Friends’ Hall, Lancaster, Fenton Street, venue for some of Lancaster LNU’s branch meetings
© Janet Nelson
League of Nations Union (LNU) Headquarters encouraged branches to provide a suitable programme to educate LNU members and the public about the League of Nations but they were also concerned about the quality and whether or not the speakers were too dull to engage the members’ attention (1).
In Lancaster, criticised in the ‘Lancaster Guardian’ for running such meetings in 1927, the Secretary, Mrs Dowbiggin replied:
‘Whether those who attend out meetings find them ‘dull’ is shown by the fact that our attendance is never below 30 and quite often lately near 100, whilst our retiring funds vary between 10s to 30s [50p-£1.50]. The ordinary monthly meetings are purposely educational … We have many social aids, garden meetings, garden parties and now a children’s play, so that we do try to make the meetings interesting.’
References/Further Reading:
(1) D. S. Birn, 1981. The League of Nations 1919-1945. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Lancaster Guardian, 29 Jan 1927, 23 Mar 1929 & 26 Jan 1924.