Guardian & Observer staff memoirs

Memoirs written by former members of staff to record the memories of those who have worked for either the Guardian or the Observer.

Staff include reporters and subeditors, as well as copytakers and an advertisement manager.

Guardian staff include photographer Robert Smithies and Betty Jerman, who wrote a fashion column under the name Clair Wilson in the 1950s.

Observer staff include award-winning food writer Paul Levy, sports writer Frank Page and education correspondent Judith Judd.

Topics covered include their interviews to join the papers, the effect of the advancement in technology on newspapers and the coverage of foreign affairs with memoirs from Observer Northern Ireland correspondent Hugo Davenport and Guardian foreign correspondent Hella Pick.

Staff memoirs have been collected to record the memories of people who have worked for either the Guardian or the Observer. This project began in 2001.

Open (part). Some access restrictions apply. Records may be consulted in our reading room by appointment only, see our website for more information.

A full catalogue description for this collection can be found on the GNM Archive catalogue.