Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1945-2010 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2 Boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
James Hemming was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, had a sporadic formal education, but he earned a BA through a correspondence course at Birkbeck College, London. He taught in schools in Bristol, Bournemouth and lastly at Isleworth grammar school, Middlesex. When the Second World War broke out, he stayed at Isleworth and taught English and PE. He started a campaign to get the cane abolished in schools, bringing considerable odium from the educational establishment.
His first book, The Child is Right - a Challenge to Parents and Other Adults (1947), was written in collaboration with Josephine Balls. Instead of God is subtitled 'A Pragmatic Reconsideration of Beliefs and Values'; The Betrayal of Youth tackles the secondary educational system, warning against an overemphasis on academic values. He gave much time and energy to the British Humanist Association, serving as its President between 1977 and 1980. His other books included Problems of Adolescent Girls, Individual Morality, Sex Education in Schools, Sex and Love, and You and Your Adolescent.
Hemming appeared as a defence witness in the Penguin Books obscenity trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover in 1960 and was a regular panel member on the 1970s BBC programme If You Think You've Got Problems. During the 1980s and 90s, he was a humanist representative on the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, an honorary associate of the Rationalist Association and a vice-president of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association.
Repository
Archival history
GB 0372 HEMMING 1945-2010 Fonds 2 Boxes Hemming , James , 1909-2007 , educationist, writer and humanist
James Hemming was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, had a sporadic formal education, but he earned a BA through a correspondence course at Birkbeck College, London. He taught in schools in Bristol, Bournemouth and lastly at Isleworth grammar school, Middlesex. When the Second World War broke out, he stayed at Isleworth and taught English and PE. He started a campaign to get the cane abolished in schools, bringing considerable odium from the educational establishment.
His first book, The Child is Right - a Challenge to Parents and Other Adults (1947), was written in collaboration with Josephine Balls. Instead of God is subtitled 'A Pragmatic Reconsideration of Beliefs and Values'; The Betrayal of Youth tackles the secondary educational system, warning against an overemphasis on academic values. He gave much time and energy to the British Humanist Association, serving as its President between 1977 and 1980. His other books included Problems of Adolescent Girls, Individual Morality, Sex Education in Schools, Sex and Love, and You and Your Adolescent.
Hemming appeared as a defence witness in the Penguin Books obscenity trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover in 1960 and was a regular panel member on the 1970s BBC programme If You Think You've Got Problems. During the 1980s and 90s, he was a humanist representative on the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, an honorary associate of the Rationalist Association and a vice-president of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association.
Deposited with Bishopsgate Library by Anne Almond, 21 December 2009.
Papers of educationalist, writer and humanist (Clifford) James Hemming (1909-2007), including: curriculum vitae and obituary notices, 2007-2008; personal material, including texts of interviews, cartoons and poems/jottings, 1987-2008; miscellaneous articles, papers and published letters, 1951-1999; correspondence, 1962-2000; press cuttings and ephemera, 1945-1960; papers regarding involvement with the World Education Fellowship, 1969-2008; programme for the James Hemming Essay Prize, 2009; copy of Hemming's PhD, Some Problems of Adolescent Girls, 1957; photographs, 1977-2007.
The collection is divided into the following twelve series:
HEMMING/1: Curriculum Vitaes;
HEMMING/2: Obituaries and BHA Celebration;
HEMMING/3: Personal Papers;
HEMMING/4: Articles, Papers and Published Letters;
HEMMING/5: Personal Correspondence;
HEMMING/6: Ephemera and Press Cuttings;
HEMMING/7: World Education Fellowship Papers;
HEMMING/8: BBC and BHA Papers;
HEMMING/9: James Hemming Prize Essays;
HEMMING/10: Photographs;
HEMMING/11: PhD Thesis;
HEMMING/12: Publications
Open
Full reprographics service available. Digital photography is also permitted after completion of copyright clearance form.
English
ADLIB Online Catalogue; catalogue in Bishopsgate Library
Entry compiled by Stefan Dickers.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
14 August 2010 Schools Educational reform Educational policy Hemming , James , 1909-2007 , educationist, writer and humanist World Education Fellowship Educational institutions Educational development
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Deposited with Bishopsgate Library by Anne Almond, 21 December 2009.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of educationalist, writer and humanist (Clifford) James Hemming (1909-2007), including: curriculum vitae and obituary notices, 2007-2008; personal material, including texts of interviews, cartoons and poems/jottings, 1987-2008; miscellaneous articles, papers and published letters, 1951-1999; correspondence, 1962-2000; press cuttings and ephemera, 1945-1960; papers regarding involvement with the World Education Fellowship, 1969-2008; programme for the James Hemming Essay Prize, 2009; copy of Hemming's PhD, Some Problems of Adolescent Girls, 1957; photographs, 1977-2007.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The collection is divided into the following twelve series:
HEMMING/1: Curriculum Vitaes;
HEMMING/2: Obituaries and BHA Celebration;
HEMMING/3: Personal Papers;
HEMMING/4: Articles, Papers and Published Letters;
HEMMING/5: Personal Correspondence;
HEMMING/6: Ephemera and Press Cuttings;
HEMMING/7: World Education Fellowship Papers;
HEMMING/8: BBC and BHA Papers;
HEMMING/9: James Hemming Prize Essays;
HEMMING/10: Photographs;
HEMMING/11: PhD Thesis;
HEMMING/12: Publications
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Full reprographics service available. Digital photography is also permitted after completion of copyright clearance form.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
ADLIB Online Catalogue; catalogue in Bishopsgate Library
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English