Foreign Office: Cultural Relations Department: Correspondence and Papers

This series contains correspondence and papers of the Cultural Relations Department, relating mainly to the activities of the British Council and relations with UNESCO.

From the beginning of 1950 a revised filing system was adopted by the Foreign Office. This system was based on:

• i) an initial letter (or letters) indicating the Department concerned
• ii) a file number
• iii) a further number indicating the particular paper in the file

Departmental index letters:

• CR Cultural Relations
• CR General
• CRA Administration
• CRE Examinations
• CRL Cultural Activities

For records of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission see HR

For minutes and papers of the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education (1942-1945) see BW 74

For later records see FCO 13

For records of the British Council Section see FO 370

See also the Board of Education and successors,

From 1970 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Topics

International

Aid and development

A British Council Section, established as part of the Library in 1941, became an enlarged and separate Cultural Relations Department in 1944. It dealt with all matters of educational or cultural interest, the control of the policy and expenditure of the British Council and liaison between the Council and the Foreign Office. From 1954, when the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission began offering scholarships to American students at British universities, the department handled liaison between the Commission and the Foreign Office, and also attended the Commission's meetings.