Archives

Easy Read series on Black British history

SHLD members Paul Christian and Sue Ledger collaborated with Generate Voices to create a set of Easy Read resources for the George Padmore Institute (GPI). In support of Black Lives Matter, Paul was inspired to learn more about Black British history and to share this history with others. Paul soon realised that this history is not always accessible to people with learning disabilities. He set out to change this by partnering up with GPI, who host an archive collection relating mainly to black communities of Caribbean, African and Asian descent in post-war Britain and continental Europe. Paul, Sue and members of Generate worked alongside GPI archivist Sarah Garrod to create an Easy Read Series including an introduction to the George Padmore Easy Read series and why this history matter to people with learning disabilities; the history of The New Cross Fire and the life of John La Rose. 

You can also read more about the project in two articles by Paul Christian, published in Community Living: ‘A light on black history’ (December 2022) and ‘Black history is brought to life’ (April 2023).

Surviving Through Story

In 2020-2022, the Social History of Learning Disability research group partnered with Three Ways School, learning disability charity Generate, Rix Inclusive Research Institute and independent consultant and researcher, Dr Nicola Grove to launch Surviving through Story, a project set up to collect and archive the stories and experiences of people with learning disabilities during the pandemic.

Maureen Oswin papers

Maureen Oswin (1931-2001) was a social researcher whose work truly made a difference to the lives of thousands of children. She witnessed the everyday lives of children with very severe learning disabilities living in the institutions of the 1960s and 70s and she kept meticulous records of what she observed. Her books The Empty Hours (1971) and Children Living in Long Stay Hospitals (1978), laid bare the plight of children in institutions up and down the country. The books received a huge amount of publicity and they helped fuel the drive to move children out of hospitals and ultimately to the closure of the institutions.

Maureen Oswin's archive collection was donated to The Open University. The collection contains papers of the academic and advisory work of Maureen Oswin, including her case studies, research notes, lectures and articles, regarding the treatment of children by the Health Service. There is also a collection of books, including some written by Maureen Oswin herself.

The Maureen Oswin archive collection is held at the Open University Archive, within the Library and Learning Resources Centre at the University Campus in Milton Keynes, where you will find details of the collection, including the archive catalogue and information regarding visiting the archive.