Author: emn00022

a) The biggest obstacle has of course been the pandemic. Although there is a lot of material online there are a few things that I would really like to read or have access to that are only available in places that are either closed just now or I just can’t get to until the restrictions lift. 

b) To overcome this I have tried to just make the best use of the material that I can access and have used the different filters on sites like JSTOR, or on the library catalogue to only show things that are available online. That way I am not wasting time having to wade through search results showing material that can only be accessed in person. I have a document on my laptop which is just a list of things that I want to read or I think will be useful to read, and anytime I am on a site like JSTOR reading something I have a look at the suggested articles and add anything that looks like it has potential to that list. So now I have a list of material to work through that is all available online. 

c) This has taught me a lot about the quickest ways to find the most suitable material – in this case, e-journals and e-books. It has shown me to use the time before libraries etc. open up to read as much of the online material as I can. By doing that, when libraries do open up I give my full attention to those sources that are only available in person. If there is still going to be restrictions on quarantining material or how long you can spend in the library then I need to be well organised and use that time as effectively as possible. 

d) I think overall the module as a whole has been really helpful and I feel well-prepared to get a lot of work done over the summer. I think it has given me the momentum and motivation to get my research well underway. Having to think about my methodology and what I actually want to achieve has been really helpful because now I will know just from reading the introduction or the abstract of a source if it is going to be any good for me. If I didn’t know what it was that I was aiming to do then I don’t think I could do that. 

1. “Fife Woman Jailed”. Evening Telegraph, 20 September 1950. https://go-gale-com.ezproxy-s2.stir.ac.uk/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Newspapers&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=26484&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=22&docId=GALE%7CID3240411358&docType=Article&sort=Pub+Date+Reverse+Chron&contentSegment=ZBLF-MOD1&prodId=BNCN&pageNum=2&contentSet=GALE%7CID3240411358&searchId=R9&userGroupName=unistirl&inPS=true. Accessed 27 January 2021

I found this source on the British Library’s Newspaper Archive by following Helen’s instructions in the video on how to search articles using a key word and date filter – in my case ‘abortion’ and ‘1950-1960’. The article reports on the trial of an illegal abortionist, giving me an insight into how illegal abortionists would justify their actions, as well as, sentence length and the attitudes of the legal system. I’ve planned for attitudes of the press, abortionists and officials to form a key part of my research so this article is very useful. 

2. “Case Against Evans “Overwhelming””. Times, 15 July 1953. https://go-gale-com.ezproxy-s2.stir.ac.uk/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Newspapers&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=1&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CCS69423343&docType=Article&sort=Pub+Date+Forward+Chron&contentSegment=ZTMA-MOD1&prodId=TTDA&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CCS69423343&searchId=R4&userGroupName=unistirl&inPS=true. Accessed 27 January 2021 

This article was obtained the same way as the one above, except this time via the Times Digital Archive. The source is not specifically about abortion, but is about a woman who has been murdered and the accused used the fact that she wanted an aboriton as part of his defence. It was useful because it is stated that a lot of people were aware of the fact that she had made enquiries into having an abortion. This made me start thinking about how secretive the process of having a backstreet abortion was and has made me want to look for evidence of this in further sources. 

3. Fisher, Kate. Birth Control, Sex and Marriage in Britain 1918-1960. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Oxford Scholarship Online 

I found this book by searching the library catalogue using the term ‘the history of abortion in Britain’. After reading the abstract it sounded like it would give me a good general overview and some solid context for my own work. The book is based on the results of an oral history project, whereby individuals and couples were interviewed about their experiences of sexuality. It aims to examine changes in attitudes, at an individual level, during the wider sexual revolution that appeared to be taking place in Britain in the period that my dissertation focuses on. I plan to make use of the oral testament in the interview transcripts relating to views on, or experiences of, illegal abortion, as part of my evidence. 

4. Jones, Emma L. “Attitudes to abortion in the era of reform: Evidence from the Abortion Law Reform Association correspondence”. Women’s History Review 20, no.2 (2011): 283-298. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-s1.stir.ac.uk/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=8df39667-f644-4918-90e8-349188acc161%40sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=edselc.2-52.0-79953838930&db=edselc. Accessed 28 January 2021

This journal article was found in the same way as the book above. The evidence inside which is taken from letters will provide an insight into the experiences of women who actually had an illegal abortion, this will be invaluable to my research. From the readings this week though I have reminded myself to bear in mind that the people writing into the association would have been doing so because they were in favour of abortion reform and so their views would not have been reflective of everyone.     

In addition to the sources that I have identified above I also plan on using trial records from criminal proceedings taken against illegal abortionists. I found ‘Sources for Studying Crime History’ by Zoe Alker and Lucy Williams on the Liverpool University Press e-resource full of useful information on how to do this effectively. Lastly, I will be using Helen’s instructions to find parliamentary debates on the issue, which will help me to see how opinion evolved as reform grew nearer.

Hello, my name is Emily and I’m from a small village in East Lothian, just outside of Edinburgh. At the moment I am leaning towards writing my dissertation on an issue relating to race history. I was torn between writing on a race history topic and a gender one but the closure of archives and lack of online material for one of my ideas has pretty much made the decision for me! My experience with online learning has been very mixed! Some parts of it I am really enjoying and other parts of it I find very frustrating but towards the end of last semester I was starting to get into the swing of it so hopefully I will fall back into it again.