Non-political propaganda directions of the Stalingrad (Volgograd) regional branch of the All-Union Society "Znanie" (1948-1980)

Knyazeva Anna Sergeevna Teacher of history and social studies, International Gymnasium IC Skolkovo 4 Zvorykina str., Moscow, 143026, Russia anna.khalimova@bk.ru Other publications by this author

In 1947, the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) issued a resolution on the creation of the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge ^[1]. Soon regional branches of the Znanie Society were organized in many cities of the USSR. The first meeting of the Stalingrad Committee was held on March 17, 1948. The purpose of this article is to analyze the non-political propaganda of the All-Union Society "Znanie", to achieve the goal, the following tasks are set: to study on the basis of archival documents the directions of non-political propaganda, to analyze the methods of work within each direction, to identify the significance of these directions for both the society "Znanie" and the population of the city in general. A number of modern researchers are engaged in studying and analyzing the work of regional branches of the All-Union Society "Znanie". A.V. Vorontsov in the article "Kazan branch of the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge and its role in the cultural and educational life of the TASSR in the post-war period" reveals the activities of the Kazan branch from the late 1940s to the late 1960s ^[2]. The work of the Kazan branch is also devoted to the research of D.A. Pinaeva ^[3]. I.V. Nikitina in the work "The activity of the Amur regional branch of the All-Union Society "Knowledge" at the stage of formation" considered the history of the formation of the Amur regional branch ^[4]. Some works are devoted to the functioning of society as a whole, for example, M. A. Mamontova studied the features of the creation and activity of the first three years of the society in the article "Society becomes a mass organization of the Soviet intelligentsia: information about the organization and work of the All-Union society for the dissemination of political and scientific knowledge" ^[5]. Issues related to the functioning of the Stalingrad (Volgograd) branch had not been raised by researchers before, therefore, the main sources are archival documents of the Central Research Institute (Center for Documentation of the modern History of the Volgograd Region) fund 6653 inventory 1 and 2, the charters of the Znanie society, of which there were six during the Soviet period of the organization's existence. According to the first charter of the society, which was issued in 1947, the main goal of the All-Union Society was to spread political and scientific knowledge among the population of the Soviet Union ^[6].  In 1950, the work of the Stalingrad Department was organized into ten thematic sections, one of which is devoted to issues of pedagogy and psychology. It is absolutely clear from the purpose of the society that the pedagogy and psychology section was not a priority, which can be proved by archival data. For example, in the minutes of the V Plenum of the Board dated March 24, 1957, S. N. Kasatkin (chairman of the regional branch) gave a report "On the state and measures to further improve lecture propaganda among workers and employees of industrial, construction and transport enterprises", which shows the ratio of the number of lectures given by topic. The largest volume of lectures falls on issues of international relations – 22.5% (907 lectures), the history of the party – 12.5% (500), the history of the USSR – about 11% (444), scientific and technical topics – about 10% (419). Scientific atheistic and pedagogical topics account for 5% each (269 and 234) and other branches of knowledge from 1 to 3% ^[7]. In the annual statistical report on the topic and the number of lectures given for 1977, we see the following ratio: 36,647 (12.78%) were read on the history of the CPSU, 18,129 (6.32%) on the history of the USSR and general history, 26,878 (9.37%) international relations, 18301 pedagogy and psychology (6.38%) ^[8]. By 1977, the structure of the society was reorganized, fifteen scientific and methodological councils appeared instead of ten sections ^[9]. The percentage of lectures on pedagogy and psychology in 1977 increased compared to 1957. It is clear that the section did not become one of the leading ones, but nevertheless there is a positive trend, and one should also take into account the fact that the number of sections has increased, there is still an increase in percentage, which indicates an increase in interest to these questions.  Propaganda in the field of healthy lifestyle and the organization of cultural leisure of citizens was also carried out by the society, perhaps not so actively, much less lectures were given on these topics. But it was there, important topics were raised and are still very relevant. For example, the Krasnooktyabrsky Department of Public Education, together with the district branch of the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Scientific and Political Knowledge, in order to strengthen pedagogical propaganda among parents, decided to organize a district parent lecture hall at school No. 35. The lectures were scheduled to be held once a week, starting on April 3, 1950. Comrade A.L. Brodsky was appointed head of the lecture hall. Lectures were held for parents free of charge ^{[10, l.128-130]}. In the same year, the Section of Pedagogy and Psychology was instructed to develop lectures on the cycle "Pedagogical readings" during September-November 1950.  Protocol No. 45 of December 9, 1950 states that members of the pedagogy and Psychology section have developed lectures on the following topics: "family and school in the struggle for strong and deep knowledge of students", "education of will and character among Soviet youth", "the role of the family in instilling cultural skills in children" ^{[10, L. 212]}. For the 1953-1954 academic year, a special plan for pedagogical propaganda among parents was drawn up by the Stalingrad branch of the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge. The main areas of work were the following: preparation and publication of articles in the local newspaper Stalingradskaya Pravda, preparation and distribution of lectures for parents to district departments, organization of district pedagogical lectures, organization of a radio lecture hall for parents. So in October 1953, two lecture halls were organized for parents in the Voroshilovsky and Krasnooktyabrsky districts of the city. During the period September 1953 - May 1954, the following articles were published: "how parents should help children prepare lessons", "the role of the family in the education of disciplined schoolchildren", "labor education in the family", "how to raise healthy children in the family", "fostering a sense of friendship and camaraderie in children", "education of cultural behavior skills in the family", "the role of the family in preparing students for exams", "education of children during school holidays" ^{[11, l.11-15]}. The newspaper Stalingradskaya Pravda was actively used as a propaganda tool, it is understood that newspapers were the most widespread and accessible sources of information in the 50s. The following lectures were sent to the district departments for parents: "the tasks of polytechnic training of the younger generation and family participation in their solution", "how parents can help schoolchildren prepare for transfer and entrance exams", "education of schoolchildren during the holidays" ^{[11, L.27]}. In this context, it is very important to emphasize that the society was engaged not only in scientific and political propaganda, but also pedagogical, medical, i.e. it conveyed knowledge, thoughts that are really very important and necessary to every person. Many of the topics raised by the lecturers are relevant to this day. In the minutes of the meeting of the Presidium of the Stalingrad branch of the Society for 1957-1958, extremely important importance was attached to the fight against violators of social law and order, to the education of workers in the spirit of "unswerving observance of Soviet laws." During the specified period, the branch of the Society held five evenings of meetings with young people: "take care of the honor of your hometown" ^[12]. The program of the evenings included performances by representatives of the prosecutor's office, the police and the Komsomol, as well as a concert organized by the amateur forces of the regional police department. It can be seen from archival documents that the society used various methods (meetings, printing articles, mailing lectures, lectures) to successfully promote education issues, as well as the society cooperated with government agencies (police, Komsomol, prosecutor's office, periodicals, public education departments) to achieve common goals in education.

