Foundations of British Sociology - Keele University
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Research Institute for Social Sciences

Foundations of British Sociology: The Sociological Review Archive at Keele

The Sociological Review Archive at Keele

Foundations of British Sociology: The Sociological Review Archive at Keele

New online catalogue, just launched at http://calmview.keele.ac.uk

This extensive archive has been catalogued by Project Archivist Annabel Gill, funded by The Sociological Review and supported by the University Library, the Keele Key Fund and the Research Institutes of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Foundations of British Sociology Archive is a unique resource held in Keele University Library’s Special Collections and Archives. The material dates from the 1880s to the 1950s and consists of papers from the Sociological Society, LePlay House, the Institute of Sociology and several smaller subsidiary groups - all part of the early sociology movement in Britain. Comprising personal papers, business records, newspaper cuttings, lectures, reports, plans, surveys, lantern slides and an extensive collection of books, the archive includes material relating to key activists and opinion-shapers such as Victor Branford, Francis Galton, Patrick Geddes, H. G. Wells, Lewis Mumford and Alexander Farquharson. Themes include the responsibilities of the state and the citizen; planning urban development; the position of women; the role of technical education; local government reform; regionalism; the co-operative movement; rural society and the family. Researchers will find valuable materials on the origins of modern British sociology, and related social sciences such as social psychology, cultural geography, town planning and demography.

To consult material featured in the catalogue, please contact the Special Collections and Archives Administrator h.burton@lib.keele.ac.uk