Using the mass-observation archive as a source for women's studies

Abstract

Abstract The Mass-Observation Archive at the University of Sussex (UK) is a rich source of material on and by women. The Archive holds the papers which resulted from the work carried out by ‘Mass-Observation', a pioneering British social research organisation, between 1937 and the early 1950s. These papers include personal diaries and detailed questionnaire replies as well as reports and surveys focusing on aspects of everyday life. The Archive is also the base for a contemporary writing project which invites volunteer mass-observers to record in diaries, and in response to open ended prompts and questions their opinions and experiences for the 1980s and 1990s. In this paper, the archivist describes which parts of the collections might appeal to the Women's Studies scholar