Women in Britain in the 1950s
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Winchester
Department Name: Faculty of Education
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Beaumont C
(2013)
'Where to Park the Pram'? Voluntary Women's Organisations, Citizenship and the Campaign for Better Housing in England, 1928-1945
in Women's History Review
Beaumont C
(2016)
What Do Women Want? Housewives' Associations, Activism and Changing Representations of Women in the 1950s
in Women's History Review
Beaumont Caitriona
(2013)
Housewives and Citizens: Domesticity and the Women's Movement in England, 1928-64
Davies, A.
(2013)
'Women's experiences of combining childcare and careers in postwar Oxfordshire, c.1940-1990',
in The Local Historian
Davis A
(2011)
A Revolution in Maternity Care? Women and the Maternity Services, Oxfordshire c. 1948-1974
in Social History of Medicine
Davis Angela
(2014)
Modern Motherhood: Women and Family in England, 1945-2000
Davis, A.
(2011)
'When I was young you just went and asked your mother.' The changing role of friends and kin in the transmission of knowledge about maternity in post-1945 Britain
in Medizin, Gesellschaft und Geschichte
Davis, A.
(2015)
Pre-school Childcare, 1939-2010: Theory Practice and Experience
Dyhouse Carol
(2014)
Girl Trouble: Panic and Progress in the History of Young Women
Edwards S
(2016)
'Nothing gets her goat!' The Farmer's Wife and the Duality of Rural Femininity in the Young Farmers' Club Movement in 1950s Britain
in Women's History Review
| Description | The six seminar series 'Women in Britain in the 1950s' challenged and investigated the view of women's role in the decade following World War 2 as one of political conservatism and domestically focused activity seen through a lens of nostalgia. The range of material presented demonstrated that the often overlooked 1950s was a time of profound social, political and economic change for women of all ages. Day long events were held in Manchester, Sussex, Winchester and London and each attracted between 25 and 30 national and international participants working in academia, the media, museums and archives at all stages of their career. Papers presented crossed disciplinary boundaries using a wide range of visual, written and oral evidence. Topics of the seminars were: Glamour, The Housewife, the Teenager, and the Women in Love. They were complemented by two sensory workshops; one working with photographs and one on sound and material artefacts. These workshops generated extensive discussion over the use of these sources within traditional history writing and suggested new ways of working. Each seminar included five to eight presentations by established academics and professionals and post-graduate researchers. The final seminar was held at the Women's Library in London and included a presentation by the archivist highlighting a wealth of as yet untapped material as well as introducing the publications and archives used by members of the seminar. Over the course of the series five postgraduates were awarded their PhDs. The main aims were to: identify where research on women in the 1950s is underway and on what topics, gaps in the field and available archives; build capacity amongst new researchers in the field. Seminars were advertised directly by email and through the Women's History Network, Gender and Education Association and the History of Education Society (UK). Notices were also posted on H-Women. An initial core of twenty participants grew to an email list of over 80 including librarians, archivists, museum educators and members of U3A and at least fourteen postgraduates. Invited guest speakers included experts on photography, film and material culture. At least fifteen delegates attended four or more seminars resulting in a combination of continuity of discussion and fresh insights as experts brought new members to the series. Where possible each seminar included presentations from both academics and archivists/ museum /media professionals. Each venue had facilities for film and visual presentations allowing for discussion of a range of evidence at each seminar. The title of each event ensured that the experience of women of all ages and classes were explored. The convenors were mindful of the lack of research on non-white women's experience in the 1950s. Although every effort was made to ameliorate this and race/ ethnicity was the focus of papers within two of the seminars, this series highlighted the considerable need for more research in this area. We did not attract delegates from Wales despite our best efforts, suggesting that there is a gap in the research on this topic in this region. The focus of the seminar brought together delegates (in addition to Manchester, Sussex and Winchester) from London South Bank, Staffordshire, Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Institute of Education London, Newcastle, Stirling, Warwick, Cambridge, Leicester, Open, Royal Holloway, UWE, Leeds Met, Lancaster, KCL, Keele, Nottingham, Rose Bruford, Sheffield, Derby, BBC, Victoria and Albert Museum, Women's Library, Israel, USA, Spain and independent researchers. As those working on this area are so scattered it was particularly valuable to have the opportunity to spend time in face-to- face discussion and to be made aware of where research into the 1950s is taking place. Four men also attended the seminars and one was a regular core member In 2015 the core convenors Stephanie Spencer, Penny Tinkler and Claire Langhamer edited a Special Edition of Women's History Review on Women in the 1950s that included articles by seminar participants. Many of the articles are now available online and the Special Edition with introduction will be published early 2017 |
| Exploitation Route | The main purpose of the seminar series was to provide a forum for established academics and an opportunity for postgraduate students to share their work and develop wider networks, Additionally speakers from the V and A museum and archives as well as the Women's Library enabled further and ongoing discussion as to the wider use of research into women in the 1950s beyond academia. Workshops on using visual sources broadened expertise in this area. Contacts made with those working outside academia built a range of relationships which have resulted in calls for advice on tv and radio programmes and talks to women's groups in the community. |
