Fonds GB 0372 HEMMING - HEMMING, (Clifford) James (1909-2007)

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0372 HEMMING

Title

HEMMING, (Clifford) James (1909-2007)

Date(s)

  • 1945-2010 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

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.

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

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Bishopsgate Institute

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

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area