The NI Wartime Diaries held in the Mass Observation Archive

Mass Observation is a groundbreaking social research organisation founded, in 1937. Its focus is on the ‘ordinary people.’ Its founders believed that their attitudes and opinions were constantly being misrepresented in the press and by politicians. So, they pioneered techniques to enable them ’to speak for themselves.’ They appealed for volunteers to submit diaries to the organisation recording their daily experiences, private thoughts and feelings, and also to answer questionnaires which probed highly sensitive issues. Five residents in Northern Ireland responded to Mass Observation's appeal; they kept diaries and they answered its questionnaires. This talk will examine the content of their responses.

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Host or Publisher DfC Engaged Communities Group