This collection primarily contains the papers of Eric Canning, amassed in his role as Glasgow convener and Acting Secretary of the Glasgow Branch of the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly. The CSA was formed in the aftermath of the 1979 devolution referendum that failed to establish a devolved Scottish assembly; being officially established at a rally in Edinburgh on 1 March 1980. A cross-party campaigning organisation, it drew members from the Labour Party, the Scottish National Party (SNP), the Scottish Liberal Party, the Scottish Ecology Party, the Communist Party, and the trade union movement. The CSA was superseded in 1989 by the Scottish Constitutional Convention which was an association of Scottish political parties, churches, and other civic and voluntary groups, that developed a framework for Scottish devolution and has been credited as having paved the way for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

This collection contains CSA National Executive organisational literature, meeting agendas and minutes, correspondence, and campaign ephemera. It charts the movement for devolution through the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly, subsequently the Campaign for a Scottish Parliament, and the associated Scotland Forward campaign for a 'Yes' vote in the 1997 devolution referendum.

The collection also contains three concluding files thought to have been created by Jim Whiston, CSA Glasgow Committee Secretary.