Papers of the Eugenics Society to be Digitised

We are delighted to announce that with the kind permission of the Galton Institute, and as part of our programme to create a Wellcome Digital Library, we will be digitising the papers of one of our most popular archive collections; the papers of the Eugenics Society. The collection will be digitised in full and made freely available online, subject to Data Protection and privacy issues as set out in our access policy (pdf). These images will enable readers to access large amounts of archive material remotely from anywhere in the world.

In order to develop this world-class digital resource access to the collection will be affected. The collection will be digitised in batches between 21st November 2011 and 26th September 2012. Please see the archives digitisation schedule for full details. We regret that we are unable to make any exceptions to allow individual readers access to material, and encourage readers to contact the Archives and Manuscripts team beforehand at archs+mss@wellcome.ac.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 7611 8899 to ensure that material will be available for consultation. Microfilm copies of material in the Eugenics Society collection will not be affected and will remain available for consultation. Access to this collection whilst it is being digitised will continue to be granted only once prior written permission from the Galton Institute has been obtained.

The creation of the Wellcome Digital Library is due to be completed in late 2012. Other Library collections included in this phase of the project are the substantial Francis Crick archive, the papers of Fred Sanger, Arthur Ernest Mourant, the Medical Research Council Blood Group Unit, Honor Fell, and Carlos Paton Blacker. The aim is to provide a documentary record of modern genetics, not only from a scientific perspective, but also from political, economic, technological, social, cultural and personal viewpoints. It will throw open the doors of the Wellcome Library and its unique collections to a worldwide audience, and provide a global resource for the study of the history of medicine and modern bioscience.

Image credit: Photograph of Eugenics Society stand at the Exhibition of Health and Housing, c.1935. Reproduced from the Eugenics Society collection (SA/EUG/G.40) with the kind permission of the Galton Institute.

Author: Toni Hardy