To celebrate the arrival of Easter here are some recommended resources for social science research.
It is hope that this will be posted here at some point.
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/library/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny_Postcard_1907.jpg
Easter Traditions
Since its origins, Easter has been a time of celebration and feasting and there are many different folklore traditions associated with it .
§ The EDFSS collects materials relating to folk songs and dance from England. It is building an online archive called the Full English<http://www.efdss.org/efdss-the-full-english> where you can find some examples of traditional songs<http://www.vwml.org/search?qtext=easter&ts=1397390471755&collectionfilter=HHA;SBG;JHB;LEB;GB;CC;COL;GG;AGG;PG;HAM;MK;FK;EML;TFO;CJS1;CJS2;FSBW;RVW1;RVW2;AW> for Easter
§ In an 1892 article Folklore discussed the origins of the Easter Hare<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Folk-Lore/Volume_3/The_Easter_Hare>
§ The White House website has images and some background on the tradition of egg rolling by American presidents<http://www.whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll>
§ The Indiana historical Society<http://images.indianahistory.org/cdm/search/collection/DC001/searchterm/Easter%20cards/field/all/mode/exact/conn/and/cosuppress/> has many beautiful images of American Easter cards through the ages
§ Elsewhere in Europe egg decorating and painting has traditionally been important. A recent LSE PhD thesis. Vlad Petre Glăveanu, (2012) Creativity and culture: towards a cultural psychology of creativity in folk art.<http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/415/> explored Easter egg decoration by children in Bucharest and the village of Ciocănești
§ To research Easter folklore further using LSE Library subscription databases try Oxford reference online.<https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1149258.> This contains the full text of many dictionaries and encyclopaedias where you can quickly locate explanations of folklore customs and definitions of Christian customs.
§ Old newspapers can also be fascinating sources of information on changing traditions. For example In the Daily Mail in 1927 an 'Old Fogy ' reported on the 'Queer Easter pranks' he remembered from his youth<http://find.galegroup.com/dmha/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=DMHA&userGroupName=lse_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=EE1863797430&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0>. (LSE Subscription service)Find out other subscription databases listed on the Media subject guide.<http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/collections/subjectGuides/mediaAndCommunication/primarySources.aspx>
Christian traditions
Easter is of course an important date in the Christian Church.
§ The Church of England website<http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/book-of-common-prayer/collects-epistles-and-gospels/easter-day.aspx> has extracts from Easter prayers and the gospels
§ The Vatican<http://www.vatican.va/liturgical_year/easter/2013/index_en.html> website leaflets, videos and photographs relating to the 2013 services.
§ The National Gallery <http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/easter-story> has a special online feature which explores the story of Easter through nine paintings
§ Old Pathe news films<http://www.britishpathe.com/video/easter-festival> trace a social history of religious services at Easter as well as secular activity such as these Easter hat parades from Luton in 1955.<http://www.britishpathe.com/video/easter-hat-parade/query/Easter>
§ The LSE has also recently subscribed to the Grand Tour database which has letters and accounts from British travellers in Europe during the 18th/19th Centuries. One of the topics they frequently commented on were the different religious customs in Catholic Europe. For example in 1760 John Kesler commented disparagingly on the Good Friday practice of scourging <http://www.grandtour.amdigital.co.uk.gate2.library.lse.ac.uk/Contents/transcriptviewer.aspx?imageid=81160&searchmode=true&hit=first&vis=False&pi=1&previous=6&prevpos=69669> 'The protestants who had accidentally entered into this chapel, were not displeased with the darkness, being little inclined to shew their devotion in lacerating their bodies; however, they thought it adviseable not to make themselves known'. (Travels through Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy and Lorrain. Volume 2 , 1760, p.122)
Is Easter still a religious occasion?
§ For along time there have been concerns about increasing secularisation and the commercialisation of Easter. In the Daily Mail in April 1963 Jus Holland, asked "Are the Producers Taking over from the Parsons?"<http://find.galegroup.com/dmha/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=DMHA&userGroupName=lse_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=EE1866634410&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0> questioning whether TV and radio was now more popular than attending church at Easter.
Here are some resources for considering the role and importance of the Church in the 21st Century.
§ The Church of England<http://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/facts-stats/research-statistics/statistics.aspx> produces regular figures on attendance.
§ For a broader viewpoint British Religion in Numbers<http://www.brin.ac.uk/about/> BRIN, which is supported by the University of Manchester, at the Institute for Social Change<http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/socialchange/>. Its website has a wealth of current and historical data at both national and local levels and can be used to investigate trends in all religions as well as Christianity.
§ Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project<http://www.pewforum.org/about/> provides news, social surveys and reports on religion in the USA and worldwide. Its most recent report on Global religious diversity<http://www.pewforum.org/2014/04/04/global-religious-diversity/> looks at the number of followers of major religions in different nations worldwide.
§ Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA)<http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/> provides statistics on a broad range of topics relating to religiosity, attitudes and membership. Although coverage of the USA is strongest, it also includes an extensive international section.
§ LSE staff and students can find via the Uk Data Archive<http://discover.ukdataservice.ac.uk/> church attendance censuses and other social surveys on religious affiliation.
§ There is also access to The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR),<https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/1152213> where further social surveys on attitudes towards religion can be quickly traced. These cover materials published since 1962, and cover the USA as well as other nations in Europe.
Heather Dawson
LSE Library
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