gathering was a Manifesto issued in 1955 by Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein, and signed by Joseph Rotblat amongst other notable scientists, which called upon scientists of all political persuasions to assemble to discuss the threat posed to civilization by the advent of thermonuclear weapons.
From that beginning evolved both a continuing series of meetings at locations all over the world and a rather decentralized organizational structure to coordinate and finance this activity. In the early years Conferences (attended by up to 250 people) were held twice a year, but since the 1970s they have generally been held every 12-18 months. Workshops and Symposia typically involve 30 to 50 participants and are held more frequently. Participants meet in private as individuals, rather than as representatives of governments or institutions. Pugwash is not a membership organisation, but identifies over 3500 ‘Pugwashites’, namely individuals who have attended a Pugwash meeting and are hence considered associated with Pugwash.
The role of Joseph Rotblat:
Joseph Rotblat was central to the activities of Pugwash for nearly fifty years, as well as being one of the eleven signatories of the 1955 Russell-Einstein Manifesto. He served in a number of key positions within the increasingly formal governance and administrative structure which developed to support Pugwash activities.
However, his influence was not confined to formal activities. He attended the majority of Pugwash meetings and provided leadership, guidance and inspiration to all those involved. He wrote and lectured extensively about the organisation and its aims. He also retained the records of its activities: documentation recording the growth and evolution of Pugwash over its first half-century was found in every room of his North London home.
In 1995, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Pugwash and to Joseph Rotblat.
Extent
627 archive box(es)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Much of the material was found in considerable disorder, with papers relating to more than one meeting or activity stored together in one folder, and those relating to a particular meeting or activity widely scattered. For some groups (eg conferences) the arrangement may be close to the original order, but as the collection has been preserved in more than one location, and worked on by several individuals this cannot be confirmed. Papers found associated have been kept together where possible but this may not reflect an original association.
Papers have been rearranged into logical associations where possible, but researchers are advised to note the following:
(a) Because much of the arrangement is artificial, researchers should not place undue significance on the association of archives within a particular group or folder (where original files or other groupings appear to have been significant, they have been retained, and this has been noted in the catalogue).
(b) Papers relating to conferences and other meetings (RTBT 5/2) often include correspondence and papers relating to governance activities such as Council meetings held at the same time as conferences. Similarly, minutes of Council or other governance bodies may include copies of general correspondence
(c) The same set of papers may relate to more than one meeting or activity; for example, Council and Executive Committee meetings often considered the same set of agenda papers.
Where papers concern more than one body or topic, they have generally been included with those described earliest in the catalogue (ie with the lowest reference numbers) so for example a set of papers associated both with a Conference and with an Executive Committee meeting which met during that conference are catalogued with the papers of conferences.
The majority of minutes, directors reports and similar official documentation described in the catalogue the series represent copies (mainly included in agenda papers), not the signed originals. The term ‘minutes’ etc in the catalogue entries refer to such copies, whilst authenticated versions have been identified as ‘signed copy’.
Former / Other Reference
E
Appraisal
The following categories of material have not been retained:
Exact duplicates (Mainly of circular letters or printed conference and seminar papers).
Published ephemera contributing little or no informational value to the collection (for example, advertising flyers and brochures, or tourist brochures used as bookmarks within conference papers).
File covers (except for a few selected ones judged to provide significant information).
Trivia with no context (for example, undated scribbled notes of phone numbers; train tickets found loose in boxes. However such items within a clear context, eg part of a correspondence bundle, have generally been retained).
Financial vouchers (bills, invoices, receipts and similar items used in drawing up final and annual accounts, destroyed following consultation with Pugwash).
Personal financial papers.
Papers concerning property.
Most printed books, journals, magazines and newspapers, press cuttings and offprints (exceptions include some non-British publications; collections of publications and press cuttings assembled for particular purposes).
A very few items not core to the collection but sent to Pugwash in confidence have been destroyed or returned to Pugwash (mainly CVs submitted as speculative or unsuccessful job applications or requesting financial assistance.
General
Information source for 'The Pugwash Conferences': adapted from information on the Pugwash website (http://www.pugwash.org/about.htm; accessed February 2012).
Finding aid date
2012-12-06 09:38:56+00:00
Repository Details
Part of the Churchill Archives Centre Repository
Churchill Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 0DS United Kingdom
+44 (0)1223 336087
archives@chu.cam.ac.uk