Papers of Margaret Gardiner

Archive reference: Cwl MGA

Margaret Gardiner (1904-2005) was a writer, political campaigner and patron of the arts. Partner of scientist J. D. Bernal, she took part in many political and peace campaigns during her life. Born in Berlin, she moved to Britain with her family at the outbreak of World War I. After studying at Cambridge, and an initial attempt to teach, she turned her attentions to philanthropy, campaigning and building a remarkable art collection.

Part of the Commonweal Archives, these Papers cover one particular campaign, which linked her appreciation of visual media with her concern about nuclear war. The Nottingham Test Campaign, which ran during autumn 1962, was a pilot study to investigate whether mass media techniques could awaken the public to the danger and imminence of nuclear war. Margaret Gardiner donated the Archive to Commonweal Collection circa 1992.

The Archive was catalogued as part of the PaxCat Project, with support from the National Cataloguing Grants Programme for Archives.