The Mass Observation Archive

The Mass Observation Archive
Name	Mass Observation Archive
Formation	1937
Founder	Tom Harrisson; Humphrey Jennings; Charles Madge
Type	Archival study
Location	University of Sussex; London; Bolton

The Mass Observation Archive is a social research and archival project founded in 1937 that systematically recorded everyday life in Britain through diaries, reports, surveys, and visual materials. Originating in London and later associated with the University of Sussex, the project produced extensive primary-source material on public attitudes toward events such as the Second World War, the General Strike (1926) aftermath, and postwar social change. Its holdings have been used by historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and literary scholars studying subjects from wartime morale to consumer culture.

History

Founded by Tom Harrisson, Humphrey Jennings, and Charles Madge in 1937, the initiative sought to document the experiences of ordinary people across England and Britain in the interwar period and during the Second World War. Early projects intersected with contemporaneous movements including the Surrealist milieu and the New Vehicle documentary impulse exemplified by filmmakers connected to Empire Marketing Board campaigns. During the Blitz, contributors recorded responses to bombing raids, rationing, and evacuation, intersecting with events such as the Battle of Britain and wartime policies from the Ministry of Food. Postwar, the archive expanded to cover housing issues linked to the Beveridge Report era and consumer behaviors shaped by the Festival of Britain.

Over subsequent decades, custodianship moved geographically and institutionally, involving partnerships with academic bodies including the University of Sussex, cultural institutions in Bolton, and archival initiatives across Greater Manchester and London. Scholars from institutions such as Birkbeck, University of London, University College London, and the Open University have used the material in studies comparing prewar, wartime, and postwar British life. The archive’s development paralleled broader historiographical trends exemplified by works associated with the History Workshop movement and social historians like E.P. Thompson.

Organization and Collections

The archive comprises diaries, directive responses, oral histories, photographs, posters, and printed material gathered from volunteer correspondents and commissioned surveys. Collections document episodes including the Winter of Discontent, the Suez Crisis, the Swinging Sixties, and responses to legislation such as the National Health Service Act 1946. Notable individual collections include diarists linked to boroughs in Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. Institutional deposits have come from cultural organizations like the British Library, the National Archives (UK), and local record offices.

Cataloguing practices align with standards used by repositories such as the International Council on Archives and professional bodies like the Society of Archivists. The archive holds materials related to public attitudes toward political events including general elections involving figures such as Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Margaret Thatcher, and Tony Blair, and social movements linked to organizations like Trade Union Congress and campaigns around the Equal Pay Act 1970.

Methodology and Research Practices

Empirical methods used by the project combined participant observation, questionnaire directives, diarist self-reporting, and correspondence analysis. Founders drew on ethnographic sensibilities similar to those in anthropological work by scholars connected to the Royal Anthropological Institute and documentary practice seen in productions from the GPO Film Unit. Fieldwork protocols referenced archival methods practiced at institutions such as the Mass-Observation movement’s contemporaries in continental Europe, and sampling strategies comparable to those used by the British Social Attitudes Survey.

Researchers applied qualitative coding, thematic analysis, and triangulation across formats—cross-referencing diary entries with oral testimony and photographic evidence—techniques familiar to users at departments like the Institute of Education and research centres such as the Economic and Social Research Council. Ethical frameworks evolved in line with guidance from bodies such as the British Psychological Society and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Notable Projects and Publications

Major projects produced influential printed outputs and evidence used in policymaking and scholarship. Early wartime outputs fed into pamphlets and radio programming in collaboration with broadcasters like the BBC. Key publications drawing on the archive include edited volumes and monographs by historians associated with Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and university presses at Manchester and Sussex. The material underpinned studies of topics including class consciousness addressed by scholars linked to the New Left Review and cultural analyses in journals such as Past & Present and Journal of British Studies.

Special projects have examined public responses to the Coronation of Elizabeth II, consumer practices during the Post–World War II economic expansion, and community memory after events like the Aberfan disaster. Collaborative exhibitions have been mounted with institutions including the Imperial War Museums, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and local history museums in Bolton and Brighton.

Impact and Influence

The archive influenced historiography of modern Britain, informing studies by social historians like E.P. Thompson and cultural critics associated with the Cultural Studies tradition at University of Birmingham and Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. Its datasets have been cited in theses and articles across disciplines at institutions such as King’s College London, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge. The approach informed later oral-history initiatives spearheaded by organizations like the Oral History Society and inspired documentary practices in British documentary film and radio features on the BBC World Service.

Policy researchers have used the archive to assess public opinion during crises—comparative work has linked British responses to those recorded in studies of the Great Depression and postcolonial transitions involving states formerly in the British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Access, Digitization, and Use in Research

Access is provided to scholars, students, and the public via reading rooms, digitized catalogs, and curated online exhibitions developed collaboratively with partners like the British Library and university libraries. Digitization projects have prioritized fragile diaries, photographic negatives, and directive correspondence, often funded through grants from bodies such as the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the European Research Council. Data management practices follow guidelines promoted by the Digital Preservation Coalition and interoperability standards used by the Jisc network.

Researchers from departments including History, Sociology, Anthropology, Media Studies, and archives at universities such as Sussex, Birkbeck, and Manchester Metropolitan University continue to mine the collections for research on wartime culture, gender history, consumer studies, and urban change. Use of the archive in digital humanities projects has integrated tools developed at centres like the Oxford Internet Institute and computational methods practiced in collaboration with the Alan Turing Institute.

Category:Archives in the United Kingdom