Panel 8: “Beginnings” (1912-1922) Dreams of Wythenshawe

EDUCATION, DEMOCRACY AND TOTALITARIANISM

In the 1930s Shena became a tireless campaigner for educational reform. With free schooling ending at fourteen there existed an educational apartheid in Britain as the majority of working-class parents could not afford to pay for their children to stay on in education. As a member of the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education from 1933-1938, Shena fought to end this division by campaigning for the raising of the leaving age. She ultimately had some success as the committee’s work laid the foundations for post-war universal secondary education. Angered by the government’s education policies Shena joined the Labour Party in 1935 and stood for election in the Moston ward in 1936. Whilst she did not win a place on the council, given her expertise on education she was co-opted to sit on the Education Committee of Manchester City Council.

With economic crisis and the rise totalitarianism in Europe, education was also at the forefront of Ernest’s mind during the 1930s. Worried that British democracy was imperilled by these dangers, Ernest with Eva Hubback founded the Association for Education in Citizenship in 1934. The association campaigned for the introduction of civics education to teach people to respect the importance of democracy and freedom. Later in 1938 and 1939 Ernest explored Switzerland and Scandinavia to discover how democracy worked successfully there.

(Above) Shena in 1934. Source: Shena Simon Papers, Manchester Archives+. (Above) Shena building a national profi le as an educational reformer. The Teachers’ World, 31st October 1934. Source: Shena Simon Papers, Manchester Archives+.

We are to-day in the midst of one of the greatest crises of civilisation. A wave of barbarism is sweeping over the world, unparalleled in history, threatening to destroy everything that is best in human society. Are men to live as free citizens of democracies, or are they to be docile followers of a despot, forced to develop the servile mass mentality which dictators demand from their subjects?

The opening remarks of Ernest’s book The Smaller Democracies (1939) on the battle between democracy and totalitarianism.

Lessons were not only to be drawn from democracies however. In 1936 the Simons set out to study Communist Moscow. Shena examined education and was impressed by the provision of free schooling for all. The Communist Party’s tight control over schools and the propaganda children were subjected to, however, did not escape her critical notice. Ernest meanwhile investigated housing and local government in Moscow. Whilst the repressive nature of the regime was ubiquitous and levels of overcrowding were like nothing he had seen before, Ernest liked how collective ownership of the land facilitated bold town-planning schemes and prevented planning from being thwarted by private interests as had happened in Wythenshawe’s development.

(Right) The Simons recorded their investigation of the Soviet system in their 1937 book Moscow in the Making. In the latter half of the 1930s Wythenshawe started to take shape. The goal of housing 100,000 people edged closer into view as house building continued at a steady rate with over 8,000 new homes constructed by the eve of the Second World War. The health benefi ts of living in Wythenshawe were readily apparent for the new residents too; by 1935 children were already growing to be taller and weighed more than those living in the centre of the city. More factories had opened in designated industrial zones, with the council providing businesses with loans to encourage the emergence of industry. Better amenities for residents materialised too. Several new churches were built and Wythenshawe’s fi rst modern cinema the Forum opened its doors to movie-goers in 1934.

Royal Oak neighbourhood in the mid 1930s. Source: Historic England, ref. EPR000194.

(Above) Source: Manchester Archives+.

(Map above) Zoning plan from the late 1930s. Source: Shena Simon Papers, Manchester Archives+. (Above) Chamberlain House opened by Anne Chamberlain in 1937 provided fl ats for single women. It brought a sense of continental design to 1930s Wythenshawe. Source: Manchester Archives+. In 1937 Wythenshawe welcomed Anne Chamberlain, wife of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Arthur Greenwood, deputy leader of the Labour Party. They toured the estate and attended the opening of new bungalows for older residents as well as fl ats for single women which were named Chamberlain House in recognition of Neville Chamberlain’s earlier work in housing reform. Another major event for Wythenshawe was the opening of Manchester’s new airport at Ringway in 1938. The opening ceremony was massive, witnessing thousands of people fl ocking to see its accompanying RAF display. A few days later the fi rst fl ights took off from Ringway to Bristol and Amsterdam.

Wythenshawe still faced some major challenges. Wythenshawe’s road network was to remain uncompleted until after the Second World War. Moreover, despite the emergence of some light industry in Wythenshawe, the area was not untouched by the dark shadow of unemployment which loomed over Britain. The lack of a nearby employment exchange led in 1939 to a parade of several hundred people organised by the Communist Party demanding better provision for the unemployed in Wythenshawe.

(Below) Source: Manchester Archives+.