| Sectors | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | The seminar series Women in the 1950s sought to challenge familiar stereotypes of the post-war woman, explore new ways of working with material and visual objects and build capacity amongst new researchers. Invitation to museums and archives representatives to the seminars were intended to build relationships that would enable future collaboration and wider audiences for academic research on this topic. The seminar series was completed four years ago and six Phds have been awarded, extending capacity amongst young researchers, not all of whom will work in academia. The research outputs section demonstrates that publications that were generated by the seminar series are now coming into the public domain. Of particular note in crossing the academic / wider audience are books by Carol Dyhouse and Claire Langhamer which have received wider media attention. Stephanie Spencer has been invited to speak to a range of local history and women's groups in the South East. As research from individual members of the seminar reaches the public domain so we anticipate that the capacity for better understanding of women's lives in the post war period will be recognised and used by the wider public in the next few years. Our immediate audience is likely to be museums and archive services but longer term it is anticipated that understanding post war social change might also be used to inform policy makers or incorporated into the school history curriculum. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | 6 seminars completed as part of the ESRC grant |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | The six seminar series 'Women in Britain in the 1950s' challenged and investigated the view of women's role in the decade following World War 2 as one of political conservatism and domestically focused activity seen through a lens of nostalgia. The range of material presented demonstrated that the often overlooked 1950s was a time of profound social, political and economic change for women of all ages. Day long events were held in Manchester, Sussex, Winchester and London and each attracted between 25 and 30 national and international participants working in academia, the media, museums and archives at all stages of their career. Papers presented crossed disciplinary boundaries using a wide range of visual, written and oral evidence. Topics of the seminars were: Glamour, The Housewife, the Teenager, and the Women in Love. They were complemented by two sensory workshops; one working with photographs and one on sound and material artefacts. These workshops generated extensive discussion over the use of these sources within traditional history writing and suggested new ways of working. Each seminar included five to eight presentations by established academics and professionals and post-graduate researchers. The final seminar was held at the Women's Library in London and included a presentation by the archivist highlighting a wealth of as yet untapped material as well as introducing the publications and archives used by members of the seminar. Over the course of the series five postgraduates were awarded their PhDs. A range of publications (see publications section). 5 post graduates awarded PhDs. Participation in TV series 'Fabric of Britain'. Ongoing networking via database set up through University of Manchester. Invitations to speak to Local history Society, Mothers' Union (Surrey), WI (Hampshire) British Federation of Women Graduates (Winchester ) . The exposure given to different archive collections and sources for research on the 1950s has widened knowledge of resources and of methods for working with them. Feedback during the course of the Series indicated that participants were starting, or planning, to use these resources in their work. The series attracted delegates and presenters from North America and Israel, establishing the potential for future collaborative work. Networks have been maintained by email, but we aim to build on these through the database and a future seminar offering a global perspective on women in the 1950s. The event will be targeted at academics and archivists/ museum /media professionals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009,2010,2011 |
| Description | Jo Stanley. life writing workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Also popular talks, including leading a life-writing workshop for the Association of Wrens (ex-Wrens), hosted by National Maritime Museum in Jan 2016. Jo Stanley reports that her attendance at the seminars sparked a number of activities including the one detailed here 'Unexpected benefits include being an interviewee for a JMU student researching women's attitudes to pop music in the late 50s- early 60s. My preparation for this was helped by looking at the collection of girls magazines collected on behalf of the JMU Archive by Nicki Anne Moody, who was a participant in the Women in Britain in the 1950s seminars. The Women in Britain in the 1950 project, and the insights I gained from later doing the reading that seminars inspired, has led to both academic and community outcomes. These have benefited scholars and members of the public both in the UK and in the wider world reached by my publications including the blog. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://genderedseas.blogspot.co.uk/ |
| Description | TV advice; Radio 'expert' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 'Expert' talking head as part of Fabric of Britain Channel 4 has led to further contacts for advice on popular history programmes eg domestic science education in 1950s & 60s In 2015 Spencer was invited to be the 'expert' on a BBC local radio around the regions discussion on women in the post war world as part of the celebrations marking the end of World War 2. informal feedback indicated that the programme reached a wider audience and received good reviews |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2015 |