Post on 12-Jan-2023
“Sex in the Archives: Finding Aids, Appraisal
Guidelines and Ephemera”
Jennifer Brosnan
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Science in Information
Management and Preservation in the Humanities
Advanced Technology and Information Institute,
University of Glasgow
1
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank many people for their help in bringing
this dissertation together. First of all, my parents, Miriam
and James, for their continued support and guidance throughout
my continued education as well as my sister, Eva, who is
always there to provide some light at the end of the tunnel. I
could not have down this without my friends; Shona, Cathy,
Katie, Kristin, Maeve, Cleo, Aisling, Anthony, Sophia, Osman
and Ibrahim. All of you have been a pillar of strength when
things didn’t seem to be going my way. I would like to thank
my supervisor, Professor Michael Moss, for his advice not only
in this work but for my future pursuits in academia. I would
also like to thank the staff at Glasgow Women’s Library for
always making me feel at home on my visits and my colleagues
at the University of Strathclyde Archives. Least of all, I
have to mention my cat, Felix, who was always there to provide
the comfort only a pet can give.
3
Chapter 1: Sex in the Archives
IntroductionSex, in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, was used
to generally refer to what we now would consider to be a
person’s gender. This makes it problematic for research in the
period to know when the physical act of reproduction is being
referred to. Once this stumbling block has been navigated,
there is a loose set of terms, or rather euphemisms used by
society to refer to the physical act of human reproduction.
In using euphemism or societal slang, there is a risk of being
guided by Christian views and morals that governed teachings
on morality during this time period. Elizabeth Blackwell was a
pioneering physician towards the end of the nineteenth
century, not only because she was the first female physician
to graduate but also because of her Christian views which she
declared many times throughout her work. Her books entitled
Counsel to Parents on Moral Education of Their Children in Relation to Sex and The
Human Element in Sex Being a Medical Inquiry Into the Relation of Sexual
Physiology to Christian Morality served as rudimentary measures of
introducing the topic of sex to younger audiences, influenced
by the Christian views and morals of the time. This is an
important aspect of the Victorian mind set when examining
sexual or explicit material housed in archives dating from
this time period.1 1 Blackwell was also heavily involved with the London School of Medicine for Women with Elizabeth Garrett Anderson which will be examined in the next chapter.
4
Yet, there was a solution to this issue of slang and morality
through the use of medical terminology often relied upon by
‘lay’ people at the time who wanted to use the correct term in
order for their work to be considered serious.2 Ancestry.com
has made available a dictionary of medical terminologies,
particularly for people looking at birth and death
certificates that may be of help when searching for key
terms/finding aids.3
The Oxford Dictionary attempts to help define this loaded word
without reference to religion, anatomy or historical virtue.
In this matter there are two definitions:
1. Sexual activity, including specifically sexual
intercourse;
2. Either of the two main categories (male and female) into
which humans and most other living things are divided on
the basis of their reproductive functions.4
The second definition is, as previously determined, linked to
current ideas of gender which the Oxford Dictionary defines
as; “the state of being male or female (typically used with
2 The National Archives podcast by Dr Louise Chambers, “Fictional Obscenities: Lesbianism and Censorship in the Early 20th Century”, 7th February 2011. Found at: http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/fictional-obscenities-lesbianism-and-censorship-in-the-early-20th-century/ [last accessed 01/07/2013].3 Found at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwkidz/oldmedterm.htm [lastaccessed 30/07/2013].4 Oxford English Dictionary “SEX”. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/sex [last accessed 01/07/2013].
5
reference to social and cultural differences rather than
biological ones)”.5
Within these definitions gives rise to the grey areas of where
sex and gender meet, along with social and personal
constructions of identification. The early twentieth century,
with the emergence of psychoanalysis and sexology, helped to
provide a medical outlet to study this gradual emergence of
personal identification outside of the social norms, and also
with behaviour that was previously considered sexually
deviant.
This year a lecture was given by Professor Leo Bersani as part
of the Tate Liverpool Keywords Lecture series, based on Raymond
Williams’ book of the same name.6 Bersani was invited to speak
about the keyword ‘sex’.7 As part of this talk he investigated
the link between Foucault, Freud and the meaning of sex. In
fact, Michel Foucault discusses at length the issue of whether
sex actually exists; this is particularly true in his The History
of Sexuality series. In volume one; ‘The Will to Knowledge’,
Foucault attempts to define this enigma, beginning in the
period that will be dealt with in later chapters. Indeed,
there is a focus on Victorian values which clashes with the
5 Oxford English Dictionary “GENDER”. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gender#gender_11 [last accessed 01/07/2013].6 Raymond Williams, Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society (Oxford University Press, New York, 1976).7 This lecture took place in Liverpool in May 2013.
6
current presumed sexual liberty of modern western
civilisation.8
In identifying a marked difference in moral and sexual values,
it is possible to see an evolving definition of sex, depending
on its historical and societal context. Even today, different
societies have varied attitudes towards sex and sexual
activity thus bestowing a wide range of definitions on it.
This will be reflected in the common history of the society
i.e. in their archives, libraries and museums. Foucault
addresses this phenomenon by labelling it a “censorship of
sex”.9
The sixteenth century is marked as a turning point in the
censorship of sex by both Foucault and Bersani.10 It was at
this time that the tide turned for sexual freedoms and more
prudent ideas about sexuality and the body were exercised.
Religious institutions and reform had a large part to play in
this, particularly in the Victorian era. However, it was also
at this time that a scientific presence was emerging in the
field of sex, in the form of psychoanalysis and sexology,
namely through the figure of Sigmund Freud.
Freud developed many theories on sexuality and published
widely on the topic, often using his patients as case studies.
One prime example of this can be seen in The Wolfman, where 8 Leo Bersani, Tate Liverpool Keywords Series, ‘Sex’, May 2013.9 Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality: The Will to Knowledge (Penguin Books, London, 1976) p. 17.10 Bersani, May 2013.
7
Freud delves into his patient’s childhood in order to diagnose
him.11 In this work, Freud uses clinical, medical language so
as to give it a professional polish. Such words could be used
as a finding aid within the book, as the seventh chapter is
titled ‘Anal Eroticism and the Castration Complex’. There is
no doubt as to what content this chapter contains, and helps
the reader categorize the various issues the patient is
dealing with.
Bersani also made that point that several factors may be
considered when defining sex. Firstly, sex can be defined from
our bodily areas, along with activities that stimulate sexual
awareness and arousal.12 This is particularly true in the case
of Freud and Foucault, who are not confined within the idea of
sex being a reproductive rite of passage. This also ties into
the idea of bodily pleasures defining sex. Secondly, sex may
be defined by the senses. Again this is a somewhat Freudian
view but considers the personal construct of sex i.e. it is
defined by what we make of it through our own experiences.
Thirdly, and most importantly, we must consider the role
science plays in defining sex as an abstract idea.13 This would
apply to medical work and also the science of research
employed by Foucault in researching the history of sexuality.
Sex has many meanings and numerous variations of use in
relation to the individual. It is not just limited to the
physical act but relates a whole host of actions and
11 Sigmund Freud, The Wolfman: Why are Wolves White? (Penguin, London, 1918).12 Bersani, May 2013.13 Bersani, May 2013.
8
activities ranging from the biological difference between a
man and a woman to the act of coitus and everything else in
between.14 This uncertainty is made clear by The Wandsworth
Dictionary of Sex which documents all the various terms associated
with sexual activity, which will be discussed in Chapter 4.15
As mentioned before, Freud’s use of clinical language and
medical terminology is a simple manner of encouraging key word
searches in his material. For example, in The Wolfman, Freud
uses the following terms in his diagnosis:
Gonorrhoeal
Gynaecological
Nakedness
Seduction
Fantasies
Puberty
Sexual Pursuits
Penis
Genitals
Physical Intimacy
Masturbation
Castration
Masochistic
Sexual organ
Anal-Sadistic
Coitus14 Marty Klein, “The Meaning of Sex” Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, Vol. 4, August 10th, 1998, p. 1. 15 Kenneth Anderson and Robert Goldenson, The Wandsworth Dictionary of Sex (Wandsworth Editions Ltd, 1997).
9
Anal Eroticism
Copulation
Libido
Intercourse
Male Member
Vagina
These words are used in a scientific and medical context so
are acceptable in his case notes for public consumption.16 In
chapter 3, on the Muybridge collection, a similar case study
will be set out on the acceptance of visually sexual material
on the grounds of scientific context.
The topic of sex in the nineteenth and early twentieth century
was reserved mainly for scientific and educated men. They were
often not comfortable addressing the topic head on,
particularly in public discussion, and employed several
euphemisms to mask what they were actually referring to. Words
such as physiology, intimacy, self-abuse/onanism (in relation to
masturbation), social purity and hygiene (regarding menstruation in
women), were used as a rudimentary code, especially in
academic literature in order to keep in line with the general
sentiment of society in relation to sex.17 In Neil McKenna’s
Fanny and Stella¸ this is referred to briefly where Fanny Park
surprises her doctor by knowing what gonorrhoea was something
16 These terms were compiled whilst reading The Wolfman. To the best of this author’s knowledge there is no known published list of these terms for thisbook elsewhere.17 Jennifer Brosnan, The Transmission of Sexual Knowledge in Britain, 1870-1910 (University of Edinburgh, MSc Gender History dissertation, 2012) p. 9.
10
which many people outside of the medical profession would not
have known the symptoms, never mind the medical term for. 18
Methodology How does this relate to the topic of sex in the archives?
