October Club (Oxford University) Explained

The October Club
Type:	Student political society
Location City:	Oxford
Location Country:	United Kingdom
Founded:	(originally) (officially reconstituted)
Website:	https://theoctober.club/

The October Club is an independent communist organisation made up of students at University of Oxford, founded in December 1931.^{[1] [2]}

Its stated aim is to 'be a political home for radical students at the university and channel enthusiasm into building a long-term base of student-worker-community power at Oxford'. Alongside communism, it also stresses its commitment to abolition, trans-liberatory feminism, and anti-imperialism.

History

1930s

Founded with the object of ‘the study of communism in its world social, economic and cultural aspects’,^[1] within its first year it gained some 300 members^[1] out of a total population of approximately 5000^{[3] [4]} undergraduates.

Amongst its founders were Noel Carritt,^[5] Frank Meyer^[6] and Dick Freeman.^[7] Key early members were drawn from the university's small population of Indian students such as Sajjad Zaheer, B.P.L. Bedi and C.S. Subramanyam, who would go onto play notable roles in Indian communist and independence politics (along with fellow Club member Freda Bedi).

Initially, the Club was highly critical of the British Communist Party, but by the Spring of 1932, the Club's core activists (approximately ten) had joined the party.^[6]

According to some contemporaries, it was largely a discussion group, attracting speakers such as H. G. Wells, Bernard Shaw, Ivor Montagu, and Shapurji Saklatvala.^[1] However, the Club did take part in a number of political actions including organising a delegation to meet hunger marchers passing through Oxford on their journey from Lancashire to London, and participating in violent protests in 1933 against the rise of fascism in Oxford, both in the university and the city.^{[1] [8]}

Such was the violence of this period, that, in 1933, communist and socialist students from Ruskin College founded the anti-fascist Red Shirts and volunteered to act as stewards to defend events held by the October Club.^[9] Nonetheless, by the autumn of 1993, the Club was the largest student organisation at the university.

Later in 1933, the Club was banned by the university, ostensibly for its criticism of the Officers' Training Corps, leading to student protests against the decision.^[10] The Club remained independently active until 1935, when it was officially dissolved itself into the Labour Club, forming a 'popular front'.^{[3] [4]}

2020s

In Trinity Term 2022, the Club officially re-formed and was recognised by the Student Union with the stated aim to 'be a political home for radical students at the university and channel enthusiasm into building a long-term base of student-worker-community power at Oxford'.^[2]

Upon its refounding, it had no affiliation with any national communist or socialist organisation.^[2]

In 2024, during protests against the University's ties to Israel's bombing of Gaza, the Club claimed^{[11] [12]} its members' involvement in violent confrontation with police.

Notable alumni

• Heinz Arndt (economist)^[13]
• Freda Bedi (Indian nationalist)
• B.P.L. Bedi (major contributor to the Naya Kashmir constitution)
• Noel Carritt (International Brigades volunteer and member of the Carritt family)^[5]
• Jack Dunman (writer and farm-worker unionist)^{[14] [15]}
• Bernard Floud (Labour Party politician, and alleged spy)^[16]
• David Floyd (journalist and spy)^{[17] [18]}
• Christopher Hill (historian)^[19]
• Denis Healey (Labour Party politician)^[20]
• Diana Hopkinson (memoirist)
• François Lafitte (social researcher and abortion lobbyist)^[21]
• Freya Marshall Payne (writer)^[22]
• Frank Meyer (conservative political philosopher)
• Thora Silverthorne (co-founder of the rank-and-file nurses' union, the National Nurses Association)^[23]
• Olive Shapley (radio producer and broadcaster)
• R. W. Southern (historian) (non-member, but in regular attendance)^[19]
• C.S. Subramanyam (founding member of the Communist Party of India in India's south)^[24]
• Gywn Thomas (novelist)
• Philip Toynbee (writer, and first communist president of the Oxford Union)^[25]
• Donald Wheeler (alleged spy)^[26]
• Sajjad Zaheer (writer and founding member of the Communist Party of Pakistan) (graduated a few months prior to the founding of the Club and attended meetings as a non-student)^[27]

See also

• Battle of Carfax
• Oxford University Labour Club
• Oxford University Liberal Democrats
• Oxford University Conservative Association
• Oxford Union

