Inclusions and Exclusions: Considerations for a Stopes Digital Collection

Abstract

Investigating a body of archival manuscript research in any field can be a daunting undertaking, particularly when the relevant primary sources are scattered amongst a variety of public and private locations. The creation of a digital collection of privately held manuscripts and minutiae offers a boon to researchers who would otherwise be obliged to travel extensively. The digital collection can provide a means of transcending the boundary between private and public access, ensuring that crucial material evidence is available in the public domain. The author argues that the interpolation of personal archival materials within the context of the digital public sphere offers a mechanism for investigating sites of knowledge that may otherwise be obscured from history. In the context of women's historical studies, the digital collection offers a means of addressing the Victorian convention of a gendered boundary between private and public spheres. It can achieve this by making previously inaccessible cultural materials available for study and bringing to light work produced by figures who were not already well known. More significantly, it can support further investigation of the complex ways in which women and men were represented as public personae during the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods. This will be discussed with reference to archival material concerning Charlotte Carmichael Stopes and other prominent members of her family, suggesting that the creation of a Stopes digital archive exemplifies the value of such mechanisms for further research and scholarly discourse within the context of the digital public sphere.