Celebrating 70 years of Mass Observation

May 2007 saw the 70th anniversary of Mass Observation's first ever survey. A series of events were held to celebrate:

Day conference

From the 1930s to the digital revolution:

The conference was held at the University of Sussex on 11 May attracting a wide range of delegates who had used and enjoyed the Mass Observation Archive or who simply wanted to know more about it.

A series of prestigious presenters spoke about how Mass Observation had contributed to their work throughout the day including Professors Ruth Finnegan and Brian Street (Archive Trustees), historian Juliet Gardiner, novelist Margaret Drabble, film makers Steve Humphries and Richard Broad.

In the afternoon an Any Questions Event was chaired by Professor Al Thomson with a team of eminent panellists including Claire Langhamer, Liz Stanley, Louise Purbrick, Dorothy Sheridan and James Hinton. This provided an excellent opportunity for the audience to put questions to the panel inspring lively and entertaining debate.

Delegates were also given the opportunity to browse a market place of posters and presentations by users and partners of the Archive. Included were the latest digital version of the MO Archive and the most recent books.

Evening anniversary events

Mass Observation at 70!

On Thursday 10 May at Komedia in Brighton author and journalist Simon Garfield spoke about his books based on Mass Observation diaries, including Our Hidden Lives which was made into a TV drama for the BBC's Lost Decade Series. Actors Greta Scacchi and Paul McGann then joined Simon to read extracts from the diaries.

An audience with Victoria Wood

As part of the Brighton Festival, the Brighton Dome presented Victoria Wood who played one of the MO diarists in her own adaptation of Nella Last's War. The drama, "Housewife, 49", was shown to critical acclaim on ITV in December 2006. Victoria Wood discussed her work in comedy over the years with Radio 3's Paul Allen, going on to talk about her writing and starring in 'Housewife 49'.