https://mulberry-bush.epexio.com/records/SQUIGGLE
From the Catalogue entry (the full entry is at the url above)
| CORRECTIONS/EMENDATIONS | ||
| Reference number |
SQUIGGLE |
|
| Level of description |
Collection |
|
| Date(s) |
1980-2001 (Creation) |
|
| Extent and medium |
15 boxes |
|
| Category |
Organisation |
|
| Scope and content |
Collection includes training material, publications, administrative records for public lecture series, newsletters, minutes, trustees and patrons records, correspondence and copies of Winnicott Studies. |
|
| History |
The Squiggle Foundation is managed by The Winnicott Trust whose aims are: |
The Squiggle Foundation and the Winnicott Trust are two separate charities. |
| Name of creator(s) |
The Squiggle Foundation |
|
| Access status |
MIXED |
|
| Conditions governing reproduction |
Copyright of The Winnicott Trust |
No. Copyright Squiggle Foundation |
| Offline finding aids |
Yes |
|
| Language |
ENG |
|
| Physical characteristics and technical requirements |
Paper |
|
| Title |
The Squiggle Foundation Archive |
|
| Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information |
Needs appraising |
Comments
We get an insight here into the cataloguer's approach.
The Squiggle Foundation was registered as a charity in February 1982 (Reg. 283858), and was mainly concerned with the dissemination of Winnicott's ideas, education, and training. The Winnicott Trust, mainly concerned with managing the Winnicott literary estate and hence issues around copyright, publication and royalites, was registered as a charity a little over two years later, in May 1984 (Reg. 326590), and then as a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) with expanded aims and objectives in September 2017 (Reg 1174533). Although effectively sibling charities, which have worked closely together over many years, they are two separate and distinct organisations.
Squiggle has never been managed by the very different Winnicott Trust, and copyright in the collection does not belong to the Winnicott Trust. This information in the catalogue description is simply wrong, and does not come from handling the archives themselves. Where has it come from?
An Internet search.
In my September 23, 2025 report to the Squiggle Foundation as the Squiggle Trustee who looked after the Squiggle website, in an item on 'Winnicott Trust menu item and text', I explained:
When the [Squiggle] website was revised in 2016, and until very recently, the Winnicott Trust did not have its own website. Squiggle stepped into the breach, and the Squiggle site became a portal for information and communication with the Trust. We even provided
We do not know from the catalogue description when it was made, but until well into 2025 the Squiggle Foundation website provided the only effective online source of information about, and for making contact with the Winnicott Trust. The cataloguer has done an Internet search, and drawn the wrong conclusions from what they've found. This misunderstanding has then been incorporated into the catalogue description.
Alarm Bells
Where - in what sources - could we expect to find information about the provenance and other details, or at least clues?
1. THE ARCHIVES THEMSELVES
