Restoring the 'Mam': Archives, Access And Research Into Women’s Pasts In Wales

In this article I look at issues around access to material for researching the pasts of women in Wales and two archives in Wales are discussed: The Butetown History and Arts Centre (BHAC) which has recorded oral interviews with women from the community of Butetown (‘Tiger Bay’) in Cardiff, as well a...

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Main Author: Mandi O'Neill
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UTS ePRESS 2011-12-01
Series:Public History Review
Subjects:
Online Access:http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/2123
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author Mandi O'Neill
author_facet Mandi O'Neill
author_sort Mandi O'Neill
collection DOAJ
description In this article I look at issues around access to material for researching the pasts of women in Wales and two archives in Wales are discussed: The Butetown History and Arts Centre (BHAC) which has recorded oral interviews with women from the community of Butetown (‘Tiger Bay’) in Cardiff, as well as collecting other material about the community, and Archif Menywod Cymru/Women’s Archive of Wales (WAW), which is working to ‘rescue’ sources of women’s history across Wales. Access to all archives is vital as there is a general lack of material about women’s pasts in Wales which can be used to challenge stereotyped representations of Welsh women, particularly of working-class women. Both BHAC and WAW have relied on public funding to differing degrees and this has been an increasingly important element in helping a large number of groups and organisations in Wales in the areas of community and local history to carry out their own research. However, public funding often comes with obligations regarding access to material which might not tie in with the aims and ethos of some more specialist archives. The changing nature of county record offices/archives is also important as they continue to become much more involved in collaborative projects with community groups and other organisations.
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spelling doaj.art-2f7430eb242b4a2f91a9b777789c104f2022-12-21T18:43:53ZengUTS ePRESSPublic History Review1833-49892011-12-0118047641613Restoring the 'Mam': Archives, Access And Research Into Women’s Pasts In WalesMandi O'NeillIn this article I look at issues around access to material for researching the pasts of women in Wales and two archives in Wales are discussed: The Butetown History and Arts Centre (BHAC) which has recorded oral interviews with women from the community of Butetown (‘Tiger Bay’) in Cardiff, as well as collecting other material about the community, and Archif Menywod Cymru/Women’s Archive of Wales (WAW), which is working to ‘rescue’ sources of women’s history across Wales. Access to all archives is vital as there is a general lack of material about women’s pasts in Wales which can be used to challenge stereotyped representations of Welsh women, particularly of working-class women. Both BHAC and WAW have relied on public funding to differing degrees and this has been an increasingly important element in helping a large number of groups and organisations in Wales in the areas of community and local history to carry out their own research. However, public funding often comes with obligations regarding access to material which might not tie in with the aims and ethos of some more specialist archives. The changing nature of county record offices/archives is also important as they continue to become much more involved in collaborative projects with community groups and other organisations.http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/2123Archives, Access, Women, Wales, Butetown, Community
spellingShingle Mandi O'Neill
Restoring the 'Mam': Archives, Access And Research Into Women’s Pasts In Wales
Public History Review
Archives, Access, Women, Wales, Butetown, Community
title Restoring the 'Mam': Archives, Access And Research Into Women’s Pasts In Wales
title_full Restoring the 'Mam': Archives, Access And Research Into Women’s Pasts In Wales
title_fullStr Restoring the 'Mam': Archives, Access And Research Into Women’s Pasts In Wales
title_full_unstemmed Restoring the 'Mam': Archives, Access And Research Into Women’s Pasts In Wales
title_short Restoring the 'Mam': Archives, Access And Research Into Women’s Pasts In Wales
title_sort restoring the mam archives access and research into women s pasts in wales
topic Archives, Access, Women, Wales, Butetown, Community
url http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/2123
work_keys_str_mv AT mandioneill restoringthemamarchivesaccessandresearchintowomenspastsinwales