Calling Oxford Mothers!
June 11, 2009
Would you be willing to take part in a research project about your experiences of motherhood in Oxfordshire during the years 1970-1990? Based at the University of Warwick, I am undertaking a project about motherhood and am hoping to conduct about 60 interviews with women to learn about their experiences.
It is only comparatively recently that families have become the focus of historical attention, encouraged by both social history and the desire to write a “history from below” telling the lives of ordinary people. When considering twentieth century British history, however, the family seems to be a particularly important and interesting topic for research because of the great changes in both our understanding of what the family means as an institution, and people’s experiences of family life. In my project I want to look at women’s experiences of motherhood from the 1970s to the 1990s. I am basing my research on oral history because I think it is important to learn from people who have first hand knowledge of the subject. The interviews take about an hour to conduct and can be done face-to-face or by telephone. They can be done one-on-one or people can choose to be interviewed together. There are no set questions, but I am interested in people’s experiences of childhood and what they think it was like for their mothers, then their own experiences of having and raising children. All the information is treated anonymously so no-one could be identified from their contribution.
If you would like to help please contact me, Dr Angela Davis, for more information.
Dr Angela Davis, Department of History, The University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL. Telephone: 07751925945 or email angela.davis[at]warwick.ac.uk