Definitions are important in examining complex concepts and
ideas. The concept of the archive and sex are socially
constructed so it is important to lay a concrete foundation
from which to work. If these definitions are clearly outlined
from the beginning then confusion is less likely to arise
later in this work. Sex, here, means content and materials
relating to sexual or explicit content. Of course, sexual does
not have to mean pornographic but that which relates to the
sexual organs and even a person’s sexual orientation. It is an
all encompassing definition of sex in order not to leave any
evidence of sex in the archives untouched when examining the
Royal Free Archives, The Kingston Museum and the Glasgow
Women’s Library.
The aim of this dissertation is to determine whether sex is
kept in the archive or if it has been abandoned in favour of
more conservative and user friendly materials. This has been
true of archives in the past, particularly in the nineteenth
century. Women, too have often been left out of the archive
because of presumed lack of interest by users in previous
generations. With the advent of gender history, however, this
has been somewhat counteracted but is still an issue in many 18 Neil McKenna, Fanny and Stella: The Young Men Who Shocked Victorian England (Faber and Faber Ltd, London, 2013) p. 195.
11
archives today that house mostly male material. Sex in this
dissertation is to encompass both the act of human
reproduction, the gender of a person and also a person’s
sexual orientation. The choice of institutions for analysis in
this dissertation aims to cover all these definitions. The
functions of these archives also aims to cover the various
types of archives in existence, as in this work a medical
archive, a community archive and a museum archive are targeted
to provide a full scope of enquiry.
All of the institutions to be examined in this work will cover
the topics of finding aids, appraisal guidelines and ephemera,
in order to give some structure and uniformity to a topic that
is somewhat problematic. Each chapter will then investigate an
area of its respective archive and a collection that links to
the concept of sex in the archives. Chapter 2 will deal with
the Royal Free Archives and its case notes which hold some
explicit content relating to female patients who had
gynaecological complaints, as well as delving into the
Register of Births held at the archive. The Birth Registers
analysis will hope to investigate an address or place of
residence that occurs frequently for women, both married and
unmarried, as a place of residence at the time of their
child’s birth. Chapter 3 concerns the Muybridge collection
housed at Kingston Museum and the acceptance of his visually
sexual material, as seen in his Animal Locomotion series. A
case study will be employed to uncover how the Victorians felt
about Muybridge and his work photographing both men and women
12
in various states of undress as a means of capturing the human
figure in motion. Finally, Chapter 4 will address the Lesbian
Archives housed by Glasgow Women’s Library. The case study
here will examine the chain of custody that occurred after the
Lesbian Archives was closed and the events leading up to this.
My initial actions for this dissertation were to hazard an
educated guess as to the answers I would find in my research.
For the Royal Free Archives I would expect finding aids to be
related to a medical thesaurus. This is due to the clinical
nature of the records held in the repository. As to appraisal
guidelines, I am unsure of what may be implemented but I
expect a considerable amount of this appraisal to be
attributed to the age of the materials. Ephemera are something
I would expect to be the various objects accumulated by the
archive through institutional and individual deposits. For the
Kingston Museum and the Muybridge Collection, I believe
finding aids to be those of the institution as applied to
other collections in their custody. I would also expect
appraisal guidelines to be linked to Kingston University which
has some stake in the collection through various projects. As
with the Royal Free, I think ephemera in this collection will
be the photographs and prints left to the museum. My final
prediction, for Glasgow Women’s Library and the Lesbian
Archive, is also quite straight forward with finding aids
being that of the archive itself. Appraisal guidelines should
reflect those set down by the archivist and ephemera to be in
line with the two other institutions investigated in this
13
work. I will address these initial thoughts in my conclusion
to determine if these were correct.
There are two major themes in this text; that of the
acceptance of sex in society and the archive, and the
evolution of the definition of sex. This has been addressed to
an extent through abstract definitions outlined at the
beginning of this chapter, but I hope to also show these
themes in the investigations I carry out in the Royal Free
Archives, Kingston Museum and Glasgow Women’s Library.
Primary source material is very important in carrying out the
case studies outlined above as they are the foundation on
which this dissertation is built. The literature consulted to
provide context for the collections is secondary, but has
consulted the same archival materials or those similar to
those examined by myself in my investigations. Online sources
are also used considerably as the impact and presence of the
archives is an underlying theme in this work, particularly in
relation to sexual content; how this is perceived and how it
is received, both past and present.
Chapter 2: Royal Free Archives
The Royal Free and its archive have had a jumbled and exciting
history. Founded as 'London General Institution for the
Gratuitous Cure of Malignant Diseases' in 1828 by William
Marsden, it was the only institution in London that would
treat those infected with cholera in the 1832 epidemic. When
14
it came under royal patronage in 1837, with the accession of
Queen Victoria to the throne, it was renamed The Royal Free
Hospital. 19
There are various other hospitals and services that have been
associated with the Royal Free over the past 185 years. These
include New End Hospital (1800), London Fever Hospital (1802),
North-Western Fever Hospital, originally Hampstead Smallpox
Hospital (1870), Coppetts Wood Hospital (1889), the Royal Free
School of Medicine for Women (1898) which became the Royal
Free School of Medicine (1947), Hampstead General Hospital
(1902),the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital
(1942), and Children’s Hospital Hampstead (1975); many of
which are included in the Royal Free Archives.
This chapter aims to uncover the topic of ‘sex in the
archives’ through the finding aids, appraisal guidelines and
ephemera associated with and housed by the archive. A case
study will be explored as an example of what sex in the
archives means for the Royal Free Archive. This will be
carried out through creating a sample of the women who used
the gynaecological and obstetric facilities provided by the
hospital. The study will determine whether the mothers were
married and what happened to them through analysing both the
1901 and 1911 Censuses respectively.
19 History of The Royal Free Hospital can be found on the NHS Archive website: http://www.royalfree.org.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=34&tab_id=126 [last accessed 27/05/2013].
15
Finding Aids The Royal Free Archives does not apply finding aids to the
catalogue it has. This is mainly due to the archivist’s view
that it is inappropriate to apply a specific finding aid to
the material housed by the archive as it encourages a bias in
the route researchers follow20.
As the catalogue for the collection is housed on the Archives
Hub site, as is the case for many other archival institutions,
a variation of a finding aid has been applied by the site to a
collection. This collection is that of Dame Sheila Sherlock.21
The finding aids surrounding this collection are sparse and
relate only directly to the work of the person, rather than as
a measure of finding other materials within the archive
itself. In this case, Dame Sherlock was heavily involved with
research into liver disease at the Royal Free so the finding
aid applied to her work is Liver Diseases. Interestingly, the other
search term Women Scientists has also been highlighted. This is an
indication that sex and gender are interlinked, particularly
in relation to the work carried out by the Royal Free
Archives.
The NHS Royal Free website also cites the Genesis project and
Access to Archives as a means of finding information relating to
the archive collections.22 Genesis is a direct link to the
Women’s Library in London and University College London, which
20 Conversation with the Archivist 24/06/2013.21 This collection is held at: http://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb1530-d24 [last accessed 27/05/2013].22 Information can be found here: http://www.royalfree.org.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=34&tab_id=128 [last accessed 27/05/2013].
16
also has its own links to the various hospitals that have been
associated with the Royal Free throughout the years. However,
on searching for anything that may relate to both the Royal
Free and the Women’s Library such as ‘women in medicine’,
there is no link to the Royal Free Archive, rather links to
women who were involved with the School of Medicine such as
Elizabeth Garrett and Elizabeth Blackwell, and their primary
source material. 23
Access to Archives or A2A is a project run by The National Archives
in order to provide access to archive catalogues in England
and Wales dating from the eighth century to the present day.
The Royal Free Archive catalogue in this project runs to 1948
and is a considerably concise gathering of the collection
housed. However, no finding aids have been applied to the A2A
catalogue and only the hierarchy of the collection is
mentioned. In this manner, it is up to the researcher to apply
their own finding aids and search terms to the catalogue in
the hope of finding relevant material.24
Appraisal Guidelines
23 This was found to be true when searching the catalogue for ‘school of medicine for women’ resulting with the link for Elizabeth Blackwell’s pamphlet “The Influence of Women in the Profession of Medicine: Address given at the….London School of Medicine for Women” (1889). This is listed as being located in the Women’s Library Archive and not the Royal Free Archive. This information can be found at: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Search/Results?lookfor=school+of+medicine+for+women&type=AllFields&filter%5B%5D=language%3A%22English%22 [last accessed 27/05/2013].24 The Access to Archives catalogue for the Royal Free can be found at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=1530-rfh&cid=-1#-1 [last accessed 27/05/2013].
17
Due to the changing nature of the health system in the United
Kingdom, especially London, through the last two centuries,
there have been many changes of address and name for the
various hospitals that have come to be taken in under the
Royal Free umbrella. This has resulted in a mixed survival of
documents for the organisation.
As the archive was officially set up in the late 1970s by a
group of doctors who wished to preserve the memory of the
organisation, with many documents kept in the morgue of the
current Royal Free Hospital.25 Luckily, the cold conditions of
the morgue helped many of the particularly old documents,
especially those relating to the London Fever Hospital,
survive. Yet, it was a different type of luck that caused this
group of doctors to dispose of records that may have been
considered shocking, or they thought may have damaged the past
reputation of the institution, such as that of the Venereal
Disease clinics that were run in the mid-nineteenth century.
This is an example of sex purposely being left out of the
archive. Whilst this is true of most of the records from VD
clinics from this time period, Lesley Hall identifies the Lock
Hospital as an exception to this rule, along with its
associated Asylum for prostitutes.26 The vast majority of the
records of this the Lock Hospital do survive, surprisingly,
held by the Harrow Branch of the hospital until the emergence
25 Conversation with the archivist on 15/04/2013.26 Lesley Hall “Sex in the Archives” Archives Vol. XXII, No. 93, April 1995 p.2.