Notes and References

1. Book: Bowie . Duncan . Reform and revolt in the city of dreaming spires : radical, Socialist and Communist politics in the city of Oxford 1830-1980 . 2018 . University of Westminster Press . London . 9781912656127 . 307.
2. Web site: the October Club . n.d.. Oxford Student Union . 16 June 2022.
3. Book: Smith . Cameron . Unfinished Journey: The Lewis Family . 1989 . Summerhill Press . Toronto . 0-929091-04-3 . 197.
4. Book: Smith . Cameron . Unfinished Journey: The Lewis Family . 1989 . Summerhill Press . Toronto . 0-929091-04-3 . 554.
5. Book: Communist Party of Britain . Red Lives Communists and the struggle for socialism . 2020 . Manifesto Press Cooperative Limited . Croydon . 9781907464454 . 30.
6. Book: Whitehead . Andrew . The lives of Freda: the political, spiritual and personal journeys of Freda Bedi . 2019 . Speaking Tiger . New Delhi . 978-9388070751.
7. Hertford College . The Hertford College Magazine . The Hertford College Magazine . 1997 . 82 . 188.
8. Book: Leeworthy, Daryl . Fury of past time: a life of Gwyn Thomas . 2022 . Parthian . 978-1-914595-19-6 . Modern Wales . Cardigan.
9. Book: Renton, Dave . Red Shirts and Black: Fascists and Anti-Fascists in Oxford in the 1930s . Ruskin College Library . 1996 . 0900183-19-5 . Oxford . 18 . en-GB.
10. Book: Wood . Neal . Communism and British intellectuals. . 1959 . Columbia University Press . New York . 9780231880053 . 51.
11. OctoberClub1931 . 1795784141549498752 . see our statement below about the violent police actions on Thursday and the lies spread by @UniofOxford in defence of their support for genocide .
12. Web site: OxStu News Team . 2024-06-04 . Student societies express support for pro-Palestinian demands . 2024-06-04 . The Oxford Student . en-GB.
13. Book: Coleman, Peter . Arndt's story: the life of an Australian economist . Cornish . Selwyn . Drake . P. J. . 2007 . Australian National University E Press . 978-0-7315-3810-2 . Canberra, ACT.
14. Web site: Stevenson . Graham. Jack Dunman . GrahamStevenson.me.uk . 19 September 2008 .
15. Web site: Papers of Adam von Trott . Balliol College Archives & Manuscripts . 21 October 2022 .
16. Book: Andrews, Geoff . The shadow man: at the heart of the Cambridge spy circle . 2015 . I.B. Tauris . 978-1-78453-166-9 . London New York.
17. Web site: 2017-10-01 . St Edmund Hall Magazine 2017-18 by St Edmund Hall - Issuu . 2024-07-03 . issuu.com . en.
18. Web site: 2018-02-25 . Former Daily Telegraph journalist 'spied for Communist Russia' . 2024-07-03 . The Independent . en.
19. Palmer . William . Sir Richard Southern Looks Back: A Portrait of the Medievalist as a Young Man . Virginia Quarterly Review. 1998 . Winter . 26 January 2022.
20. Web site: Star . Morning . 2015-10-04 . Denis Healey: August 30 1917 – October 3 2015 . 2024-03-08 . Morning Star . en.
21. Web site: John . Saville. François Lafitte Analyst who highlighted the 1940 refugee scandal . . 5 December 2002 .
22. Web site: the October Club . 2023-03-22. Oxford Student Union . 24 June 2023.
23. Book: Meddick. Simon. Red Lives: Communists and the Struggle for Socialism. Payne. Liz. Katz. Phil. Manifesto Press Cooperative Limited. 2020. 978-1-907464-45-4. London. 185.
24. Venkatachalapathy . A R . 2013 . C S Subramanyam: Communist Chronicler . Economic and Political Weekly . 48 . 3 . 23–26 . 0012-9976.
25. News: Duncan . Alistair . The Thirties: An Intimate History . 26 January 2022 . Oxford Mail . 24 February 2010.
26. Book: Haynes, John Earl . Spies: the rise and fall of the KGB in America . Klehr . Harvey E. . Vassiliev . Alexander . 2009 . Yale University Press . 978-0-300-12390-6 . New Haven (Conn.).
27. Web site: A.G. . Noorani . A versatile communist . . 10 August 2012 .