Past caring? City of York Health and Poor Law Archives, 1837-2003

This project is to catalogue and conserve 160 linear metres of archives relating to health and poverty in York between 1837 and 2003. The archives of the Poor Law Union and Workhouse, Medical Officer of Health, Department of Health and Department of Environmental Health and Housing will be made accessible to researchers for the first time. Essential preservation and conservation work will ensure that 1,479 volumes and 264 boxes of paper records are ready for use. An online catalogue will be indexed using specialist thesauri. Together, these collections will provide a rare comprehensive 'laboratory' for medical humanities research and lay the foundations for digitisation and further collaborations.