18
of the National Health Service, and then moved to the Royal
College of Surgeons.27
It should be noted that the Royal Free Archive is a registered
place of deposit and is unable to accept new materials. This
is largely due to the fact that there is a limited amount of
space in the archive facilities. Much of the material that was
not kept in the archive was given to other repositories that
had similar collections and interests. This has implications
on the scope of investigation, as some of the material has
been scattered and there might not be access to all materials.
EphemeraThe archivist at the Royal Free Archive defines ephemera as
anything that isn’t official documentation. This would
include nursing certificates donated by individuals and
pamphlets from the medical school. The Archivist believes
ephemeron is transitory in nature, meaning it is not meant to
be kept; archives should not have it in their collections in
the first place. It is the archivist’s position for this place
of deposit to try not to have ephemera in the catalogue at
all.28
There are more unique items of interest held in the repository
awarded to and accumulated by the various institutions that
have made up the Royal Free. These include nurses medals,
sporting cups, donation drive slips and bed plates; items that27 Ibid.28 Conversation with the archivist 24/06/2013.
19
are not considered to have long-term value. These are
artefacts that can be considered ephemera by the catalogue or
for want of a better word; miscellaneous.
The archive also houses various articles from the joined
histories of the Royal Free. These include photographs of the
School of Medicine for Women, with young female students in
laboratories, being taught by male doctors and professors.
There are also photographs of the female students socialising
and enjoying extracurricular activities. However, in this
archive photographs are considered ‘evidence’.29 They document
activities carried out by the students and teachers at the
medical school and provide evidentiary value to confirm these
activities occurred.
Photographic examples of ephemera can be found in the
Appendix.30
Case StudyIn order to determine the real scope of sex in the Royal Free
archives a case study must be undertaken. This case study is
to examine a sample of the lives of the women who used the
services of the Royal Free Hospital, in relation to its
obstetric and gynaecological departments. Five women were
29Ibid.30 These are in Appendix G, H, I and LJ
20
chosen for the sample survey. They were to give an overview of
age, occupation, complaint/condition and mortality, which was
still an issue at the turn of the century.
The time period chosen for this sample is between the 1901 and
1911 Census, so these women can be tracked through
governmental documentation as well as medical records.31 As
well as this, other factors such as age at the birth of their
children (if any) and marital status, would give a good
indication of the social and economic background that the
Royal Free worked within and who they provided a service for.
There is also an anomaly in the register of births that needs
to be recorded for the Royal Free, in order to cast a light on
the sometimes precarious situations that women found
themselves in. The address 88 Alexandra Road is often recorded
as a place of residence for women about to give birth.32 This
suggests it may have acted as a service to provide board to
often unmarried women who needed to have a child outside of
the knowledge of their families.
Case Notes
The Case Notes consulted for the initial sample of were those
of Dr. Vaughan- Sawyer and Dr. Willey, two female doctors at
the Royal Free Hospital that specialised in gynaecological
31 The Census comparison may go on to document whether the women went on to have more children, moved location, remarried etc. 32 These references to 88 Alexandra Road can be found at the Royal Free Archives Register of Births 1914- 1928; NEH/3/1/1.
21
cases, and also operated on many of their patients.33 It is
because of this that there are many detailed drawings and
diagrams included in their notes, presumably to help their
students as many of the drawings are to scale.34 These drawings
can be considered explicit, particularly those relating to the
case of Mary Beecham and Louisa Vingoe, where detailed
diagrams of female genitalia are recorded. These are kept in
the record because of their educational and scientific value,
much like the Eadweard Muybridge collection and his Animal
Locomotion photographic plates, as will be discussed in the
next chapter.
The five women were chosen because of their varying situations
and age in order to give as broad as possible an overview of
the services the Royal Free provided for women. The ages of
the women range from 17 to 55, and include both married and
unmarried women, women with and without children, and with a
variety of medical issues. There is also a case of one woman
dying in the care of the hospital after an operation to remove
an ovarian cyst, to give evidence that there were a percentage
of women who did not fully recover from the treatment they
received.
There is a table attached in Appendix A showing the
information given in the case notes, but what is perhaps more
intriguing is where and how these women are recorded in the 33 The Archival references for these materials at the Royal Free Archive are: RFH/4/PN/1/3/1- Lady Barrett (formerly Florence Willey), Women, 1908 and RFH/4/PN/1/32/1, Dr Vaughan-Sawyer, Women, 1904-1908.34 For examples of these drawings consult the Appendix.
22
1901 and 1911 Census. The dates of admission range from 1904
to 1908, which comfortably fall in the interim period between
both censuses. Of course, as one woman dies in care she is not
recorded in the 1911 Census, but her death records are still
accessible.
As each woman is unique, so is the amount of information taken
from her in the case notes. Some notes are incredibly
detailed, particularly in the case of Mary Jane Collins (Woman
2). This is partly due to the fact that her post mortem is
also included and also the number of drawings detailing her
operation, which includes a photo of her either on the
operating table or awaiting post mortem. Louisa Vingoe’s
(Woman 5) notes cover a period of two visits, so are also
quite long.
Here is a list of the women selected and the application of
their details to the 1901 and 1911 Censuses:
Woman 1: May Beecham, aged 29 at time of admission.
Name Age Married Childre
n
Occupat
ion
Addres
s1901 May
Beecham
25 Yes No None London
Isling
tonAt
Admissio
n (1904)
May
Beecham
29 Yes No House See
Append
ix1911 May 36 Yes Yes None 10
23
Beecham Reyten
Road,
LondonNotes: It is clear from looking at the 1911 Census that May
Beecham was able to conceive a child after the procedure she
underwent with Dr. Vaughan-Sawyer. Her daughter, Lillian was
born in 1906, just two years after the operation to remove a
growth in May’s cervix.
Woman 2: Mary Jane Collins, aged 55 at time of admission.
Name Age Married Childre
n
Occupat
ion
Addres
s1901 Mary
Jane ?
50 ? No ? ?
At
Admissio
n
(1908)
Mary
Jane
Collins
55 Yes No House See
Append
ix
1911 - - - - - -
Woman 3: Florence Warren, aged 40 at time of admission.
Name Age Married Childre
n
Occupat
ion
Addres
s1901 Florenc
e
Warren
33 Yes Yes Unknown London
Hollow
ay,
Finchl
ey
24
At
Admissio
n (1908)
Florenc
e
Warren
40 Yes Yes House See
Append
ix1911 Florenc
e
Warren
44 Yes Yes Unknown Poplar
Woman 4: Maud L. Baddes, aged 17 at time of admission.
Name Age Married Childre
n
Occupat
ion
Address
1901 Maud
Baddes
9 No No Juvenil
e
Unknown
At
Admissio
n (1908)
Maud L.
Baddes
17 No No None See
Appendi
x1911 Maud
Louisa
Baddes
19 No No Unknown Edmonto
n
Note: Maud L. Baddes was the only entry on both Censuses.
Woman 5: Louisa Vingoe, aged 29 at time of admission.Name Age Married Childr
en
Occupation Address
1901 Louis
a
Evans
21 No No Arm Carpet
Weaver
Unknown
At
Admissi
on
(1908)
Louis
a
Vingo
e
29 Yes Yes House See Appendix
25
1911 Louis
a
Evans
Vingo
e
35 Yes Yes Unknown Lisle Avenue,
Stourport Road
Notes: The fact that Louisa Vingoe’s ages does not quite match
up on the Census and in the Admission records highlights an
issue with the Census. It was often the head of the household
who filled out the Census, Louisa Vingoe’s husband in this
case. Fortunately, as the surname of the patient is unusual
and does not feature heavily in the Census records, it can be
determined this was the same Louise Vingoe. The fact that her
maiden name is recorded in the 1911 Census helped the search
for her in the 1901 Census. This was an issue in searching for
other women in the Census as their maiden names were not
recorded in the Case Notes. This was eventually overcome with
some investigative work with the 1911 and 1901 censuses.
However, in the case of Mary Jane Collins, it was not possible
to find a maiden name and has been left blank in the above
table.
Register of Births
As part of this case study, the register of births was
consulted in order to determine the activities and use of 88
Alexandra Road by women. The first register of births the
archive holds dates from 1914 to 1928, which means that due to
Data Protection the women who used this address are not able
to be identified in this work. It is in this manner that no
specific information has been used other than statistics about
how often the address was recorded in this register.
26
Examining the Register of Births is also an exercise in
recording the development in record-keeping in this book
alone. These developments include the eventual dropping of the
child’s name from the record as well as their baptisms.
Stillborns and twins were included in the register and in red
ink from 1924, presumably to draw attention to these
particular details. It should also be noted that at the end of
each year, the number of legitimate and illegitimate children
born were totalled up, also in red ink.
This register is not for the Royal Free Hospital, but rather
the Hampstead Union, a medical facility that served a
workhouse. This may also explain why certain details in the
register of births are recorded in red ink. These details
would have impacted on the general running of the workhouse.
While the institute the birth register represents is not an
official Royal Free hospital, it does represent one of the
areas the organisation worked in.
