The collection contains correspondence, mostly concerned with the activities of the British Women's Temperance Association.
British Women's Temperance AssociationThe archive consists of correspondence, publications and press cuttings relating to Seligman's work to provide mobile health vans in India and her travels in Africa. Photographs were transferred to the Museum Collection.
The file comprises:
*Booklet sold in aid of the work of the Skippo Fund by Seligman, Hilda. 'Asoka, Emperor of India', London: Arthur Probsthain, 1947.
*Booklet for children by Seligman, Hilda. 'Skippo of Nonesuch', London: John and Edward Bumpus Ltd, 1944. With illustrations by the author, (2 copies).
*Printed leaflet of the Skippo Fund 'Messages from India', describing the work of the Asoka-Akbar mobile health vans (c. 1946). The vans treated ailments, gave information on health and sanitation, and taught first aid.
*Printed information sheet about the Skippo Fund, with a photograph of a unit on the reverse, (c.1946).
*3 press cuttings about a Children's Fete held in aid of the Skippo Fund at the Seligman's house in Wimbledon, Sep 1948 (originally held in envelope addressed to Mr and Mrs Paddon).
*Letter to Mrs Paddon from Hilda Seligman written from Delhi, 28 Jan 1947, describing a visit to Delhi and the All India Women's Conference.
*Letter to Hillary and John Paddon from Hilda Seligman, written on notepaper of the Treetops Hotel, Kenya, 4 Mar 1952.
*Typescript account 'A strange coincidence', by Richard Seligman, 12 Mar 1952.
*Pamphlet 'The rise of the women's movement in Indonesia', London: Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, (c. 1952).
*Typescript account 'The Warrior Piano', about a piano presented to Hilda Seligman's son, abandoned during the war in Padua, found again in 1948 and restored by Hilda Seligman.
Seligman , Hilda , fl 1936-1947 , sculptress, author and campaignerThe Josephine Butler Society Library is an unrivalled resource for the study of sexuality and public morality from the late nineteenth to the mid twentieth century. This unique collection of books, pamphlets, periodicals, leaflets and, campaigning documents, covers subjects ranging from the regulation of prostitution, venereal disease, social purity, sexuality and public health to criminology, penology, eugenics and population control. Although a small number of individual items continue to be added to the collection by the Josephine Butler Society, the bulk of the printed materials date from the late nineteenth and early to mid twentieth centuries.
The Josephine Butler Society Library is particularly important because it brings together the Library of the organisation alongside its campaigning literature and business papers. In addition to sources for the study of prostitution and attitudes to sexuality in Britain the collection includes significant amounts of material on slavery, procuring, public health and the armed forces in India. It contains late nineteenth century works on sexology by Havelock Ellis, Bloch, Forel and Krafft-Ebing and psychology by Freud, Jung and Ellis, as well as works on marriage, the family and sex education. Although most material in the collection is in English there are small but significant numbers of works in European languages. The geographic scope of the collection extends beyond Britain and the Commonwealth; papers of the International Bureau for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons 1899-1968, for example, relate to the Bureau's work with the League of Nations.
Josephine Butler SocietyThe archive consists of three diaries of Eunice Guthrie Murray, a member of the Women's Freedom League (with full transcript by her grand-niece Frances Sylvia Martin), covering the period 1895-1918; with copy death certificate of Eunice Guthrie Murray. Subjects covered include the women's suffrage campaigns, temperance, social conditions in Glasgow, politics, foreign travel, family life and Scotland.
Murray , Eunice Guthrie , 1878-1960 , suffragist and authorThe archive consists of the organisation's archives and Maternity Alliance publications. It includes Annual Reports and Accounts, the papers for the Annual General Meetings, the Minutes of the Executive and Management Committees and the papers of the working parties and subcommittees that reported to them, a complete set of the MA monthly newsletter, MA publications (including reports, fact-sheets, training notes, booklets and books), Directors' working papers (Christine Gowdridge), press cuttings, posters, a MA clock, an award.
The records reflect the organisation's work in:
- Education (this includes educating employers and individuals of what was existing legal provision for maternity, but also education related to campaigning to reduce inequality in maternity provision, including lobbying government and trade unions for key changes in maternity provision);
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Research into and support for specific groups (ethnic minorities; travellers; teenagers; asylum seekers; disabled etc);
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Publications: Creating publications to support the above work;
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Training: Creating published training resources and providing training sessions for those who worked with target communities (i.e. those who worked with parents on rights and benefits such as the DSS; Social workers; Advice groups and charities);
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Policy and Project Work (such as a Teenage Pregnancy Project which included a resource and training pack);
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Advisory Services (through the web site; through key publications; and through the Advice Line);
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Conferences (particularly research based courses to highlight specific campaigns).