Born: 7 June 1888, United Kingdom
Died: 30 October 1940
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: NA
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
Lord William Malcolm Hailey is listed as the author of the influential 1938 African Survey, a British “Study of Problems arising in Africa South of the Sahara.” The goal was to report on British colonial policy in Africa and examine the extent to which Africans should be involved in policy-making. Hailey started the project in 1935, but his health began failing by 1936, and his secretary Hilda Matheson took over the project fully as an executive manager. She had spoken extensively with scientists and administrators to organise logistics and plan the scope of the project and coordinated preparatory research. Meanwhile, due to Hailey’s incapacitation, Frederick Pedler stepped in as editor of the nearly 2,000-page document. Anthropologists Lucy Mair and Audrey Richards also contributed to the project; both had been doing fieldwork in Africa for years and would go on to be celebrated for their significant work in the area. In fact, many of the chapters in the report were written by anthropologists and other specialists, yet Hailey retained sole authorship despite his actual contributions being questionable at best.
IW note: Matheson was the BBC’s first director of talks, helping to establish radio journalism. She published a book on the development of broadcasting after leaving the BBC in 1931. She also worked as an MI5 operative in army intelligence during World War I.