The address 88 Alexandra Road has been a source of speculation
for many researchers at the Royal Free Archives. It was the
address occupied by The Cross Road’s Club, founded in 1919 by
Princess Christian (second daughter of Queen Victoria). No 88
was a place where expectant mothers could go six weeks before
they were due to have their child, then go to the local
Maternity Hospital, have their child and move into No. 90,
next door for another six weeks. It was a small operation run
27
by the club with only four staff, including two nurses. The
housework was expected to be done by the lodgers.35
The number of times this address is recorded in the Register
of Births can be seen below:
1921 8 1926 171922 22 1927 221924 15 1928 251925 25
Of course, these numbers are only for this institution, but do
indicate a high volume of women using the service each year.
It should also be remembered that not all children whose
address is recorded here were illegitimate. The first two
entries for No. 88 show an equal demographic of male and
female, legitimate and illegitimate children. 36
The information recorded for each child in the Register of
Births is as follows:
1. Date of Birth,
2. Sex,
3. Legitimate or Illegitimate,
4. Name of Father OR Mother,
5. Whence Admitted (address),
6. Christian name/names (of child),
35 Information obtained from the archivist at the Royal Free Archives on No.88 Alexandra Road. The records of The Cross Roads Club are held at London Metropolitan Archives.36 Royal Free Archives NEH/3/1/1.
28
7. When and where baptized (left blank),
8. Remarks,
9. Master’s initials and date.
With the development of record-keeping, the 1930-1935 Register
of Births records have more detailed information including the
occupation of one or both the parents as well as filling out
the section dealing with baptism. This may be marked by a
shift in management, and also the abolition of the
workhouses.37
ConclusionThe concept of ‘sex in the archives’ is very much alive in the
Royal Free Archives, through its case notes and register of
births. This is in spite of the previous efforts to remove
such content, like the venereal disease clinic records. The
case notes were a valuable measure in educating students,
mainly female, about the gynaecological problems that were
treated and how they were treated. In this manner it is a
valuable resource, both in its educational and scientific
purpose at the turn of the twentieth century, and for the
present day.
The Register of Births also has its controversies. In
retaining information regarding illegitimate and legitimate
children, it has potential to harm. In this manner it is
explicit content and is now protected by law, like visually
explicit and sexual content. The evidential value of this 37 Examples of the difference in layout of the Register of Births can be found in Appendix K and L.
29
material is clear, which explains why it has been kept, as
with the Case Notes. This may show an acceptance of explicit
material, mostly pertaining to sex, by society if it has
educational, scientific or evidential purpose.
Chapter 3: The Muybridge Collection
Unlike the rest of the collections exhibited in this work, the
Muybridge College, housed by Kingston Museum, has a relatively
30
easy history to document. Eadweard Muybridge bequest his works
to the Museum and Library of his hometown, Kingston upon
Thames in his will in 1904.38 This is partly due to the
friendship he had with Harry Cross, the borough Librarian, who
was in the process of building and developing the library for
the community.39 It is an unusual bequest as Muybridge spent
much of his adult life abroad, particularly in the Americas.
Born in 1830 at Kingston upon Thames as Edward James
Muggeridge, not much else is known about his early life or
education until the early 1850s after emigration to New York,
and a change of name to Eadweard Muybridge.40 It wasn’t until
Muybridge moved to San Francisco in the 1860s that his
interest in and talent for photography blossomed, leading to
the key developments in photographic technology that became
the hallmarks of his career.
Whilst Muybridge’s personal life was marred with dramatic
twists and turns, including killing his wife’s lover, his
professional career was going leaps and bounds. In 1872 he was
charged with discovering if a horse’s hooves all left the
ground while in full gallop by using his new approaches to
photography.41 He was then introduced to the scientific world
by French scientist and photographer Étienne Jules Marey,
38Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry on Eadweard Muybridge; foundat: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35174 [last accessed 15/06/2013].39 Conversation with Museum curator 3/06/2013.40 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Muybridge.41 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Muybridge.
31
helping to establish him in this discipline and gain
recognition for his work.
It can be argued that the Animal Locomotion series is what
invited the most attention to the developments Muybridge
brought to photography and catching motion on film.42 This
series contains over two thousand photographic plates on
moving men, women, children, animals and birds dating 1872 to
1885 and brought him world acclaim, leading Muybridge to
lecture worldwide about his observations in human movement.
This chapter aims to examine the finding aids and appraisal
guidelines applied to the collection as well as examine the
definition of ephemera and how it is applied by Kingston
Museum to Muybridge’s prints. In this section there will also
be a comparison with another institute that houses a Muybridge
collection in order to determine how different organisations
deal with the complexity of the collection. The institute in
question is the University of Pennsylvania where Muybridge was
employed in the 1880s. It is also where he carried out most of
his scientific experiments photographing nude male students at
the University, leading to the eventual publication of Animal
Locomotion. 43
42 A large view of one of these plates can be found in Medicine Man: The Forgotten Museum of Henry Wellcome (The British Museum Press, London, 2011) pp. 202-3.43 More information on Muybridge’s work at this institute can be found in Janine A. Mileaf’s “Poses for the Camera: Eadweard Muybridge’s Studies of the Human Theatre”, American Art, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Autumn, 2002) pp. 30-53.
32
The topic of ‘sex in the archives’ will be uncovered through a
case study on Muybridge’s work and how it was received by late
Victorian society. As much of his Animal Locomotion material
contains explicit nudity, it should have been rejected, but
because of the scientific nature of the work it was observed
and studied by many. The case study will examine the fine line
between perversion and science defined by the Victorian
period, through analysing the Animal Locomotion prints and
exploring their initial reception by both the scientific and
lay communities.
Finding AidsAs is the case with the Royal Free Archives, no finding aids
have been applied to the collection. It is because of this
that when looking through the collection, the researcher needs
to know which part of the collection they are looking in. The
two more famous aspects of the collection being Animal
Locomotion and the Lantern slides do help narrow the fields of
research, but in this manner it is presumed that there is
previous knowledge of the collection and what is contained
within.
The key role of the Curator, in this case, is to help people
navigate the collection, sometimes to avoid the explicit
material held inside. The photograph section of the collection
is the most explicit in this regard, with the images found
33
online at the Kingston Museum site, while the discs have no
nudity.44
Finding aids or keywords are problematic for a catalogue as it
encourages applying our own contemporary ideas on Muybridge’s
work which would not have been the case at the time,
particularly the use of the word ‘explicit’. This would not
have been an issue in his time, as the work he carried out and
recorded was considered art and scientific experimentation.
However, in this century, there is a notion of having a duty
to the public, particularly younger audiences, of material
that may offend or cause concern.
As the museum is not the only institution that houses a
collection containing Muybridge material, it is interesting to
note how other repositories have dealt with cataloguing his
collection.45 The University of Pennsylvania also has a vast
collection of material that it has put online for easier
accessibility.46 The finding aids it has employed are
relatively simple and also require the researcher to have some
44 Found at: http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/leisure/museum/collections/muybridge/animal_locomotion/locomotion_prints.htm [last accessed 15/06/2013].45 The University of Kingston led a project in 2010 that created a database of the various Muybridge collections all over the world called ‘Defining Modernities’. The database of the institutions that house Muybridge can be found here: http://www.eadweardmuybridge.co.uk/collection_map_and_database/[last accessed 18/06/2013]. The University of Pennsylvania was chosen as an example comparison as it has specific links to the photographic prints of Muybridge, and also because of the detailed accessibility of its collection on the internet. 46 The University of Pennsylvania Muybridge Collection can be found here: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/primdocs/upt/upt50/upt50m993/upt50m993.html [last accessed 18/06/2013].
34
knowledge of the collection. The finding aids are;
photographic plates, printed materials, correspondence and
photographic equipment- these are listed as contents and link
to other web pages.
It should also be noted that in the collections policy page
relating to Eadweard Muybridge also contains some finding
aids, marked as hyperlinks.47 These include: ‘outdoor studio
for Muybridge’, ‘Muybridge also included students and faculty
from the University of Pennsylvania’, ‘Descriptive
Zoopraxography’, ‘Prospectus and Catalog [sic] of Plates’,
‘Descriptive Zoopraxography or the Science of Animal
Locomotion’, and ‘UPA 9’ (relating to Muybridge’s personal
papers). These links all bring the user directly to sections
of the collection relating to the finding aid.
Appraisal GuidelinesNo official appraisal has been applied to this collection.
However, despite the Kingston museum being in custody of the
collection on Muybridge’s death in 1904, it was not
accessioned until almost twenty years later, with any notes on
the initial collection being very scarce. As the Muybridge
collection is internationally renowned and a key source of
funding for the institution, the museum is reluctant to
dispose of any material. The variety of researchers and
47 The collection policy of the University of Pennsylvania Archives can be found here: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/home/protocols.html [last accessed 18/06/2013].
35
requests for information aimed at the collection is so wide
that it is hard to know what users may be interested in.
Anything relating to appraisal and the Muybridge collection at
the University of Pennsylvania has been recorded as
provenance.48 There is no mention of how the collection was
weeded or appraised, but the collection policy of the
University Archive states that items of historical
significance are brought through inactive and active phases
before appraisal. Presumably this is the equivalent to open
and closed access in UK archives.
EphemeraThe Muybridge Collection is unusual to this dissertation as it
comes under the custody of a Museum, rather than an Archive or
Library. Despite all coming under the heritage wing of the
arts, and having an overall mission of protecting and
preserving the materials, there are discrepancies in
definition and use of the word ‘ephemera’. In Kingston Museum
there is a view that the conservation of the collection is
more important that cataloguing, so the extent and medium of
the ephemera is not clear.
In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information
Professionals (CILIP) produced a report on the topic of
ephemera and how it is applied to libraries, archives and 48 The provenance section can be found here: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/upt/upt50/muybridgee.html [last accessed 18/06/2013].
