| Description | Meeting Papers and correspondence for the British Psychological Society BPS Centenary Working Party (CWP), 1997.
17 January 1997: Report to the Council Colloquium from the CWP, on the porposal of a centenary fund.
January 1997: 'Links with the Science Museum: the Centenary and beyond', by John Groeger, on behalf of the Centenary Committee, Information Committee and F&GPCS (Finance & General Purposes Sub-Committee), including the proposal to fund a research fellow to be based at the Science Museum.
7 February 1997: BPS Centenary Working Party Meeting papers and minutes. Including discussion of: the Science Museum exhibition project; development of the book project; noting the national “Millenium” project in Greenwich “on the point of collapse” and considering the Science Museum as an alternative venue for the Centenary Party; noting the comments from CWP members gathered through a questionnaire, on the perceived roles and responsibilities of a Centenary President. Three suggested candidates emerged and a voting form for them would be circulated to members of the Centenary Working Party; noted the proposal made by Halla Belloff for 20 interview tapes with eminent psychologists be sent to the F&GP Finances & General Purposes committee; a suggested schedule for the Centenary was noted, and would be kept as a rolling document for committee meetings, incorporating other ideas where they emerged. It was noted that the Psychologist Policy Committee was going ahead with the Delphi project; to keep the Centenary schedule as a rolling document; the idea of a Centenary Fund.
14 February 1997: Compiled biographical materials on Vicki Bruce, Derek Blackman and Tony Gale, as potential candidates for the Centenary Presidency.
12 May 1997: BPS Centenary Working Party Meeting papers and minutes. Including discussion of: the Science Museum exhibition project; development of the book project including an update on the compilation of President Addresses, that the Books and Special Projects group have a confidential project planned for the centenary for publication in 1999, it was suggested there should be a supplement in The Psychologist, marking 100 years of the history of psychology; on the matter of the Centenary president, following the voting of the CWP, the first choice had been contacted but needed time to decide, if by the end of May they indicated they did not want to stand, the second choice would be opted for. Noted that Alister Ager would deputise for Precilla Choi in representing the SCC (Standing Conference Committee at future meetings); that Stephen Newstead would draft a paper on the future role and membership of the Centenary Working Party. Discussion of the centenary schedule, including the day conference on 100 years of British Psychology, that the Occupational Section is talking to EWOP about holding their biennial conference in Britain in 2001; That Steven White would contact British Association through their psychology section, about the 2001 conference; that Stephen White should contact the Edinburgh Science Festival about the 2001 festival. That the Centenary fund should be for ‘altruistic purposes or for clearly defined projects, rather than just psychology studentships. For example, a Society archive, a library, students in Eastern Europe'; noted that the Council feels a need for close control of the budget for the Centenary plans.
23 May 1997: Letter to Sir Malcolm Jeeves, at the Royal Society of Edinburgh about hosting a lecture by a psychologist in 2001.
23 May 1997: Letter to Sir Aaron Klug, the Royal Society, London, on including a lecture by a Psychologist in the programme for 2001.
4 August 1997: Letter to Vicki Bruce thanking her for agreeing to act as the Centenary President, and clarifying the duties of this role.
5 August 1997: Letter to Subsystems for advice on what sort of Centenary fund to set up.
8 September 1997: BPS Centenary Working Party Meeting papers and minutes. Including discussion of the Science Museum exhibition project, that a contract now signed; Development of the book projects including that the compilation of President Addresses would be a selection; on the matter of the Centenary president, following the voting of the CWP, the proposed centenary President has stated which roles she would be prepared to take on; note as to the need to discuss the role of a Vice President as well; that in relation to the Visual Archive, and the work of Halla Belloff, that the budget should come from the CWP and the selection of a list of names for interviews to be made should consider representation of ethnicity and different professional areas; notes as to the future of the CWP, that membership would be largely the same but that Steve Newstead would take over as Chair, and when people attend ex-officio (e.g. from the SCC, Press Committee, etc) that they should nominate deputies if unable to attend, that relevant people would be invited to single meetings as appropriate. Discussion of the centenary schedule including the January 'Milestones' conference [later called ‘Psychology-A Science for Society’]; that the request for feedback from sub-system chairs on the Centenary fund had not had a response; regarding a gift for Past Presidents; regarding the first announcement of the European Congress of Psychology, that the three main Society conferences in 2001 need to be thought of in relation to each other: that the Annual will not be in London, will be taking stock of 100 years of psychology, that Sub-system activity and Delphic excercise be encouraged; that the EFPPA will be the most international, therefore in London, that the London conference will be cheap or free to undergraduates and sixth-formers, looking at the future of psychology; that a competition should be run among members for suggestions for a Centenary Slogan; discussion of the Strategic Plan implementation and the issue of staff and resources for centenary activity.
