Publications available from the Pioneer Health Foundation

The Peckham Experiment. A study of the living structure of society. Innes H. Pearse and Lucy H.Crocker £14.99

"This is the book describing the most significant study of the biology of humanity ever undertaken. The subject was nothing less than the supreme expression of health - parenthood, family and the home".

First published in 1943. 2nd edition, Scottish Academic Press, 1985, 333 pages. A full account of the methods, experiences and findings of the Pioneer Health Centre in Peckham from 1935 - 1939. This best-seller ran to 6 impressions between 1943 and 1947.

Press Opinions of The Peckham Experiments from the archives - "ought to be read by all interested in health and social welfare" A.D.Ritchie in Manchester Guardian.

"This book is so full of meat and so brilliant, both analytically and synthetically, that subtle and thought-stimulating quotations might be taken from every page among the most important sociological work - taking sociology in its widest and most inclusive sense - that has appeared in the last decade." The Literary Supplement.

"This fascinating and extremely important book describes the growth of the experiment; the spontaneous integration of over a thousand families into a living social group, the organic structure of that group; and the conclusions drawn by the observers, thrilling in terms of their own anthropological, biological and medical training." Time and Tide.

"It is a great experiment, with far-reaching consequences in politics and sociology, and it is a moving experience to read such an adequate account of it". Herbert Read

"A thrilling book the reader is infected by the enthusiasm and optimism of the authors. Much can be learned from this great experiment. Let us hope that it will be multiplied a thousandfold after the war and form a cornerstone in the construction of a national health service." Industrial Welfare

Science, Synthesis and Sanity. An enquiry into the nature of living G. Scott Williamson and Innes H. Pearse. £12.99
"Now and then a scientific book appears which influences and even alters our whole philosophy of living.."
First published 1965. 2nd edition Scottish Academic Press, 19180. 352 pages
The fullest exposition of the profound thinking that created the radical and pioneering Peckham Experiment.

The Quality of Life. The Peckham Approach to Human Ethology. Innes H. Pearse. £13.99

"The ordinary reader may gain insight into how the quality of life may be enhanced through acceptance of those biological principles to whose study she (Innes Pearse) and her husband devoted their lives".

Published by Scottish Academic Press, 1979. 194 pages.

Written by one of its founders, this book takes the story of the Peckham Experiment into its post-war years. This is a classic text for understanding the methodology of the Experiment and the ideas that are still relevant for developing health today.

The Case for Action - A survey of everyday life under modern industrial conditions with special references to health. Innes H.Pearse and G Scott Williamson £4.99

First published 1931. 2nd edition Scottish Academic Press, 1982, 162 pages.

Biologists in Search of Material - an Interim Report on the Work of the Pioneer Health Centre Peckham. (Sequel to The Case for Action) Innes H. Pearse and G. Scott Williamson. £4.99

First published 1938. Reprinted by Scottish Academic press, 1982.

A summary of the first three years of the Peckham Experiment and a review of some unexpected discoveries that were made concerning the state of health and the conditions of family life.

Recognising Health. Kenneth Barlow. £6.49

"This book offers a foundation for the understanding and cultivation of health and human excellence."

Published in 1988, 142 pages.

A pioneer who attempted to set up a Peckham style community in post war Coventry presents the case for cultivating health as distinct from providing therapy for disease.

Finding the village in the city. Jutta Mason. Mothering 22.9.1990 This is an inspirational account of how a mother, spurred on by Alison Stallibrass's "The Self-Respecting Child", started an 'indoor park' or 'hidden village' in Toronto.

"The nervous inspector helps her boys make protective wooden shields in the wood shop, and later gets to watch the unfolding of one of the most daring, imaginative games of Robin Hood she ever saw (using hocky nets as the hideout). Before long, she is an ardent defender of the right to free play."

Being Me and Also Us. Lessons from the Peckham Experiment. Alison Stallibrass £12.99

"Alison Stallibrass describes the theory and practice of the experiment and adds confirmation of its findings from her own research..(and others). She also records the opinions of people who took part in the experiment and felt their lives transformed by it."

Published by Scottish Academic Press, 1989, 275 pages.

A vivid account of the significance of the Experiment, particularly for child development, by a pioneering advocate of preschool play.

Total Participation, Total Health. Re-inventing the Peckham Health Centre for the 1990s. Ed: Alex Scott-Samuel. £4.50

Published by Scottish Academic Press, 1990, 46 pages.