36
museums.49 Simply titled “Ephemera: the stuff of history”, the
report explores the emergence and development of the ‘ephemera
collection’ and also the difficulties in defining ephemera.50
This is certainly the case when comparing archive collections
with a museum collection. In an archive, the print collection
would be classed as ephemera in the majority of cases, while
the Muybridge collection is not considered thus by Kingston
Museum. In fact, it is the scrapbooks and various
correspondences, left by Muybridge, that are classed as
ephemera.51
The University of Pennsylvania attempts to define ephemera in
its archive. Again, ephemeron proves to be problematic in its
definition; here, the comparison is being made between a
museum and an archive that house similar collections. Kingston
Museum identifies the scrapbooks and correspondence of
Muybridge as ephemera, instead of becoming an ephemeral
collection as classified by CILIP.52 The archive at the
University of Pennsylvania takes a different stance through
defining ephemera as memorabilia, thus making their Muybridge
collection an ephemeral collection.53
49 Full PDF of the report can be found here: http://www.cilip.org.uk/filedownloadslibrary/policy%20and%20advocacy/ephemera.pdf [last accessed 15/06/2013].50 “Ephemera: the stuff of history” CILIP 5.1 p.12 (2003).51 Conversation with Museum Curator 3/06/2013.52 CILIP, p.12.53 A Guide to the University Memorabilia Collection, 1762-2005, University of Pennsylvania Archives. Can be found at: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/mem/umem_front.pdf [last accessed 18/06/2013].
37
Case StudyThe Victorian era is often classified, through its stringent
middle-class moral values, as a sexually repressed and
constrained period in time. Foucault, seemingly the expert on
sexology, upholds the stereotype of the sex-starved Victorians
with “proper demeanour, avoided contact with other bodies, and
verbal decency sanitized one’s speech”.54 Throughout his
chapter on the Victorians Foucault observes a discourse of
silence55 within society where sex was not openly talked about,
instead replaced with the euphemisms discussed in Chapter 1.
As seen with the records of the venereal disease clinic of the
Royal Free Hospital this can be proven to be true, however,
when it came to culture and scientific development, this is
not necessarily the case.
Something discussed previously in this chapter is that of the
extent of nudity found in Muybridge’s photographic prints.
These prints were widely viewed and published in books for
public consumption and observation. The mystery is how such
seemingly explicit material was allowed to be so widely viewed
and explored. This case study aims to discover why Muybridge’s
work was a socially acceptable topic to discuss and examine.
In the years leading up to Muybridge’s exciting photographic
inventions, or the so-called “lost years”, there was a sudden
surge in interest in the stereoscope, a precursor to
54 Foucault p. 3.55 See Foucault The Will to Knowledge Part One.
38
photography as we know it today.56 This leap in popularity
caught the attention of
Muybridge on his move to San Francisco, undoubtedly
encouraging him to follow this new profession with heated
interest.57
Muybridge was fast gaining support for his work and the medium
he displayed his work with. During the 1880s he was employed
by the University of Pennsylvania to carry out his
photographic experiments in animal and eventually human
movement.58 This was in a bid to bring attention to the
University and its then recent ventures into veterinary
waters. The experiments were to be published in a book meant
for other academic institutions, with the option to buy
negative plates of the pictures as a set.
The leap from animal locomotion to human was through
Muybridge’s interest in the human body, and possibly because
there was more to be shown with the human body.59 This was
justified by Muybridge by classing the human being as an
animal. In this way “the young, athletic male body was taken
as a standard of excellence against which all deviation would
56 Robert Bartlett Haas, Muybridge in Motion (University of California Press, London, 1976) p. 11. The lost years are identified by Haas as 1860-1866. 57 A list of the equipment Muybridge used and also invented can be found in “Eadweard Muybridge and the Kingston Museum Bequest” by Paul Hill & StephenHerbert, Film History, Vol. 10, No. 1, Cinema Pioneers (1998), pp. 98-107.58 Mileaf, p. 34.59 The male models Muybridge chose were students from the University of Pennsylvania.
39
be judged”.60 Their nakedness was intended for the audience to
view the human body as no more than an “anatomical study”.61
There is somewhat of a gender issue with the manner Muybridge
treated his models. The male models were selected because of
their physique while the female models were chosen
“haphazardly”.62 This is also reflected in the way they were
photographed. While the male models were shown to be carrying
out more physical and athletic actions, demonstrating the
motion of movement in the human body, the female models are
shown carrying out domestic chores such as sweeping, dusting,
scrubbing floors and carrying household objects.63 Some of
these women were also photographed in positions akin to
pornographic visuals; naked, kneeling in supplication and also
undressing one another.64
However, through aligning himself with an academic institution
and scientific research, Muybridge gained “endorsement from a
society that otherwise condemned public exposure of nude
figures”65 through legitimising his work in the scientific
sphere. Indeed, Janine Mileaf, in “Poses for the Camera:
Eadweard Muybridge’s Studies of the Human Figure”, suggests
that many of those who viewed Muybridge’s work did so as a
valid means to see essentially pornographic images, without
60 Mileaf, p. 36.61 Ibid.62 Mileaf, p. 37.63 Marta Braun, Eadweard Muybridge (Reaktion Books, London, 2010) p. 211.64 Ibid.65 Mileaf, p. 32.
40
being reprimanded.66 This may have been true for some, but not
all. After all, it was a valuable work that would influence
the development of photography, film and the study of the
animal and human body.
It is a thought that does deserve some investigation, on the
other hand, with the anti-vice crusade led in Philadelphia by
Josiah. W. Leeds. He led a campaign against “immoral
behaviour, prurient images and obscene literature”67 at the
time of the publication of Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion. This
type of crusade demonstrates that the values, and more than
likely religious morals, this society held dear were being
threatened. This threat presumably would come from younger,
more progressive members of society, who no longer wished to
be confined by the generally sexually stifled society.
Yet, in spite of this, Muybridge’s work was almost unopposed.
Marta Braun in Eadweard Muybridge identifies three reasons for
this:
1. The project was carried out with equipment funded for an
objective investigation. As the camera(s) that took the
images are mechanical and objective in nature, they too
possess these qualities.68
2. The University of Pennsylvania brand was included on the
first page of the work, along with a detailed description
66 Mileaf, p. 50.67 Braun, pp.217-218. 68 Braun, p. 218.
41
of the arrangement and methodology of the work carried
out.69
3. The status, both social and professional, of the members
of the University Committee, along with the rising
prestige of the University, helped create a positive
backdrop to the work.70
The only concession made on the publication of the work was
the inclusion of the reference to the model’s state of dress
in the index.71 This rings true to current standards of
parental warnings of explicit content.
ConclusionIt is evident from the above study that Muybridge was
fortunate in the timing of his work. It came at a time when
the Victorians were more willing to accept explicit content in
the name of science. He even managed to avoid a campaign
directly aimed at the type of work he was carrying out, which
could not have been a mean feat. It was also his incredible
inventions that helped to further legitimize his experiments
in human motion.
Finding aids for this collection would be hard to apply due to
the nature of his work. He did not title his images in a
manner that would be useful to a researcher and had a habit of
changing titles. What may be more beneficial in the case of
69 Ibid.70 Braun, p. 219.71 Mileaf, p. 50.
42
this collection would be a more detailed description and
history of each series. The hyperlinks employed by the
University of Pennsylvania are useful in this regard and help
pinpoint definite points in Muybridge’s time stream.
Appraisal guidelines for this collection are almost obsolete
due to the varied nature of its contents. For Kingston Museum
this is clear as any appraisal that has been applied to its
collection has been purely accidental, undocumented or even
carried out by the creator himself. These are not factors the
curator at the museum could have controlled, however,
implementing a collection policy with the Muybridge collection
in mind, will serve as appraisal guidelines for any future
accessions.
As discussed previously, there is an issue with defining
ephemera and what this means for individual institutions. For
the Kingston Museum, this word has come to mean the written
materials of Muybridge along with his equipment. His famous
plates are the centre of the collection so is not considered
ephemera, despite under CILIP being defined an ephemeral
collection. However, this is an unresolved issue within the
information management community and this essay merely strives
to identify the problematic aspects of the collection.
Overall, it has been shown that this work emerged at the
turning point of loosening societal acceptance and serves as a
marker in time for us to see the slow but gradual subsidence
43
of Victorian values. Muybridge also bridges the gap between
photography and moving pictures or primitive film, a huge
achievement, and its results displayed in the name of science.
Chapter 4: The Lesbian Archives
The Lesbian Archive, formerly known as the Lesbian Archive and
Information Centre (LAIC), is currently housed in the Glasgow
Women’s Library repository, along with various collections
like the Josephine Butler Society Collection, the Edinburgh
Women’s Archive and The Scottish Abortion Campaign, all of
which focus on the topic of women and gender. The Library was established in 1991 and is unique in how the
library and the archive come together to showcase the
artefacts and materials held by the organisation. The
materials in the repository are housed both on and off site.72
Glasgow Women’s Library is a registered charity and was
acknowledged in 2010 as an accredited museum by the Museums,
Libraries and Archives Council. The primary focus of the
Library is to provide resources and information for women of
72 More information on the mission and aims of Glasgow Women’s Library can be found on their website: www.womenslibrary.org.uk [last accessed 17/06/2013].
44
all ages, sexual orientation, race and creed both in Glasgow
and elsewhere.
The Lesbian Archive came to Glasgow Women’s Library in the
period 1995-98 under the custodianship of Jackie Forster who
was a member of the LAIC Management Committee until 1998.73 In
1996 an accrual was accepted by the LAIC of the Camden Lesbian
Group and Black Lesbian Group records as a complete
collection. These records, as well as the original LAIC
records and archives are currently housed in the Glasgow
Women’s Library repository.
