Sheffield-based co-operative resource centre Principle 5 has published a valuable online directory of the Sheffield Co-operator, the local Co-op Party newspaper that was printed monthly from May 1922 to July 1939.
With a guaranteed circulation of 30,000 copies, the Sheffield Co-operator reported on issues of interest to people in Sheffield and refuted negative reporting from the mainstream press towards co-operatives in that era.
The complete collection of 170 editions were bound in four volumes and donated to Sheffield Libraries by the Sheffield Co-operative Party, along with a bulletin, which replaced the newspaper and ran till September 1943.
Principle 5 have scanned every issue and made them available to the general public through its website.
Largely the work of one man — Sheffield Co-operative Party secretary Albert Ballard — the Sheffield Co‑operator survives today as a unique example of a locally produced co-operative newspaper.
In addition, Principle 5’s Chris Olewicz has written an extensive paper about the Co-operator for the UK Society for Co-operative Studies, which can be downloaded here.
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