In 1959 the Conservative-led Council of St Pancras implemented a rent increase for Council tenants. This resulted in a borough-wide campaign urging tenants not to pay the increase. On the 22nd of September 1960, two of the leading members of the campaign, Don Cook and Arthur Rowe, were evicted in the early hours of the morning. This led to enormous gatherings of protesters who marched in their thousands to the Town Hall protesting against the actions of the Council, resulting in a standoff with the police. Our speaker John Cowley will give an account of the St Pancras Rent Strike and its outcome, followed by a film which he and Danny Nissim made, based on recordings made of people’s memories of the day of the evictions. 

 John Cowley is a former lecturer in the Social Sciences at City University, London, and was one of the editors of the Camden Tenant, newspaper of the Camden Federation of Tenants’ & Residents’ Associations.

Admission: Free to members. Non-members welcome (£2 at the door).