This chapter aims to uncover what ‘sex in the archives’ means
for the Lesbian Archives, housed at Glasgow Women’s Library,
through finding aids, appraisal guidelines and ephemera, which
have shown to be a somewhat contentious issue throughout this
work. This will involve examining the chain of custody for the
Lesbian Archive and how this has affected the way we view the
collection, what was collected and why it has been kept.
Finding AidsSince the collection has only been box listed since being
accessioned in 1995, there is no catalogue for users to search
key words or phrases. 74 Instead the collection is able to be 73 Archives Hub Administrative History of LAIC. Found at: http://archiveshub.ac.uk/search/summary.html?rsid=174200950&startRecord=1&maximumRecords=20&hitposition=0#rightcol [lastaccessed 08/07/2013].74 This is displayed on the ARCHON directory through the National Archives: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=O54504 [last accessed 17/06/2013].
45
accessed through finding aids relating to the various
organisations, individuals and publications that make up the
Lesbian Archives. These include75:
Jackie Forster
The Ladder
Anna Livia
Arena 3
Bath Feminist Archive
Debbie Streets
Onlywomen [sic] Press
Lesbians in London group
Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group
Linda Peterson
A Woman’s Place Collective
Lesbians Past, Present and Future group
Marlene Packwood
Byrony Lavery
Anna Wilson
Lesbian and Gay working party, NALGO
Manchester Lesbian Archive Collective
Generally the archive applies the Thesaurus of European Women
to its catalogue for finding aids and keyword searches.76 The
archivists at the Women’s Library in Glasgow are not deeply
75 This list was compiled through the Glasgow Women’s Library ARCHON entry for the Lesbian Archive and Information Centre: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=O54504&tabType=ARCHIVE#top [last accessed 18/06/2013].76 This can be found at: http://www.aletta.nu/aletta/eng/collections/vrouwenthesaurus [last accessed17/06/2013].
46
concerned about applying contemporary terms to their catalogue
as this improves accessibility for users both present and
future. In the gender sphere, meanings of words are ever-
changing to adapt to their contemporary purpose, as well as
the development of new words that were not used previously.77
Obsolete terms, as identified by the Wandsworth Dictionary of Sex,
are recognised in relation to the context of the material.78
Some terms such as ‘dyke’ would have been an identifier in
sexual orientation or personal identity, especially in second
wave feminism. Today, this term can often be used in an
offensive manner and is not socially acceptable amongst the
majority of the Lesbian community.
The Genesis Project, run in conjunction with the London
Women’s Library, has helped to develop and promote access to
the LAIC collection. Its aim is to increase the use of women’s
collection in archives and libraries all over the UK, thus
uncovering a ‘hidden history’.79 The Lesbian Archive, among
others is detailed on the website for users to search through
the content and discover ‘hidden’ histories.
Appraisal GuidelinesAppraisal has not necessarily been applied to this collection
as it has not been catalogued. However, one appraisal report 77 One specific example of this is the word ‘queer’ which would not have been used in connection to sexuality or sexual orientation twenty years ago, but is now a common identifier for many lesbians and gays.78 Anderson and Goldenson, Wandsworth.79 The aims and objectives of the Genesis Project can be found at: http://www.ukad.org/casestudies/genesis.html [last accessed 17/06/2013].
47
does exist for one of the minor collections associated with
and housed within the Lesbian Archives. As with the Royal Free
Archive, the Lesbian Archive has had a complex history and
line of custody which allows for the misplacement of
materials.
As an official Archivist was not available in the Women’s
Library until 2009, no appraisal policy was in place when the
LAIC records came under their custody. A full catalogue of the
materials held in London is available at the Library. However,
the collection as it stands in the repository has not been
catalogued to Glasgow Women’s Library standards and it is not
possible at this point in time to see if the full collection
was transferred successfully. From this point of view it is
possible to say that any appraisal applied without the
custodians’ knowledge has been accidental and unofficial.
Generally appraisal within the archive is applied to items
that do not fit in the collection or if there are numerous
copies of an item. Of course, any and all appraisal decisions
applied to a collection are well-documented and kept on file.
EphemeraAs has been previously discussed, the definition of ephemera
has been problematic depending on the institution or
repository housing the material. In the Glasgow Women’s
Library, ephemeron has come to mean artefacts and objects.
This is in contrast to the Muybridge collection and the
48
definition of ephemera set out by its curator at Kingston
Museum.80
As such, the Women’s Library does not put as much focus on the
definition of ephemera and how it is applied to the collection
as the other institutions. They are more focused on Outreach
projects, providing resources for women and cataloguing the
collections they currently have. Any ephemeron they do have is
not kept separate, as is the case of the Royal Free Archives,
but is used as a means of creating greater context for
collections.
This has been clearly seen in their recent 21 Revolutions
exhibit, celebrating the 21 years of their existence. Artists
were invited to come into the archives and chose an object or
item from any collection that inspired them. These artists
were not limited to textual or physical objects, which reflect
the fluidity of the collections of the Women’s Library
archive. Ephemeron that exists in a collection only adds to
the historical value and context of the wider collection.81 In
fact, it is ephemera kept in the archive that promotes the
most interest, particularly through outreach projects.
Recently the Library held a walk in honour of Suffragettes in
Glasgow. In preparation for this participants of the walk were
invited to come into the Library and make their own 80 Conversation with the archivist at the Glasgow Women’s Library 17/06/2013.81 More information on the 21 Revolutions exhibit can be found on the Glasgow Women’s Library website: http://womenslibrary.org.uk/2012/07/09/two-decades-and-21-revolutions/ [last accessed 17/07/2013].
49
suffragette rosette based on examples kept in the archive.
Ephemera, in this case, were being used to create an
atmosphere similar to that of over a hundred years ago and
promoting a ‘lived history’.
Case Study The Lesbian Archive and Information Centre (LAIC) was set up
in 1984 in London under the Orinda Ltd company. Its
establishment was greatly influenced by grant funding from the
Greater London Council and also donations from the Lesbian
Community in London.82 In its founding document, the LAIC
declares it was set up “as a means of reclaiming Lesbian
history, celebrating our Lesbian lives and ensuring that our
stories are recorded for the future”,83 with the archive
containing material including “books, periodicals, conference
papers, photographs, manuscripts, press cuttings and oral
histories, as well as, badges, posters, music and souvenirs”.84
Again, its founding document lays out directives for its
policy and governing body; the collective. What is most
interesting about the policy of the organisation is that it
did “not seek to collect materials which represent lesbians
and women in negative ways, which are pornographic or sado-
masochistic or which are racist, anti-Semitic, ableist or
ageist.”85 The explicit reference to pornography and sexual
fetish makes it clear that this organisation would not house 82 Archives Hub Administrative History on the LAIC.83 The Lesbian Archives and Information Centre GB1534, 2012-16A.84 Ibid.85 The Lesbian Archives and Information Centre GB1534, 2012-16A.
50
sex in its archive. However, when taking into consideration
the type of material it held, this is not strictly true.
Publications such as; “The Well of Loneliness” (1928) by
Radclyffe Hall; “The Ladder”- one of the first magazines for
lesbians appeared in the United States in the 1950s, billed as
a lesbian review; “Arena 3”- first British magazine to address
the interests of gay and bi-sexual women; “First National Gay
Newspaper” (1972 first issue) 86, would have been considered
highly explicit and packed with sexual content. Many national
newspapers discontinued advertising these publications once
their true meaning and nature were uncovered.87
Despite much of the above listed content being published
decades before the establishment of the LAIC, their message
still remained the same, even if the shock they caused had
worn out in favour of more radical lesbian feminist
literature. Those in the ‘Collective’ may not have regarded it
as pornographic but to the conservative, it may have been
viewed in this way. Yet it was not the policy of the LAIC that
caused the most issues, it was the collective; a group
consisting of twelve lesbians, including two paid workers,
that was the source of grievance in the LAIC’s custody
history.88
86 Information found on the Glasgow Women’s Library website timeline of the LAIC. Found at: http://www.womenslibrary.org.uk/laic/laictimeline/laictimeline.html [last accessed 08/07/2013].87 Conversation with the archivist at Glasgow Women’s Library 08/07/2013.88 The Lesbian Archives and Information Centre GB1534, 2012-16A.
51
The Collective had mandated itself, from the establishment of
the archive; to change the fact that there were no Black
Lesbians, paid or otherwise, involved in the management and
running of the archive. They also felt a Black Lesbian Support
Group was needed to offer assistance. Overall its function was
to act as a management committee and work to ensure the
permanence of the LAIC.89 However, by July 1988 there was no
Black, Jewish or Irish member on the collective. This caused
the sentiment that the archive could not be a valid resource
for all lesbians if it did not reflect this in its management.
