AM uncovers and amplifies the hidden voices of everyday women with the publication of its latest primary source database
Illuminating issues of gender, class, race, disability, sexuality, religion and more, Women’s Voices and Life Writing, 1600-1968 amplifies the hidden voices of women in Britain and Ireland across three centuries.
AM’s newly-published resource brings together diaries and oral histories from regional and national archives across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales to enable students and researchers to explore the lives of hundreds of individuals from diverse backgrounds, from abolitionists to suffragists, and royalty to republicans.
Among many resource highlights is the Marston Vale oral histories collection comprised of interviews discussing topics such as life experiences, childhood, family life, wartime, immigration, religion, and developments in agriculture and village life. Many of the participants in the collection were associated with the local brickmaking industry, which was the largest in the world during the post-Second World War housing boom. Use of this material is additionally supported by an essay on how to use oral histories to research working class voices.
Women’s Voices and Life Writing, 1600-1968 offers many avenues through which to explore the differing conditions in which women have lived during the past four centuries, from experiences of witch trials, wartime and suffrage, to the everyday lives lived in and around these historic flashpoints. These vivid narratives cover a wide range of themes including domestic life, travel, sport, feminism, gender fluidity, and class with the collection providing a platform for working class, LGBTQ+, and disabled women’s voices.
Research tools offer further browsing pathways, such as the guide to archival collections to find out more about the individual collections from each of the 12 archives. A timeline of author biographies arranges them chronologically, so that women from different collections who were contemporaries are grouped together. The collection also includes a suite of academic contributions, including six essays and three video interviews on topics such as emotions, disability, employment, LGBTQ+ experiences and archiving black voices.
Additionally, the resource features five exhibitions showcasing collection highlights, including one on the Welsh language material in the collection, which includes the exhibition text in both Welsh and English.
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After receiving a ‘highly recommended’ review by CHOICE, Women’s Voices and Life Writing, 1600-1968 has also received the prestigious honour of being named an Outstanding Academic Title 2024, underscoring the collection’s scholarly value, accessibility, and overall quality.