A new addition to the John Grierson Archive
Since its arrival at the University of Stirling in 1977 the John Grierson Archive has grown to encompass the work of not only ‘the father of documentary’ but also many of the key individuals he worked with such as Norman McLaren and Forsyth Hardy. The Archive continues to attract generous donations of material related to Grierson and his colleagues, the most recent addition providing new insights into the establishment of the National Film Board of Canada and the country’s wartime propaganda campaign.
The wartime diaries of the filmmaker Stuart Legg (1910-1988) were generously donated to the archive by his daughter Ruth. They cover the period 1939-1943 and detail his contribution to the establishment of the National Film Board of Canada. One of Grierson’s team of young filmmakers at the GPO Film Unit in the 1930s Legg travelled to Canada at Grierson’s invitation where he developed the wartime documentary series Canada Carries On and World in Action.
The diaries show in detail the technical processes, the creative relationships within the teams (and inevitable tensions), their social life outside working hours, the political pressures under which they worked, and their successes: his Churchill’s Island won the first Oscar for documentary in 1942.
Ruth Hawthorn, Introduction to the Stuart Legg Diaries.
In addition to providing new insights into wartime filmmaking in Canada Legg’s diaries also provide a wider account of the period, with family life and travels across the United States being described. The diaries are accompanied by transcriptions, commentaries and notes from Ruth, an added element of painstaking research which brings additional value to the volumes. The diaries can be viewed in our archives reading room (ref. no. G/AA/43).