Illustrated by many original photographs and quotes from Centre members, this provides a succinct introduction to the Peckham Health Centre and explains its relevance to public health and health promotion today. The text results from a conversation, over three years, between members of the original Peckham Experiment and health promotion advocates of the present day.

Wholeness and Holiness. A study in Human Ethology and the Holy Trinity. J.D.Trotter. £25.00

"This quite extraordinary book offers the most radical challenge to the divorce of science from human culture to appear for a century or more."

Published by the Pioneer Health Foundation, 2003, 256 pages.

This book explores the relationship between the insights of the Peckham Experiment and the experience of the early church to reveal the nature of community that lies behind the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Lessons Learned: Report on the Early Stages of the healthy Living Centre Programme, Rachel Makin, £5.00

Published by the Pioneer Health Foundation, 2004, 24 pages.

A report on voluntary sector involvement in the early stages of the New Opportunities Fund programme. It is based on a study commissioned by the Pioneer Health Foundation, who were funded by the Department of Health to support networking between new healthy living centres.

Publications held by the Welcome Trust Library. (The Welcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine holds the archives and papers of the Pioneer Health Centre and G. Scott Williamson and Innes H. Pearse.) (Vicky - link to Welcome library)

There are many documents - papers, pamphlets and books - held in the archive. The following is a small selection that those new to the Peckham Experiment may find useful.

The Self-Respecting Child: Development through Spontaneous Play. With foreword by John Holt.
First published in 1974. Reprinted by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co, Reading, Mass, 1989 in "Classics in Child Development".
A fourteen years long observational research on the spontaneous behaviour of small children in a play environment planned on Peckham principles.

Is Health a Suitable Study for Academic Consideration? A lecture delivered in the University of St Andrews on 19 May 1971 by Innes H. Pearse.

The Passing of Peckham. 1951. G. Scott Williamson and Innes H. Pearse.

Peckham - The First Health Centre. G. Scott Williamson. Reprinted from an article Published in the Lancet 16th March 1946.

Positive Prospect for Health. Proceedings of a public meeting, December 1985, held by Pioneer Health Centre Ltd.

The Peckham Experience: A Hope for a Healthier Future. Alison Stallibrass, 1984.

HEALTH of the individual, of the family, of society. Pioneer Health Centre 1971, 19 pages.
A brief but illuminating description of the Peckham Experiment with a discussion of the need for further field work in Human Ethology.

The "Peckham" Approach to Community Health. Text of a lecture delivered in the Department of Community Medicine, Usher Institute, Warrender Park Road, Edinburgh. Dr James R. Witchalls, 3rd December 1980.

Total Participation, Total Health. Report of a conference held at the King's Fund Centre for Health Services Development. 11 June 1991. Ed by Allan Pepper and lisa Curtice.

The Pioneer Health Centre Ltd. Aims and Activities. Undated. c 1990s.

The Peckham Experiment revisited:Cultivating Health. Arthur S. Faber. Reprinted from Health and Social Work Vol 1, No 3, August 1976.

Child Development and Education - the contribution of the Peckham Experiment. Alison Stallibrass. C. 1984.

The Peckham Experiment. Kenneth Barlow. In Medical History, July 1985. Based on a lecture given to the Society for the Social History of Medicine.

Self-sustaining Human Ecology. A paper for the WHO Healthy Cities Symposium, Stockholm 1990.

Building the Pioneer Health Centre. David Cottam, RIBA, from the Architectural Association's Owen Williams Exhibition Catalogue.

The Peckham Experiment. Evidence of Health - lecture video.

Relevant writings held elsewhere

Finding the village in the city. Jutta Mason. Mothering 22.9.1990

This is an inspirational account of how a mother, spurred on by Alison Stallibrass's "The Self-Respecting Child", started an 'indoor park' or 'hidden village' in Toronto.

"The nervous inspector helps her boys make protective wooden shields in the wood shop, and later gets to watch the unfolding of one of the most daring, imaginative games of Robin Hood she ever saw (using hocky nets as the hideout). Before long, she is an ardent defender of the right to free play."

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-8915468.html

Ministers seeking inspiration should talk to Pam about prewar Peckham. Our progressive past can offer a new idea of what the state is for, and how it can help neighbourhood organisations to thrive. Jonathan Freedland. Guardian Comment, 31 October 2007.

In this article Freedland suggests that Ministers should not only look abroad for ideas about helping neighbourhood organisations, they "might also do well to look behind to one aspect of Britain's progressive past." He is, of course, referring to the Peckham Experiment. Read the full article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/O,,2202064,00.html