UBVI and H \alpha photometry is presented for 17319 stars in vicinity of the young double cluster h & \chi Persei .
Our photometry extends over a 37′ \times 1° field centered on the association .
We construct reddening contours within the imaged field .
We find that the two clusters share a common distance modulus of 11.75 \pm 0.05 and ages of log age ( yr ) = 7.1 \pm 0.1 .
From the V - H \alpha colour , a measure of the H \alpha emission strength , we conduct a survey for emission line objects within the association .
We detect a sample of 33 Be stars , 8 of which are new detections .
We present a scenario of evolutionary enhancement of the Be phenomenon to account for the peak in Be fraction towards the top of the main-sequence in the population of h & \chi Persei and similar young clusters .