This study explores how archival research enhances student engagement and writing in undergraduate courses. Interviews with writing instructors reveal that hands-on work with archival materials—especially local and diversity-focused collections—deepens curiosity, strengthens research skills, and enables students to produce meaningful, socially relevant original work, even within constrained course structures.

This research explores the hidden lives of Mills & Boon’s mid-20th-century women authors using 70,000 archival letters. Despite selling millions of books, they faced stigma, wrote under pseudonyms, and often apologised for their work. The project reveals their cultural impact and repositions them as historically significant contributors to post-war society.