Observing the 1980s
Number of items in collection: 116
Short description:
Recordings in this collection can be played by anyone.
These interviews were selected as part of a project to create an Open Education Resource entitled 'Observing the 1980s' led by the University of Sussex in collaboration with the British Library and the Mass Observation Archive.
The aim of this project is to offer insights into the lives and opinions of British people from all social classes and regions during the 1980s. The interviews from which the clips were selected for the 'Observing the 1980s' Open Education Resource are derived from collaborative oral history projects and include recordings with those involved in key events, such as the Falklands War, the Miners' Strike and the Brixton riots, as well as those reflecting on industry in the 1980s, unemployment and redundancy, and HIV and Aids. The interviews in their entirety are made available here at the British Library Sounds website.
Oral history recordings provide valuable first-hand testimony of the past. The views and opinions expressed in oral history interviews are those of the interviewees, who describe events from their own perspective. The interviews are historical documents and their language, tone and content might in some cases reflect attitudes that could cause offence in today’s society.
Image: Arthur Scargill (b 1938), miners' leader and trade unionist. Seen in front of posters demanding No Pit Closures, around the time of the Miners' Strike. (Mary Evans / Marx Memorial Library)
Long description:
Recordings in this collection can be played by anyone.
These interviews were selected as part of a project to create an Open Education Resource entitled 'Observing the 1980s' led by the University of Sussex in collaboration with the British Library and the Mass Observation Archive.
The aim of this project is to offer insights into the lives and opinions of British people from all social classes and regions during the 1980s. The interviews from which the clips were selected for the 'Observing the 1980s' Open Education Resource are derived from collaborative oral history projects and include recordings with those involved in key events, such as the Falklands War, the Miners' Strike and the Brixton riots, as well as those reflecting on industry in the 1980s, unemployment and redundancy, and HIV and Aids. The interviews in their entirety are made available here at the British Library Sounds website.
Oral history recordings provide valuable first-hand testimony of the past. The views and opinions expressed in oral history interviews are those of the interviewees, who describe events from their own perspective. The interviews are historical documents and their language, tone and content might in some cases reflect attitudes that could cause offence in today’s society.
Image: Arthur Scargill (b 1938), miners' leader and trade unionist. Seen in front of posters demanding No Pit Closures, around the time of the Miners' Strike. (Mary Evans / Marx Memorial Library)
Observing the 1980s brings together, for the first time, 'voices' from both the Mass Observation Archive and the British Library's Oral History collections. This material offers a unique and inspiring insight into the lives and opinions of British people from all social classes and regions during the 1980s. The full Open Education Resource is available at https://studydirect.sussex.ac.uk/login/. What appears here is the full unedited oral history content only.
At the time of the project launch in 2013 no established historiography of the 1980s existed. The decade is largely represented as polarised and the work that does exist is similarly divided into oppositional camps. By bringing together these resources, students and academics will be able to make and illustrate connections across and between these polarised approaches. Additionally, a key benefit for educators at all levels is in the raw nature of the information and its potential use across subject areas such as politics, sociology, oral history, cultural and media studies, linguistics, gender studies, narrative and memory studies, migration studies, folklore studies, anthropology and contemporary history.
The oral history recordings made available within the 'Observing the 1980s' package are from a number of the British Library's Oral History collections:
The Hall-Carpenter Oral History Archive (catalogue no: C456) is a major collection of interviews relating to gay and lesbian experience in Britain. The original oral history project was established in 1985 as part of the Hall Carpenter Archives, which had been set up in 1982. The written component of the Hall Carpenter Archives is held by the LSE Archives.
An Oral History of British Photography (catalogue no: C459), is an on-going project charting the development of photography in Britain.
City Lives (catalogue no: C409) explores the inner world of Britain's financial capital. Detailed recordings were made between 1987 and 1997 with representatives from the Stock Exchange, the merchant and clearing banks, the commodities and futures markets, law and accounting firms, financial regulators, insurance companies and Lloyd's of London.
The Millennium Memory Bank project (catalogue no: C900) was one of the largest oral history projects undertaken in the UK. In 1999 all BBC local radio stations across England, together with Radio Scotland, Radio Ulster, Radio Wales and Radio Cymru joined forces with the British Library to create a powerful record of the century just ending through the voices of thousands of people from all walks of life. Topics in this collection include the Miners' Strike, the steel industry and the troubles in Northern Ireland.
Oral history at the British Library
The interviews on this site are a small selection from the many thousands held in the Oral History section of the British Library. These recordings go back over 100 years and cover many facets of life in Britain. All oral history recordings are catalogued on the Sound & Moving Image Catalogue.
Ethical use of oral history
- The interviewees have been generous in sharing their memories and listeners are asked to treat this material with respect and sensitivity.
- Recordings should be analysed and presented in context, so that the interviewee's meaning is not misconstrued.
Quotations and audio clips should be referenced as, for example: “Interview with Charles Drought by Evelyn Draper, 1999, Oral History Collection, British Library Sound & Moving Image Catalogue reference C900/10087, The British Library.”
Each interviewee whose recording appears on this site has given their consent for the recording to be used for educational study. We have made every effort to contact all the interviewees and inform them about this project. However should any participant wish to discuss their involvement they should contact the Curator of Oral History at the British Library (oralhistory@bl.uk). As copyright ownership varies across the collections any use in publication or broadcast should be referred to the Curator.