8 December 1997: BPS Centenary Working Party Meeting papers and minutes [n.b. it was noted in the advance of the meeting that there was no “Doc 4” regarding a report from The Psychologist publication, but rather that a verbal report would be given, the contents of which is detailed in the minutes]. Includes discussion of the Science Museum, that Geoffrey Bunn had been appointed as the society’s research fellow; Of development of the book projects, that if the project to scan presidential addresses should submit a full report of their proposal to the CWP, including feedback from the Books and Special Projects Group, if this was not forthcoming this project would be abandoned. That Joyce Collins, Sandy Lovie and Geoffrey Bunn be invited to submit a proposal for the edited book on the history of British Psychology; On the matter of the Centnary project, the council had approved the document submitted regarding the Presidential team in that year; In relation to the work of Halla Belloff, on collecting interviews, that a full list of suggested interviewees from the different sub-systems along with the recommendations from the CWP be forwarded to her; Discussion of the centenary schedule including the January “Milestones” conference; on potential recommendations for the British Association Psychology Section Presidents in 2001, that Stephen White would obtain a range of costings, and circulate options for the programme to Working Party members, after which he would bring a firmer proposal to the next CWP meeting, then a proposal would go to BPS Council in May. Suggested names for the British Association Psychology section presidents for 2001, also an the idea that the Prime Minister should be invited as guest of honor at the Centenary Party; Other ideas, including the various options relating to the Centenary Fund; possibility of Branches running Lectures that emphasise psychology's contribution to everyday life, the possibility of Maryon Tysoe running a series of articles on broad themes in The Psychologist at the Milestones Conference, the proposal by Jamie Hacker Hughes of making the Society a Royal Societyn and that a detailed reply would be drafted from Colin Newman, explaining the history of the society and why this did not happen; the posibility of a Gallup Poll on people's perceptions of psychologists. The invitation to submit a centenary slogan and a prize awarded by the one selected by the Council; centenary activity in the Psychologist was noted including the Delphi Survey by Helen Haste, a review of Mike Smith’s 1973 Delphi on 2040, to see what has happened so far; and an article by Helen Steinberg on the history of the BPS logo.
Members of the CWP at this juncture are noted in the file as: Steve Newstead; Mike Burton; Chirs Cullen; Geoff Lindsay; Magaret McAllister; Margaret Mitchell; John Groeger. Advisors: Stephen White; Allan Sakne; Sue Cavill. |
| AdminHistory | The Psychological Society was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London. Its aim was 'to advance scientific psychological research, and to further the co-operation of investigators in the various branches of Psychology.' It changed its name to 'The British Psychological Society' in 1906, to avoid confusion with another society.
In August 1991, ten years before the centenary of BPS in 2001, Stephen White [BPS Director of Information], initiated activity among BPS staff to support the celebration centenary.
A working party was founded in August 1991 following a meeting of Stephen White, Allan Sakne [BPS Business Manager], Amanda Briggs [BPS Conference and Events Manager] and David Bird [BPS Assistant Executive Secretary].
The working party was later to be established as a formal Sub-Committee under the Finance & General Purposes Committee in 1996.
This file contains the first notes and correspondence of the Working Party formed in 1991. The activity of the working party appears to have largely dropped until it was picked up again in 1994-1995, when the first official minuted meeting of the working party was held 19 December 1995.
Varied ideas for centenary activity from the committee were generated from the start.
This was supplemented by a call out for ideas to the membership in the September 1995 issue of The Psychologist, ['News, p. 387, The Psychologist, Vol 8 No 9, September 1995, p387] |