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Our volunteer Cynthia uncovers a story from the archives
Cynthia has been working on sorting and listing the Rochdale Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament archive, here is one of the stories she found whilst looking through it:
It’s August 1967. Two young sisters, Noomi, aged 9, and Sally, aged 7, decide to hold a jumble sale in their garden. They sell their toys and books to raise exactly 5 shillings and 5 pence. Why? To send that money to the British peace movement in protest against children being killed in the Vietnam War.
Today, I’m taking you behind the scenes of history. I’m holding the original archives of the CND—the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the UK. And these simple yellow sheets, typed out on a typewriter, reveal the touching and complex reality of 1960s activism.
What’s amazing about this children’s letter is the impact it had. When it was read at a large public meeting in Manchester in front of 150 people, the room was so moved that they immediately put together an impromptu collection, raising 22 pounds—a huge sum back then!
But as you flip through the rest of the file, you also see what went on behind the scenes. Activism wasn’t just about big speeches or historic marches to Aldermaston; it was a constant logistical and financial struggle.
Looking at these 1967 financial statements, you can see the organization was teetering on a bank overdraft and constantly managing debt. To keep going, everything relied on resourcefulness. They sold “Scrap Polaris” badges for a few pence, printed thousands of leaflets on the nuclear threat, and handed out newsletters in factories and universities. Every pamphlet sold helped fund the next one. It was painstaking work carried out by volunteers who had to win over a population that was sometimes weary or indifferent to the threat of the Cold war.
Diving into these yellowed documents reminds us of one key thing: the major social movements that shaped history weren’t run by superheroes. They were run by ordinary people, families, and even children who refused to just stand by and watch.
Behind the big history books, there are always thousands of small human stories like Noomi and Sally’s.
Cynthia also writes about the collection:
What caught my attention in these archives is how modern CND’s message really was.
Beyond the anti-war movement, CND was actually fighting to protect the environment. In section D of the 1968 revolutions, they opposed the government taking over 15,000 acres of countryside in Wales to build an artillery range. The phrase that really stuck me is when they say: ‘turning unspoiled countryside into a graveyard for shells is the absolute negation of progress and peace’. It proves that peace activism wasn’t just about politics- it was also about protection nature.
But that’s not all! On page 3 of the 1969 document, Resolution R completely blew my mind. The CND leadership realized that traditional marches were losing support, so they took inspiration from…. The Rolling Stones! They proposed transforming their protests into a festival in Hyde Park, modelled after the famous ‘ Stones in the park’ free concert, with actors musicians, and comedy sketches.
I found this fascinating because it shows the exact moment activism merged with pop culture and environmental care. It proves that keep a cause alive, you have to innovate, protect what matters, and speak the language of the youth.