Professor Dorothy Sheridan MBE, FRSA was the Director of the Mass Observation Archive (MOA) from 1990-2008. She is a Trustee of the MOA and an Honorary Professor of History at the University of Sussex.
Video Dorothy Sheridan
Early life and studies
Dorothy Elizabeth Sheridan was born in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, but moved to the Yorkshire Dales when she was two. She grew up there in cottages with outside toilets and no running water. Her parents were active campaigners in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and took Sheridan to demonstrations and protests.
At school, Sherdian obtained eight O-levels and four A-levels. She then went to Brighton in 1967, where she studied Sociology at the University of Sussex.
Maps Dorothy Sheridan
Mass Observation Archive
Tom Harrisson offered Sheridan a temporary job in 1974, working to establish the Mass Observation papers as a history resource. This job became permanent, with Sheridan acting as the first archivist. She performed a variety of jobs there, beginning by labelling boxes and telephoning Harrisson with updates and moving on to develop and promote the archive. In 1976, Harrisson had given her money to buy a car and learn to drive so that she could chauffeur him when he visited, but he died before this happened so she purchased a motorbike instead.
In 1981, Sheridan co-founded the launch of the contemporary phase of Mass Observation, the Mass Observation Project that collects new material about everyday life.
Sheridan became Director of the MOA in 1990. She acted as researcher and consultant on the digital resources developing from the archive, and had to adjust to tasks such as electronic research support, which she found challenging.
In 2010, Sheridan retired from her role as Director, but continued her involvement as a Trustee of the MOA.
Publications
Sheridan has written and co-authored a number of books, largely involving Mass Observation materials.
- Speak for Yourself: Mass Observation Anthology, 1937-49 (with Angus Calder, 1984).
- Among You Taking Notes (1985).
- Mass Observation at the Movies (1987).
- Wartime Women: A Mass Observation Anthology (1990).
- Writing Ourselves: Mass-Observation and Literacy Practices (with Brian Street & David Bloome, 2000).
- "The Mass Observation Archive: A History", Mass Observation Online (2009).
Other roles
Sheridan became the Head of Special Collections at Sussex in 2000, working in this role until retiring in 2008.
Sheridan is an advisor to the National Life Stories project at the British Library and acted as consultant on the "Observing the Eighties" project, which brought together materials from the Life Stories and MOA.
Sheridan was a member of the management committee of community publishing group QueenSpark Books between 1996 and 2010, and continues to be involved in their work as a patron.
Honours and awards
Sheridan received an MBE in 1991. She was also elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
The Open University awarded Sheridan an honorary doctorate, which she described as her "career high" in 2007.
In 2011, the University of Sussex made Sheridan a 50th Anniversary Fellow. She is also an Honorary Professor at the University, where she co-founded the Life History Research Centre.
Sheridan is Visiting Professor at the University of Brighton, where she is on the advisory board of the Centre for Memory, History and Narratives.
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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