Other non-political directions in the work of the society were the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and the prevention of diseases. For example, the Executive Committee of the Regional Council notes that in 1949 the Stalingrad Regional Health Department unsatisfactorily carried out measures to combat the incidence of tuberculosis among the population, approved by the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated October 25, 1948 ^{[10, l. 212]}. In order to reduce the incidence of tuberculosis among the population and improve medical care for patients, the executive committee of the regional council decided that the Stalingrad branch of the All-Union Society and the regional lecture bureau should organize sanitary and educational work on tuberculosis prevention with the involvement of medical institute employees, provide methodological guidelines and lecture notes to the medical network. The minutes of the meeting No. 33 dated June 18, 1958 described an unpleasant situation related to the performance of the film actor V. N. Demin. The Presidium notes that a serious mistake was made in organizing Demin's speech, which expressed that Demin's speech was not previously checked and discussed, as well as his speeches in the audience were not monitored. Due to the lack of necessary control, there was a case of Demin's drunken performance in the auditorium of one of the factory districts of Stalingrad ^{[12, l. 4]}. The issues of promoting a healthy lifestyle and preventing alcoholism are repeatedly found in the minutes of the meetings of the society. In 1966, a new round of measures related to the prevention of a healthy lifestyle can be observed. During August-October 1966, the Regional Scientific and Methodological Council for the Promotion of legal and medical knowledge prepared and published texts to help lecturers: "the fight against hooliganism is the business of the whole public", "alcoholism and crime", "alcohol is the enemy of health", "on the responsibility of parents for raising children" ^{[11, L. 76]}. It was also recommended to the boards of city and district organizations of the Znanie society to organize lecture cycles "alcoholism and health", "alcoholism and crime" in all industrial enterprises, construction sites, collective farms, state farms, paying special attention to work among young people. In 1967, the IV Summer Spartakiad of the peoples of the RSFSR was held, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Soviet state. In this regard, the society carried out extensive propaganda of the achievements of physical culture and sports in accordance with the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated August 11, 1966 on the development of mass physical movement. During October – November 1966, the composition of the physical culture and sports section at the organizations of the Znanie society was created and strengthened ^[13]. Teachers of physical education at universities, technical schools, schools, coaches, doctors, masters of sports and other physical education specialists were more actively involved in propaganda work. Radio and television were used to widely promote physical culture and sports, and the best athletes, coaches, teachers, and doctors were attracted to speak on radio and television.

