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Awarded to annually to speakers deemed to have given the most interesting lecture over the preceding year. The medal was re-designed in 1948 by Percy Metcalf RDI

First conference held at Fishmongers' Hall 4-5 November 1963, RSA participated in this along with The Nature Conservancy and co-organised the second and third conferences. Second conference, 10-12 November 1965 was held at the RSA for the first two days and at the Fishmongers' Hall for the third.\nThe last conference in the series was held at the Guildhall, London, 26-28 October 1970\nSource: The RSA and the environment, edited by Timothy Cantell, 1993\n\nThe RSA took responibility for all administrative matters about the Conference in 1964. The Nature Conservancy retained responsibility for arrangement and editing of the relevant papers and for drawing up the programme. In 1968 the Standing Committee for the 'Countryside in 1970' considered a paper about a permanent scheme of awards for projects on the ground which succeed in improving the countryside or extending nature reserves. It was agreed that it would be a good means of promoting active care for the countryside and involvement of the whole community. The committee thought it advisable that the first awards should be made in 1970. Recognising that the '1970' organisation was unsuited to undertake such a scheme they decided that a sub-committee should consider ways and means of organising and financing a Scheme and enter into negociations with potential sponsors. \n\nRecords include administrative correspondence, minutes of meetings, reports, files and papers, publicity and printed matter and photographs

In his lecture 'Humour in Art' given to the Society in February 1949, H M Bateman had proposed a permanent National Gallery of Humorous Art, in which to display the many original drawings of published comic art, which currently languished in back offices, or in corners of studios, and never seen by the public. \nAs a tentative beginning the Society, at the suggestion of its Chairman of Council, Sir Harry Lindsay KCIE, CBE, organised a temporary exhibition of 162 drawings of the work of more than fifty artists, ranging from Rowlandson and Gillray, to Osbert Lancaster and E H Shepard, Emett and Giles. With the help of Kenneth Bird, the editor of Punch, H M Bateman and Anna Zinkeisen, RDI, the Society was able to arrange an interesting display in the Society's Library (located at this time in what is now the Benjamin Franklin Room), which was open to the public free of charge.\nEncouraged by the steady flow of visitors, by the end of the second week 7,091 people had visited the exhibition, including HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (President, RSA 1952-2011) and The Duchess of Kent. The Council decided to postpone the closing day until Saturday 13 August, and to extend the daily opening hours to 6.30pm on weekdays, including Saturdays and the August Bank Holiday. 14,000 people had passed through the doors by the end of the exhibition, and as there was still a great public interest, the Society was able to arrange for the exhibition to travel round the country from October 1949 to April 1950, showing at Hove, Coventry, Salford, Preston, Liverpool, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Lincoln, Hull and Leicester. It has been estimated that a further 40,000 people saw it in the course of this tour. The exhibition also received press coverage worldwide in newspapers and magazines such as Picture Post, Illustrated London News, The Spectator and two pages in the BBC Arabic News. Coverage also featured in television and cinema newsreels. But in spite of all this interest Bateman's original idea for a National Gallery of Humorous Art never came to life.\n\nRecords include correspondence and papers about arrangements for the exhibition, a catalogue and printed material and photographs

The Society organised annual receptions for Fellows and members of Council. Although essentially social events, they were used as an opportunity to raise funds.

The Society held a conference on apprenticeship on 9 July 1958 and as a result of that conference became aware of the difficulties of small engineering firms in finding facilities for training apprentices and of the efforts which the Engineering Industries Association was making to solve this problem by its Group Apprentice Training Scheme. The society considered launching an appeal for funds in order to extend this Scheme on a national basis.

The Society held an exhibition of Indian art in 1962. It was opened by the Indian Prime Minister, Nehru. This series includes photographs of Nehru at the opening.

The Science and Industry Committee originally arose out of a recommendation made by the Economics Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at the annual meeting in Belfast 1952. The committee was reconstituted in April 1954 under the joint sponsorship of the RSA, the British Association for the Advancement of Science and the Nuffield Foundation. The Committee's work was financed by grants from the Board of Trade and from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, under the Conditional Aid scheme for the use of counterpart funds derived from United States economic aid.

A series of events was arranged to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Society. A new history of the Society was commissioned and written by Kenneth Luckhurst, the Secretary, and Derek Hudson

In the immediate post war period the Society organised a number of small exhibitions at the House. The principal exhibition was the 'Exhibition of Exhibitions', the Society's contribution to the commemoration of the 1851 Great Exhibition. Opened on 1st May 1951 by HRH The Princess Elizabeth, President of the Society. it was associated with the Festival of Britain. \nIncludes files and papers on arrangements for the exhibitions, publicity material and catalogues as well as photographs of exhibits and of the opening ceremonies

A collection of printed books acquired by the Society by gift and purchase about international trade exhibitions. It includes exhibitions in which the Society played no part and covers the period 1851 to 1951. The collection comprises contemporary catalogues, reports of Juries and other printed accounts of exhibitions. It also includes a number of printed booklets, pamphlets and maps and some more recent general works on exhibitions. Catalogues are in order of date of exhibition. \n\nSeries comprises printed books

