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MASS OBSERVATION ARCHIVE
Papers from the Mass-Observation Archive at the University of Sussex

Part 1: Publications, 1937-1966

"Mass-Observation can be described as a project designed to involve the mass of "ordinary people" in a sociological research process - an "anthropology at home" - as a way of harnessing and explicating "public opinion" as well as, relatedly, helping close the gap between the decision-making of political leaders and the convictions and wishes of ordinary people. Its history is entwined in complex and fascinating ways with the history of the disciplines of anthropology, economics and particularly with sociology".
Liz Stanley
Professor of Sociology , Manchester University
writing in The Archaeology of a 1930’s Mass-Observation Project

The Mass-Observation Archive is an indispensable source for all those interested in the sociological history of the people of Britain from 1937, at the inception of the project, to the end of World War II and beyond. Researchers are able to discover the views and feelings of ordinary people, through descriptive accounts of their experience and transcribed interviews, on a fascinating range of contemporary subjects such as leisure and entertainment, housing, the police, public health, trade unions, politics, strikes, family planning and schools.

Mass-Observation was the result of three researchers engaged in social investigation who came together by coincidence. Charles Madge, poet and journalist, and Humphrey Jennings, a documentary film maker, envisaged a London-based project in which a national panel of volunteers would reply to regular questionnaires on a variety of subjects. Tom Harrisson, an anthropologist who had worked in the New Hebrides, had ideas for an anthropological survey of the British. The two projects were combined to form the Mass-Observation project, the aim of which was to create an "anthropology of ourselves". Although the recordings of the investigators were sometimes subjective, the observations revealed a level of public feeling which went beyond the direct expression of an opinion.

Harrisson’s team of investigators produced a documentary account of everyday life in Britain by observing, talking to and recording the observations of people from all levels of society: meetings, religious occasions, sporting and leisure activities, in the street and at work. One of the first investigations they undertook was a study of Bolton and Blackpool covering the years 1937-1940 which became known as The Worktown Study. The papers relating to this form Parts 2 and 3 of this project. At the same time, in London, Madge and Jennings recruited volunteers from the general public to form a national panel. They were asked to keep diaries and write personal reports on various topics. They also assisted Mass-Observation with the completion of questionnaires. At the outbreak of war all activities were centralised in London. Jennings and Madge both left to pursue other activities and Tom Harrisson took over direction of the work. Income was derived from war work for the Ministry of Information, work for individual companies relating to shopping trends and from a series of publications. Mass-Observation also played a major role in sounding out public opinion regarding the post war world and the need for social reform. As well as surveys on the Beveridge Report, there were numerous studies on issues such as Reconstruction, Health, Education, Demobilisation, Fuel, Food and Housing. Tom Harrisson also joined the army in 1942 and was parachuted into Borneo as a member of the covert Special Operations Executive (SOE). Until his return in 1946, another full time Observer, Bob Willcock, took over control. After the war Mass-Observation continued to function as a hybrid between a government social survey unit and a market research analyst. In 1947 Willcock left to work directly for the government in this area and Tom Harrisson accepted a post as Government Ethnologist for Sarawak. In 1949 Harrisson passed his rights over to Mass-Observation (UK) Ltd, an independent market research organisation, that continues today. In exchange he retained all rights to the pre-1949 material which was deposited at the University of Sussex in 1970 and deeded to them in 1975. During his return to Britain in 1959 Tom Harrisson presided over a second visit to Bolton and Blackpool and papers relating to this are also in the archive. In 1975 he started a further project on attitudes towards royalty. Sadly the untimely death of Tom Harrisson and his wife in a motor accident in Bangkok halted this, but the work was completed by Philip Ziegler. A further phase of Mass-Observation activity was started by Dorothy Sheridan with Mass-Observation in the 1980s and has continued through the 1990s and into the new millennium with the assistance of a new panel of volunteers.

The Mass-Observation Archive was officially opened at the University of Sussex in 1975 and offers access to all of this material. The papers of the Mass-Observation can be divided into six groups: The Worktown Collection, 1937-1940; the Topic Collections, 1937-1960; the File Reports, 1937-1972; the Day Surveys, 1937-1938; the Diaries, 1939-1965; the Directive Replies, 1939-1955. There is also a complete file of the publications of Mass-Observation from 1937 to date.

The first part of the microfilm publication acts as an introduction to the archive consisting of the twenty-five books published by Mass-Observation during its initial period of activity from 1937 to 1950. Few libraries possess these volumes and most are out of print. They are used heavily by researchers at the archive as they offer carefully worked analysis of the main projects undertaken by Mass-Observation. Titles include: Mass-Observation (1937) - a general introduction by Charles Madge and Tom Harrisson; a book on World War II - War Begins at Home, (1940); reports on Clothes Rationing (1941) and People’s Homes (1942); individual surveys such as An Exmoor Village (1947) and Browns of Chester (a shop survey, 1947); reports on social issues such as Britain and her Birthrate (1945) and Juvenile Delinquency (1948). We also include copies of Weekly Intelligence Service issued between February and May 1940, and two volumes that appeared between the formation of Mass-Observation (UK) Ltd in 1949 and the establishment of the Archive at the University of Sussex in 1970. These have also been long out of print. They are Britain Revisited, (1961) by Tom Harrisson and Long to Reign Over Us, (1966) by William Kimber.

These volumes are essential reading for anyone interested in the Mass-Observation project and their wide-ranging sociological investigations of British life from 1937 to 1966. They will be welcomed by anthropologists, social scientists and cultural historians.



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