Protocol No. 12 of March 23, 1969 provides detailed information on the work of the regional scientific and methodological council for the promotion of medical knowledge, which says that the lecture work of the council covered issues of social and personal hygiene, physical therapy, sports, body hardening and prevention of various diseases. Much attention was paid to the promotion of maternal and child health. To this end, a wide network of "schools of mothers" was organized at women's and children's consultations, where for all pregnant and young mothers, medical institute scientists, practitioners give lectures on the hygiene of pregnancy, the postpartum period, rules of child care, and childhood diseases. The Scientific and Methodological Council, together with regional and city health education Houses, promoted medical knowledge among young people. For this purpose, medical lecture halls were created in 4 institutes, 8 technical schools, 10 GPTU, 12 Cultural Centers of the city of Volgograd ^{[14, l. 82]}. "health schools" operated in 22 hospitals in Volgograd and the region. There were permanent courses for public catering and food industry workers at the Volgograd City House of Sanitary Education. It was also planned to organize a lecture hall at the Registry Office of the Central district for newlyweds on moral and ethical issues and hygiene. There were 73 public health universities in the districts of the region and the city, covering over 9,000 students. A school for a young lecturer from senior students was organized at the medical Institute. In 1968, 30 young lecturers were trained ^{[14, l. 85-91]}. Although such certificates are less common than certificates and resolutions related to the promotion of scientific atheistic or agricultural propaganda, the figures given above very well characterize how serious and large-scale work was carried out by society in this direction, how massive it was in terms of the level of involvement of people and organizations. The methods of work also deserve special attention: there were "schools of mothers", medical lecture halls, schools of health, national universities, etc. Perhaps such a massive coverage of the population and the use of various methods suggests that propaganda in the field of healthy lifestyle was relevant and useful for the population, which was quite easily involved in this work. In support of these conclusions, information can be provided from the minutes of the 14th meeting of the Presidium of the board dated April 10, 1969, which states that as a result of the promotion of medical and sanitary-hygienic knowledge in combination with other therapeutic and preventive measures in the region, mortality has significantly decreased, especially among children, the number of neglected forms of tuberculosis, cancer and others has decreased diseases.

The society also paid attention to the organization of cultural leisure. Musical and literary meetings were held several times.  In April, May, and June 1953, a series of lectures on musical culture was held in the central lecture hall. The following lectures were included in the cycle: how to understand music (2 lectures), M.I. Glinka and A.S. Dargomyzhsky, N.I. Tchaikovsky, "the mighty bunch", ways of developing Soviet music, Soviet mass song ^[15]. In 1959, two national universities were opened on television, one of them on art. The university's program is designed for 80 lectures – two per week and consisted of a shortened course of systematic broadcasts on the main issues of science, technology and art. The art section provided a series of lectures on fine art and the art of cinema ^[16].  There is a similar reference about the work of the regional scientific and methodological council for the promotion of literature and art in 1969. On the initiative of the scientific and methodological Council, oral magazines "Day of Art" were held during 1969. On its pages, the works of Volgograd writers, poets, musicians, artists were presented, documentaries telling about the works of world art were shown. The Scientific and Methodological Council promptly ensured the participation of all creative forces in holding such significant dates as the anniversary of A.M. Gorky, I.A. Krylov, I.S. Turgenev, as the International Theater Day, etc. In its work, the council was in close contact with such institutions as theaters, television studios, radio, museums, art schools, philharmonic society, and film classification management. So, together with the film classification, a week of films "heroes do not die" was organized, together with the film studio, a television program about V.I. Lenin "notes in the margins" was organized. Together with the drama theater, Lenin readings, thematic performances by actors, "Gorky readings", "Chekhov's humor" were organized ^[17]. We see that the Council for the promotion of literature and art also worked fruitfully, demonstrated the talents of the city's residents, and promoted cultural life in the city.

The Volgograd regional branch of the All-Union society "Znanie" actively worked on the dissemination of political and scientific knowledge, scientific knowledge primarily meant technical, industrial knowledge, those that are needed and useful in agriculture and industrial production, and in Volgograd both agriculture and industrial production were developed.  But along with this, the society also conducted non-political propaganda, much attention was paid to the education of the younger generation, family psychology, promotion of a healthy lifestyle, organization of cultural leisure of the city's population. Based on archival documents, it can be concluded that the coverage of the population of non-political propaganda was massive, there were 73 people's health universities alone in 1969, and there were over 9,000 regular students. The methods of work also varied from lectures to the organization of individual thematic schools. All of the above allows us to conclude that the Volgograd regional branch of the Znanie Society successfully promoted pedagogical and medical knowledge and attracted residents of the city to cultural life.