Gender, Race and Disability: What do the archives tell us?
These resources have been created for the UCIL module ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: Your role in shaping a fairer world’. All the resources included are held by Special Collections at the University of Manchester.
Cultural Institutions such as Libraries, Archives, Museums and Galleries act as society’s memory. The University of Manchester Library collections are no exception. Our rare books, manuscripts, maps, archives, photographs and works of art tell us a great deal about historical attitudes, behaviours and values and how the past has shaped the present.
Many of these collections are housed in the John Rylands Library, located in the centre of Manchester. Unusually for the time, the John Rylands Library was established by a woman. Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) was the third wife of the wealthy cotton manufacturer John Rylands and she founded the magnificent neo-Gothic Library in his memory.
Archives are snapshots of a specific moment in time, capturing opinions, values and attitudes that can look look odd or even offensive to the modern eye. As the novelist L.P Hartley famously put it, ‘the past is a foreign country: they do things differently there’ (incidentally the Library holds the manuscript version of this very novel!). You should keep this quote in mind as you view the items selected below. What do they tell you about the society that created them and how is that different from the views and values you might hold?
“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between (1953)
When thinking about how different societies develop a system of civil rights and legal protections, materials found in Special Collections are invaluable. By analysing archives, books, maps, paintings and photography, we can see how values and attitudes develop across time and are often culturally and geographically specific. Some changes are precipitated by activism, for example the British Suffrage campaign, or a widespread change in public opinion brought about by a key event such as a war or economic depression. Often, but not always, it is public opinion that leads to political change.
This blog focuses on records held at the University of Manchester Special Collections: Album of Women’s Work in Wartime; Christian Brethren Missionary lantern slides and postcards; The Manchester Geographical Society and nineteenth century records documenting disabilities. These historical artefacts reflect historical attitudes towards women, race and disability. If you click on the caption under each image it will take you directly to the catalogue details and further information on the collection.
Album of Women’s Work in Wartime
Arthur Reavil’s photographic Album of Women’s Work in Wartime held at The John Rylands Library provides a fascinating insight into the working lives of British women during the First World War (1914–1918). During the war large numbers of men were overseas on military service and much of the heavy, dirty, manual work previously carried out by men was undertaken by women. The album contains 164 photograph which offer a visual record of women doing unconventional ‘masculine’ war work. In its pages you can see women repairing roads, driving buses, working in munition factories, fixing tram lines and working on farms and in forests. The women are photographed in both urban and rural settings.
The photographs are fascinating both for the types of work undertaken and the challenges that this work posed for contemporary perceptions of femininity. Pay close attention to the clothes that the women are wearing. Their garments are chosen for durability and practicality not fashion. During the First World War a small number of working women chose to wear trousers (also referred to as breeches) particularly those working in munition factories and on the land. Why do you think this caused so much alarm?
If you would like more information on this evocative photograph album see the Special Collections blog. Special Collections also hold an extensive collection of Women’s Suffrage material. You can find out more by contacting the Modern History archivist: Janette.Martin@manchester.ac.uk
Christian Brethren Missionary Slides
The Christian Brethren Archive is made up of printed books, periodicals, lantern slides and manuscripts created by a group of Evangelical Christian churches that formed in the UK in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement. This resource focuses on a collection of Lantern Slide photographs that illustrate the Brethren’s missionary activities around the world and Echoes of Service postcards which feature images of Christian Brethren engaged in missionary work
Both the lantern slides and the postcards tell us a great deal about how Christian missionaries viewed the world and how they organised and delivered proselytising activities in Africa, India, China many other countries around the world. Their attitudes towards race and use of racial stereotypes reflect Westernised views of the period and may be offensive to contemporary audiences. Most of the material in these collections was created in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and they document attitudes that were prevalent at the time.
Colonial views of indigenous people can also be found in learned societies such as the Manchester Geographical Society (MGS) established in 1884. The MGS used photography and glass lantern slides to document their expeditions. Of particular interest are the handwritten or printed captions on each glass slide which were intended to carefully record and differentiate scientific samples. Traditionally archivists cataloguing such collections would uncritically take down these descriptions. In recent years cataloguing conventions have changed to acknowledge inappropriate racial language and offensive description. In the caption on the slide below, the description of a small child as a ‘specimen’ feels deeply troubling and yet the person writing that description most probably thought it a witty, lighthearted comment. How does it make you feel seeing these slides and thinking about who created them and why?
If you would like more information on the Library’s extensive collection of Christian Brethren lantern slides see the Special Collections blog. We also have a dedicated archivist who looks after the Christian Brethren Archive and you can contact her directly: jane.speller@manchester.ac.uk. You can find out more about the archive here.
For information on the Manchester Geographical Society you can contact our map librarian directly: donna.sherman@manchester.ac.uk and you can also find out more about the Manchester Geographical Society Map Collection here
Teaching deaf children and adults
Contemporary attitudes towards deaf children and adults in the nineteenth century can be seen in these teaching manuals, they are interesting both in their pedagogical approach and in the language and values they embody. Studying such material also helps us to trace how the language around disability has evolved and continues to change over time.
The University of Manchester holds the extensive Deaf Education Collection. This material ranges from the sixteenth to the twentieth century and includes works on the many systems employed in the teaching of deaf people, from lip-reading, speech therapy, the psychology of speech and hearing, phonetics, and acoustics. It includes material on the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the ear, as well as sociological, historical and other works concerning deafness. This collection uses terminology and embody attitudes and beliefs that differ from contemporary values.
Henshaw’s Blind Asylum, Manchester
The Library also holds the archives of a charity called Henshaw’s Society for Blind People (formerly called Henshaw’s Blind Asylum). Henshaw’s Blind Asylum was opened in Old Trafford, Manchester in June 1837 with the goal of providing education, employment and welfare for blind people. The term ‘asylum’ was used in the sense of a place of safety. Henshaw’s provided sheltered accommodation for elderly blind residents. It also opened a school offering education for blind children from the age of six — over 50 years before legislation made this compulsory.
Discussion Points
- What has changed since these objects were created? Did any of these examples surprise and challenge you? if so why?
- The curators at the University of Manchester Special Collections are currently reviewing their professional practices around collecting, describing and displaying materials. What advice would you give them on making their work inclusive, diverse and equal?
- You can read the Library’s statement on black lives matters and diversity here. You might also be interested in a series of blogs called Rylands Reflects.
Additional Resources
Gender, race and diversity quiz
- When was the first (unsuccessful) petition for universal female suffrage presented to the UK parliament
1832 or 1867 or 1906
2. When did British Women acquire the vote on the same terms as British men?
1901 or 1918 or 1928
3. In which year did India and Pakistan achieve independence from British rule?
1917 or 1947 or 1967
4) in which year was the Race Relations Act, which made it illegal to discriminate on the ground of race, passed by the UK parliament
1946 or 1965 or 1971
5) In which year was British Sign Language officially recognised as a minority language
1930 or 1948 or 2003
6) When was the first comprehensive piece of legislation, protecting the rights of disabled people passed in the UK?
1911 or 1970 or 1996
You can find the answers are here
Please do get in touch if you would like any further information about using Special Collections in your academic work or for your own interest: uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk
Images reproduced with the permission of The John Rylands University Librarian and Director of the University of Manchester Library. All images used on this page are licenced via CC-BY-NC-SA, for further information about each image, please follow the link in the caption description.
