Victoria Building, University of Liverpool.
Superchilum
Prof Roxby was Professor of Geography at Liverpool University in the 1920s and 1930s and an expert on China. He lectured nationwide on the subject to several different organisations, including the League of Nations Union (LNU). He gave a talk to the Crosby branch of the LNU in the spring of 1929, which was attended by several pupils of the Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School Junior Branch of the LNU. (1) Prof Roxby suggested that the League of Nations could be taught through Geography lessons in schools at the Conference of Educational Associations at University College, London in 1929. He argued that it would be a natural and easy approach to the study of the League. (2)
Prof Roxby was also a founder and Governor of the British Association for International Understanding. The Association aimed to give unbiased information about the peoples of other countries, their histories, needs and outlooks, and other international matters behind the news. It produced a fortnightly pamphlet, costing three pence. Each issue surveyed a particular country or subject. An article in The ‘Liverpool Daily Post’ suggested that the pamphlets had been invaluable, particularly to teachers, because ‘the dispassionate surveys assisted the education of democracy.’ (3)
References/Further Reading:
(1) Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ Magazine, Summer 1929, p.28. Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School Archives.
(2) The Burnley News, 4 Jan 1928.
(3) Liverpool Daily Post, 30 Sep 1939.