The War Memorials Advisory Council was established under the auspices of the Society in September 1944 after it had organised a conference on 27 April 1944 on the subject of war memorials. (Jnl, vol. 42, pp322-340)\n\nSpeakers included Sir Fabian Ware, the Dean of Westminster, Sir Noel Curtis Bennet, Admiral of the Fleet the Rt. Hon. Lord Chatfield and others. The major concern was that the memorials of the Second World War should show an improvement on those of the First. Lord Chatfield was nominated as President of the Advisory Council and Mr A.R.N. Roberts the Honorary Secretary; they remained in office for the duration. \n\nAs many as fifty leading societies connected with the arts and social welfare, together with a similar number of distinguished individuals from all parties and walks of life (the arts, industry, education, the church, letters) placed their resources and experience at the disposal of the Advisory Council. \n\nThe function of the Advisory Council was to act as a clearing house of general information for the guidance of local groups; the Council itself was not able to undertake consultative work. The Advisory Council also hoped to act as consultants to the Service departments and Government when service memorials and a national memorial came under discussion. \n\nThe Council was disbanded in 1948 due to a lack of public interest and of funds. As recognition for the service performed the Royal Society of Arts awarded Lord Chatfield the silver gilt medal and Mr A.R.N. Roberts the silver medal.\n\nRecords include correspondence and files

The Art Education Committee which was appointed in November 1941 to consider the place and purpose of art and design in the post-war system of education. The RSA's main concern was that while skilful manufacture had developed in every direction thre was a lack of display of artistic sense in industrial life and manufactures. The Society suggested that to hold a rightful place in the world's industry a high standard of art and design as well as craftmanship had to be achieved. This would not be possible unless the education system balanced its stress on developing intellectual powers with that of awakening of the senses.\n\nThe Committee held a series of interviews with the headmasters of art schools, industrialists and manufacturers the conculsions of which were compiled in a report of 28 May 1943 and forwarded to the President of the Board of Education. Oswald P. Milne was the Chairman of this Committee.

The Exhibition was held in the galleries of the Royal Academy and was organised jointly by the RSA and the Royal Academy. The objects of the exhibition were to 'impress upon the public the importance of good design in articles of everyday use; to show that British manufacturers, in co-operation with British artists, are capable of producing in all branches of industry, articles which combine artistic form with utility and sound workmanship; to encourage British artists to give to industry the benefit of their talent and training so that the objects with which we are surrounded in our daily lives may have an appearance which is not only attractive but is based on genuinely artistic principles'. The exhibition was held under Royal Patronage and with the active participation of HRH the Prince of Wales as President of the General Committee\n\nRecords comprise photographs and copy photographs of items displayed at the Exhibition

The campaign for the preservation of ancient cottages began at a special meeting in May 1926 when Sir Frank Baines read a paper entitled 'The Preservation of Ancient Cottages', during which he announced that the Society had undertaken 'to initiate and endeavour to organise a movement, directed towards the final preservation of the cottage architecture of this country' and that the Society would 'call to a conference all those anxious to help and devise a scheme to accomplish our aims'. This conference was held on January 26, 1927 with the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin in the chair. He proposed a resolution approving the action of the Society and signifying the intention of the meeting 'to assist in the establishment of a substantial fund for application on the broadest national lines in furtherance of this movement'.\nBy July 1927 the amount received had reached just over £4,500 and eventually reached £15,000. In the early days of the campaign the Society was successful in saving the three Thomas a Becket cottages near Worthing and it purchased and reconditioned the group of cottages known as Arlington Row at Bilbury, Gloucestershire, among others.\nIn 1929 the Society purchased in its entirety the village of West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which was then about to be put up for sale in 60 lots. In 1934, after extensive repairs, the Society handed over the village to the National Trust for permanent preservation. \nThe Society took no further important action in this campaign until 1953 when it decided to expend the balance of the fund, over £1000. It approached the National Trust and was responsible for the overhaul and repair of the roofs of the famous group of cottages at Chiddingstone in Kent.\n\nSeries includes minutes of a committee, printed material and images

Society campaigns at this period included:\nReport on accidents and diseases in industrial occupations; Memorial Tablet (Blue plaque) scheme Campaign for the adoption of a uniform musical pitch; Petition in support of Bethnal Green Museum; Education Exhibition 1854; Paris Exhibitions of 1855 to 1881 to report on exhibitions and attendance at International Electrical Exhibition, Committee on the Economic use of Fuel; Prizes for an improved lifeboat; Competition for a revolution indicator for steam ships; Committee on collisions at sea; International Health Exhibition; Public health and sanitation conferences; National Training School for Music; Patent Law reform; Samuel Pepys Memorial ; Prevention of Fires ; Poisonous Colours ; Motor Trials ; Acetylene Gas Generator Trials; International Postage Association and Committee on postal reform and papers; Colonial and Indian Exhibition 1886; Albert Memorial ; Conference on strikes and lockouts; Committee on collisions at sea; Domestic Economy Congresses ; Art Workmanship Competition; Committee on the deterioration of paper \nRecords include correspondence and routine administrative papers, some printed items and minutes of various committees