| Description | Records of adult education programmes at Dartington Hall and in the village of Dartington. Includes Sunday evening meetings correspondence of Dorothy Elmhirst and William B Curry with guest lecturers. Lecturers were drawn from London, from the professional lecture circuit, and often from the local community. Lectures sometimes consisted of concerts or music programmes.
Additionally there are records of domestic science courses; and short courses held for southwest teachers between 1928-1933 organised by J J Draper. These courses were held at the Old Parsonage hostel.
Reports of Marjorie Wise and the Rural Extension Department reflect concern over the reorganisation of county school systems and the consequent distancing of rural children from rural life. In effect, this was an an attempt to steer people away from towns and their influence. There are also original records of Wise's survey of village schools in 1930 published as 'English Village Schools' by the Hogarth Press, 1931. These surveys provide individual descriptions of named Devon village primary schools.
Later records document the growth of the Dartington Social Centre, the Adult Education Centre, the Shinners Bridge Centre, and the Youth Club at Meadowbrook, now the Dartington Community Centre. |