The material included in The Olympic Movement has been selected in close collaboration with academic subject experts, collections specialists at participating libraries and archives, and under the guidance of the Editorial Board.

This resource provides a comprehensive documentary record of the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sports which form their programmes, public and governmental responses to developments in the world of sport, and the role of sport in culture, society, and politics around the world between the 1890s and the 1990s. The varied selection of material has been guided by key thematic areas developed in consultation with the Editorial Board.

This resource is largely comprised of materials created and/or collated by institutions such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation and its successors, National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and their members. These materials are complemented by extensive correspondence from members of the public and campaigning organisations, the personal papers of individual Olympians, a selection of government documents, and a range of audiovisual content.

Although the contributing archives are located in the United States and Western Europe, the scope of the resource is global.

Material has been sourced from the following archives:

  • British Film Institute
  • The papers of World Abilitysport and predecessor organisations, held at Buckinghamshire Archives
  • The Olympic Museum
  • Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum
  • United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee
  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • Yorkshire Film Archive

To learn more about the collections sourced from these archives, visit the Guide to the Archival Collections page. 

 

A note on exclusions

A lengthy process of discussion between many different archives, libraries and museums has resulted in the seven Participating Libraries that contribute to the resource. Where exclusions have been made, this has been due to:

  • The need to include a range of document types.
  • Existing open-access content.
  • Copyright and permission considerations.
  • Data protection concerns.