Black lesbians, in particular, were increasingly using the
archive’s services and repeatedly raised funds for the
organisation.90
Issues surrounding the job advertisement for a black or ethnic
minority worker within the archive sparked a rift in the
organisation resulting in a High Court Injunction. Papers
relating the dispute, held in the archive, state that some
members of the collective felt a Black/ethnic minority worker
would be less likely to have the ‘right’ politics.91 This led
to a breakdown of the collective, which split into two
factions, one calling themselves the ‘management committee’,
also known as the ‘sacking body’. This committee decided to
take control of the archive, changing the locks and changed
the signatories to the bank account to include only
themselves. It was at this point that a worker, who was not
89 Ibid.90 The Lesbian Archives and Information Centre GB1534, 2012-16A.91 Ibid.
52
part of the new committee, responsible for finance froze the
bank account and along with five other members of the original
collective sought advice as to the legality of the ‘management
committee’. In December of 1988 the directors of Orinda
Company stepped in to take responsibility of the archive.92
After this arrangement was met there are no further records of
the running of the LAIC held by Glasgow Women’s Library. From
1989 to 1998 the LAIC was run by a Management Committee which
made the decision to gradually house the archive with Glasgow
Women’s Library. Jackie Forster appears to have initiated this
move, making contact with the women in charge of the Library
in 1995, finally completing the move in 1998 after the
acceptance of the Camden Lesbian Centre and the Black Lesbian
Group in 1996.93 Glasgow may have been chosen because of its
inclusive outlook and the services it provided, and still
provides to all women. Its mission statement, as mentioned
before, reflects that of the original Collection and this may
also be a contributing factor. The proximity in time for the
establishment of the LAIC and Glasgow Women’s Library also
indicates that the new Management Committee set up in 1989;
felt the Library was ready to take on the custodianship of the
LAIC Archives.
While the custody chain of the LAIC Archives has been somewhat
turbulent, it has not prevented sexually explicit content from
being included in the archive; if anything this material has
92 Ibid.93 Conversation with the archivist at Glasgow Women’s Library 08/07/2013.
53
been encouraged greatly. It is because of the fact that the
archives were started by lesbians for lesbians that anything
considered ‘out there’ or non-conformist, even adding to the
LGBT cause, was considered appropriate for preservation. From
this unique collection policy it is evident that sex is well
and truly alive in the LAIC archives and within the Glasgow
Women’s Library Archives too.
ConclusionGlasgow Women’s Library has a unique take on the working
relationship of an archive and library. They use both these
resources to complement what materials they have and do their
best to bring this to the attention of their current and
future users. It is only fitting that this institution houses
the LAIC archive in the spirit of inclusion, something which
the initial organisation was not able to do.
While the Library has only had an archivist in recent years,
the amount of work carried out since then to bring the archive
to current standards has been incredible with appraisal
guidelines and finding aids in place, as well as a limited
catalogue available on their website. Other resources such as
the Genesis project, ARCHON and the Archives Hub have also
helped significantly improve their online presence.94
94 The Genesis homepage can be found here: http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/newsandinformation/womenslibraryatLSE/home.aspx?recordID=46&dcID=dc.subject&dcData='liberation%252520movements' [last accessed 10/08/2013].The Glasgow Women’s Library entry on ARCHON can be found here: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/searches/locresult_details.asp?LR=1534 [last accessed 10/08/2013].
54
The addition of the LAIC to the archive, as well as other
important collections like the Josephine Butler Society
collection, have helped improve the quality of material in the
archive and also encourages new visitors and users to the
archive. Whilst the chain of custody of the LAIC archive has
had some controversial turns, its transferral to Glasgow
Women’s Library has benefitted both the organisation that was
its custodian and organisations that later added their own
records, as in the case of Camden Lesbian Centre and Black
Lesbian Group. Holding such an important collection in their
custody has brought Glasgow Women’s Library considerable
attention through researchers and also past users of the LAIC.
Conclusion
The Archives Hub entry for Glasgow Women’s Library is here: http://archiveshub.ac.uk/contributors/glasgowwomenslibrary.html [last accessed 10/08/2013].
55
When setting out to examine a concept such as ‘sex in the
archives’, it is important to remember that all the various
definitions of sex that can be applied to archival materials,
particularly with materials that span over a hundred years.
This can be especially true for the case studies in the Royal
Free Archives and Kingston Museum.
Yet, both these institutions have not applied finding aids to
their catalogues. It is up to the user to put their own
definitions onto the materials they are searching or to ask
the archivist for their insight. Rightly enough, the role of
the archivist or curator in their repository or institution is
important as they are the living memory of the archive. They
hold information that may not be available in a catalogue or
on a box list. They may have made links between materials that
cannot be found on a computerised database. This role is
significantly undervalued by those outside of the archival
community.
The case studies investigated in this dissertation would not
have been possible if it were not for the archivist or curator
making themselves available to me and answering my questions.
In most instances they were able to give me further reading
suggestions for context and provenance in this work. They also
provided me with information that has not been previously
recorded for academic purpose in our conversations, which have
been referenced throughout this work. This is particularly
56
true for the Royal Free Archives and Glasgow Women’s Library
which I visited on several occasions. Without an archivist,
much of this work would not have been possible, especially in
relation to the concept of sex in the archives.
This dissertation has found that online catalogues are useful
for researchers and archive users when trying to find the
reference to a specific collection and its contents, but not
for a person who is searching for a particular topic,
especially if it is linked to sex. While Glasgow Women’s
Library is encouraging in advocating the use of contemporary
terms in finding aids, they have not yet had the opportunity
to realise the full potential of this approach. This
contemporary approach may stem from the fact that much of the
material housed by the archive is relatively modern, as can be
seen with the LAIC archive.
There is merit to both sides of this argument in using the
contemporary over the original or vice versa. Medical
terminology, as referred to in Chapter 1, has not changed
considerably in the last century, mainly due to the Latin
roots of the terms. This is important to remember as it is
used extensively in the Royal Free archive case notes that
were examined. It is an ongoing issue that many archives
grapple with.
In Chapter 1 I laid out a few initial thoughts on what I might
find during the course of researching for this dissertation.
57
In Chapter 2 I expected to find that finding aids in a medical
archive would be attributed to a medical thesaurus but instead
found that the archivist was unwilling to impose her own
finding aids in a catalogue that may influence researchers. As
the archivist knows the collections very well she is able to
help users through her own experience of the archive and does
not need to rely on a technological database to create links
in the materials held at the Royal Free Archives. For
appraisal guidelines, I thought that some of the materials in
the archive would have been too worn to use or damaged. Again
this was not the case as the majority of records were stored
in a hospital morgue for several years before being given over
to an archive. It was appraisal by human hands that destroyed
records relating to the venereal disease clinics of the
nineteenth century, proving that on occasion sex can be left
out of the archive. Ephemeron has proven to be a problematic
topic in the archives in terms of definition, scope and
medium. The Birth Registers were not considered to be ephemera
by the archivist, but rather photographs, medals and donation
slips. The archivist determined these to be of little use in
the long-term and should not be in an archive by definition.
In Chapter 3, with the Muybridge Collection, I had expected
finding aids to be derived from the Kingston Museum’s own
catalogue. This was not to be true as prior knowledge of the
collection is to be presumed for use of the online catalogue.
The Muybridge collection is vast and often random, due to the
erratic nature of Muybridge’s work, making it hard to pinpoint
58
a starting point for any researcher unless they already know
what they are looking for. I also had expected that appraisal
guidelines for the collection to be taken from the University
Archives policy due to the strong links between the
institutions. This was not the case as the collection is
internationally renowned and appraisal is very rare. The only
real appraisal that has been carried out was during the twenty
year period where the materials lay unaccessioned, waiting for
cataloguing. Therefore it is hard to know what appraisal, if
any, has taken place. As mentioned many times throughout this
work, ephemeron is difficult to define due to its changing
nature, depending on the institution in which it is housed. I
had thought that ephemera in this case would have included the
photographs and prints taken by Muybridge but was proven
mistaken as shown in Chapter 3. The difficultly comes in
trying to define the meaning and role of ephemera, not only in
the archive but in other preservationally minded institutions.
CILIP has attempted to bridge this gap, but it does not seem
to have made a great deal of difference in the battle to
define the more miscellaneous of materials in archives.
In Chapter 4, in investigating the LAIC archive at Glasgow
Women’s Library, I had thought to find that finding aids would
be those already employed by the archive. In this I was almost
correct. As the LAIC archive has not been catalogued yet no
finding aids have been applied. However, if it were to be
catalogued, and will be in the future, the Thesaurus of
European Women would be used as a finding aid guide, as is the
59
case with the rest of the collections in Glasgow Women’s
Library. My findings for appraisal guidelines appear to be in
the same vein as my findings for finding aids. Any appraisal
that has taken place in the custody of Glasgow Women’s Library
has been documented and recorded to the standards expected of
any other archive. The only issue with appraisal in this case
is the consideration that not all of the LAIC archive was
successfully transferred to the archive in Glasgow. This is
sometimes the case in the transferral of custody, particularly
with such large collections. However, as the collection has
not been catalogued and compared to the catalogue provided by
the LAIC it is not yet possible to know the full extent of
material loss. I also had thought that ephemera would be in
line with my investigations of the Royal Free Archives and
Kingston Museum. This was not to be the case, but the
definition of ephemera that I had held previous to this
dissertation was found to be true in relation to Glasgow
Women’s Library. This means that the archive in Glasgow
Women’s Library is in line with current thinking in relation
to ephemera. This is perhaps due to the installation of an
archivist in recent times.
In the research carried out for this dissertation, it has been
shown that different institutions do not follow the same
practices for bringing their collections to the attention of,
and a standardised system of usability for their users. What
has been made clear, however, is the value of the archivist or
curator and the depth of knowledge they have for their
60
respective collections. Sometimes this information cannot be
captured in a catalogue or online database, including
intricate links and related materials. Oftentimes this can be
consulting another archive or suggesting secondary source
materials that may provide greater context.
As each archive holds its own unique materials and ephemera
perhaps it is only right that each institution has its own
system of administration. What works for the Royal Free
Archive would not suit Glasgow Women’s Library due to the
medical content of its materials, while the Library contains
more social and political materials. This point is made more
evident in comparison with the Kingston Museum and its
renowned Muybridge collection. Even if there was a way of
bringing the Royal Free Archive and Glasgow Women’s Library
into line with one another, Muybridge is another matter
entirely. As the collection is made mostly of prints and
photographs it would be hard to find common ground in all
three instances.
