| Admin/Biog History | The Twentieth Century Society, founded in 1979 as The Thirties Society, to protect and promote twentieth century architecture and design. It is formally recognised as one of the National Amenity Societies, and as such is a statutory consultee on alterations to listed buildings post 1914.
The Society's first campaign was the Firestone Factory, by Wallis Gilbert & Partners, which was demolished over the August 1980 bank holiday weekend, in anticipation of it being listed. The building's destruction acted as a catalyst for the Society's cause, focusing public attention on the need for greater protection for twentieth century architecture, and led directly to the listsing of 150 inter-war period examples of architecture by the government.
By the late 1980s, many post-war buildings were beginning to be threatened because of the 1939 date limit for listing. The Society advocated for the 'Thirty Year Rule' which was introduced in 1987. With the Society's focus no longer exclusively pre-war, the decision was made to change the Society's name in 1992 to The Twentieth Century Society.
As well as running campaigns, the Society contributes to the scholarship and knowledge of the period by organising lectures and conferences, publishing a scholarly journal, and organising various tours, visits and events for its members.
Stamp was a founding member of the Society, and in 1983 he became Chairman, a position he held until 2007. |
| Description | The files in this series concern Stamp's role within the Twentieth Century Society, the Society's work, campaigning, and events.
Where possible, the original order has been maintained. However, most of the material was loose, with no apparent order, as such, the material was arranged during the cataloguing process. The series has been organised into six sequences:
-GMS/2/1/1, Casework and campaign files
-GMS/2/1/2, Thirties Society Journal files
-GMS/2/1/3, Correspondence files
-GMS/2/1/4, Tours, visits, and events files
-GMS/2/1/5, Committee meeting minutes and agendas
-GMS/2/1/6, Other material
The material is varied in format and includes:
-correspondence
-drafts
-images
-newspaper and journal cuttings
-reports
-tour and visit guides
-meeting minutes and agendas |