"banner, Hyde Socialist Sunday School" [NBS I/D 377]

Catalogue Number
NBS I/D 377

Object Name
banner

Title
SOCIALISM HYDE SOCIALIST SUNDAY SCHOOL. VIRTUE FOR OUR ARMOUR JUSTICE FOR OUR SWORD

Place
Hyde & Cheshire & England & UK

Date
c.1930

Creator(s)
NBS National Museum of Labour HistoryNBS National Museum of Labour History

Description
Hyde Socialist Sunday School banner, probably mid 1930s

The Socialist Sunday School movement started in 1892. It aimed to provide a moral and ethical alternative to Christian Sunday Schools for both adults and children. By 1912 more than 12,000 people were attending Socialist Sunday School meetings.

This banner was made by the members of Hyde Socialist Church in Greater Manchester. The banner usually hung in the main hall of the church, but was also carried in processions including Whit Walks. The church and Sunday School were founded in Hyde in 1894.

Children and adults were taught to a syllabus written by George Whitehead, one of the Hyde members. The organisation also held summer field days, Christmas teas and pantomimes, dances, whist drives and other social events. Members attended lectures and eminent figures spoke at the church including Tom Mann, Victor Grayson, Robert Blatchford, Margaret Bondfield and Barbara Castle.

Materials: Ground of tightly woven green cotton with embroidery of floss silk.

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