Glasgow Women’s Library is the most progressive of the three
as both the archive and the library have come together to make
the most of all the resources the institution have for users.
Kingston Museum have attempted such a collaboration with the
archive and museum being situated in the vicinity of the
museum, but it is clear that as the Muybridge collection is
housed in the museum more attention is given to its general
administration and appeal to the public. If Kingston Museum
61
were to follow the lead of Pennsylvania University and the
manner it has displayed their Muybridge Collection there would
be some hope of creating a blanket policy in the heritage
sector for all collections; their finding aids, appraisal
guidelines and ephemeral policy.
As discussed in the first chapter, sex is a socially
constructed idea, as are the values society attributes it,
through moral or scientific thought. This dissertation has
striven to prove that the quantity and quality of the material
kept pertaining to sex in archives is motivated by these
values. In the Royal Free Archives, documents relating to a VD
clinic in the mid-nineteenth century were destroyed by doctors
over a hundred years after the event. This goes to show that
the reputation of an institution was deemed greater than the
preservation of historical evidence. Yet, the fact that these
documents survived so long shines a light on the clinical
nature of the Victorian mind. This can also be seen with the
Muybridge collection which was donated by the creator to
Kingston Museum. Society, at this time, must have placed great
scientific value on his work to make it available to the
public. Even at the time of creation, his prints were deemed
worthy of public observation and examination because of their
innovative scientific worth.
Glasgow Women’s Library and the LAIC Archive is a different
story as there is no evident medical or scientific impact from
the materials kept in its collection. There is, however, a
62
societal impact for keeping its materials. It aims to educate
and provide support for the LGBT community and has, somehow-
like the Royal Archives and Muybridge Collection, transcended
time in maintaining its relevance.
Overall, sex in the archives is very much alive and kicking,
bringing in researchers from all corners of the world, with a
variety of interests. This has been shown through a
comparative study of a medical, museum and community archive,
in a variety of locations, both in the UK and abroad. Any
material that has been lost in the past to overzealous and
undocumented appraisal is irreplaceable but what has been left
for users in the present day is a valuable asset to our
archives and shared history.
63
Appendix A- Table of Patients and ComplaintsName Ag
eAddress Condition
and Outcome
Married
Children Doctor Date(s) of Admission
Mary Beecham
29 106 Wymford Road, Calendonian Road.
Carcuiouia[sic] of cervix
CURED
Yes(4 ½ years)
None Dr. Vaughan- Sawyer
7th April 1904 - May24th 1904
Mary Jane Collins
55 26 st.MaryStreet, Dunstable,Bedfordshire
Carcuiouia[sic] of ovary
DEATH
Yes(5 years)
None Dr. Vaughan- Sawyer
2nd September 1908
Florence Warren
40 8 St. Leonards Road, Poplar.
Miscarriage
CURED
Yes(12 years)
Eleven (Ages 17-3)
Dr. Vaughan- Sawyer
30th March 1908 – 16thApril 1908
Maud L. Baddes
17 67 Shubbery Road, West Green, Tottenham.
Endometriosis
CURED
No None Dr. Vaughan- Sawyer
November 28th 1908- 5th December 1908
LouisaVingoe
29 31 Hudson Road, Plumstead.
1. Unknown(with diagrams)2. Prolapse
CURED
Yes(7 years)
Three(Ages 4- 15 months)
Dr. Willey 1.Unknown2.6th
September 1909- Unknown
64
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Bersani, Leo. Tate Liverpool Keywords Series, ‘Sex’, May 2013.
1901 Census, The National Archives.
1911, The National Archives.
Glasgow Women’s Library
The Lesbian Archives and Information Centre, GB1534, 2012-16A.
Royal Free Archives
Register of Births 1914-1928, NEH/3/1/1.
Florence Willey (later Lady Barrett) Case Notes, RFH/4/PN/1/3/1
Dr Vaughan-Sawyer Case Notes, RFH/4/PN/1/32/1
Secondary Sources
Anderson, Kenneth and Goldenson, Robert. The Wandsworth Dictionary of Sex, Wandsworth Editions Ltd, 1997.
Bartlett Haas, Robert. Muybridge in Motion, University of California Press, London, 1976.
Braun, Marta. Eadweard Muybridge, Reaktion Books, London, 2010.
76
Brosnan Jennifer. The Transmission of Sexual Knowledge in Britain, 1870-1910, University of Edinburgh, MSc Gender History dissertation,2012.
Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality: The Will to Knowledge, Penguin Books, London, 1976.
Freud, Sigmund. The Wolfman: Why are Wolves White?, Penguin, London, 1918.
Hall, Lesley. “Sex in the Archives”, Archives, Vol. XXII, No. 93. 1995.
Hill, Paul and Herbert, Stephen. “Eadweard Muybridge and the Kingston Museum Bequest”, Film History, Vol. 10, No. 1, Cinema Pioneers, 1998.
Klein, Marty. “The Meaning of Sex” Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, Vol. 4, August 10th, 1998.
McKenna, Neil. Fanny and Stella: The Young Men Who Shocked Victorian England, Faber and Faber Ltd, London, 2013.
Mileaf, Janine. A. “Poses for the Camera: Eadweard Muybridge’sStudies of the Human Theatre”, American Art, Vol. 16, No. 3, Autumn, 2002.
77
Wellcome Trust, Medicine Man: The Forgotten Museum of Henry Wellcome, The British Museum Press, London, 2011.
Williams, Raymond. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, Oxford University Press, New York, 1976.
Online Sources (chronological order)
Access to Archives catalogue for the Royal Free Archives [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=1530-rfh&cid=-1#-1, last accessed 27/05/2013].
Dame Sheila Sherlock Collection at the Royal Free Archives, Archives Hub [http://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb1530-d24, last accessed 27/05/2013].
History of The Royal Free Hospital, NHS Archive website: [http://www.royalfree.org.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=34&tab_id=126, last accessed 27/05/2013].
Information on the Genesis Project and Access to Archives, Royal Free Archives [http://www.royalfree.org.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=34&tab_id=128, last accessed 27/05/2013].
School of Medicine for Women search in relation to the Royal Free Archives, Genesis Project [https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Search/Results?lookfor=school+of+medicine+for+women&type=AllFields&filter%5B%5D=language%3A%22English%22 , last accessed 27/05/2013].
78
Animal Locomotion Prints, Kingston Museum [http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/leisure/museum/collections/muybridge/animal_locomotion/locomotion_prints.htm, last accessed 15/06/2013].
“Ephemera: the stuff of history”, CILIP, 2003 [http://www.cilip.org.uk/filedownloadslibrary/policy%20and%20advocacy/ephemera.pdf, last accessed 15/06/2013]
Eadweard Muybridge, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35174, last accessed 15/06/2013].
The aims and objectives of the Genesis Project [http://www.ukad.org/casestudies/genesis.html, last accessed 17/06/2013].
ARCHON Directory for Glasgow Women’s Library, The National Archives [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=O54504, last accessed 17/06/2013].
Glasgow Women’s Library website [www.womenslibrary.org.uk, last accessed 17/06/2013].
Thesaurus of European Women [http://www.aletta.nu/aletta/eng/collections/vrouwenthesaurus,last accessed 17/06/2013].
Collection Policy of the University of Pennsylvania Archives [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/home/protocols.html, last accessed 18/06/2013].
79
“Defining Modernities”, University of Kingston [http://www.eadweardmuybridge.co.uk/collection_map_and_database/, last accessed 18/06/2013].
Glasgow Women’s Library ARCHON entry for the Lesbian Archive and Information Centre: [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=O54504&tabType=ARCHIVE#top, last accessed 18/06/2013].
A Guide to the University Memorabilia Collection, 1762-2005, University of Pennsylvania Archives [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/mem/umem_front.pdf, last accessed 18/06/2013].
Provenance, the University of Pennsylvania Archives [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/upt/upt50/muybridgee.html, last accessed 18/06/2013].
The University of Pennsylvania Muybridge Collection [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/primdocs/upt/upt50/upt50m993/upt50m993.html, last accessed 18/06/2013].
Dr. Louise Chambers, “Fictional Obscenities: Lesbianism and Censorship in the Early Twentieth Century”, The National Archives Podcast, 7th February 2011 [: http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/fictional-obscenities-lesbianism-and-censorship-in-the-early-20th-century/ ,last accessed 01/07/2013].
“Gender”, Oxford English Dictionary [http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gender#gender_11, last accessed 01/07/2013].
80
“Sex”, Oxford English Dictionary [http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/sex, last accessed 01/07/2013].
Archives Hub Administrative History of LAIC [http://archiveshub.ac.uk/search/summary.html?rsid=174200950&startRecord=1&maximumRecords=20&hitposition=0#rightcol, last accessed 08/07/2013].
Timeline of the LAIC, Glasgow Women’s Library [http://www.womenslibrary.org.uk/laic/laictimeline/laictimeline.html, last accessed 08/07/2013].
21 Revolutions exhibit, Glasgow Women’s Library [http://womenslibrary.org.uk/2012/07/09/two-decades-and-21-revolutions/, last accessed 17/07/2013].
Dictionary of Medical Terms, Ancestry.com website, [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwkidz/oldmedterm.htm, last accessed 30/07/2013].
Genesis Homepage, [http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/newsandinformation/womenslibraryatLSE/home.aspx?recordID=46&dcID=dc.subject&dcData='liberation%252520movements' , last accessed 10/08/2013].
81