ISSUE 05 - MARCH 2019
DMU SPECIAL COLLECTIONS NEWSLETTER
WELCOME Welcome to the 5th issue of the DMU Special Collections newsletter! DMU Special Collections team are part of Library and Learning Services. We care for archives, rare books and artefacts housed in room 00.21 of the Kimberlin Library. These include records of the institution dating back to 1870 as well as a growing collection of archives relating to subject specialisms of university research centres, including fashion, sports history, photography and performing arts. Special Collections has recently been exploring the history of women at DMU, highlighting their involvement in every aspect of university life since our foundation in 1870. We turned our research into an exhibition for International Women’s Day, and then adapted it as a feature for this issue. Speaking of our foundation in 1870, you’ll also find information on some exciting new accessions, including materials donated as part of our appeal for archives ahead of the forthcoming 150th anniversary. If you have anything you would like to contribute please do get in touch! Our next issue will be available in July 2019. We welcome suggestions and comments; please contact archives@dmu.ac.uk or tweet us @DMUSpecialColls. Katharine Short Special Collections Manager All information correct at time of printing. Opinions and views expressed are those of the author not DMU.
2
CONTENTS Latest News................................................. 3 Appeal Update............................................ 4 New Collections & Catalogues............... 5 Thematic Exploration.................................. 7 Behind the Scenes..................................... 8 Heritage Centre.......................................... 9 Guest Article................................................ 10 Then and Now!............................................ 12
LATEST NEWS LATEST NEWS
Funding Success Special Collections is delighted to announce that we have received Wellcome Trust funding to carry out the cataloguing project, “Unboxing the Boxer�. Over the next two years, four of our most significant sports related collections will be listed and repackaged: England Boxing, Ski Club of Great Britain, Special Olympics Leicester and the papers of Sir Norman Chester relating to football. We will keep you updated via our blog and this newsletter!
The
Visits the Archive At the very end of 2018 Special Collections manager Katharine Short appeared in a documentary on screenwriter Andrew Davies, aired on BBC4. Katharine used parts of the Andrew Davies collection to showcase his early work and demonstrate his nononsense approach to collaboration!
3
Student newsletters produced by Sir Peter Soulsby, City Mayor, when he was at the City of Leicester College of Education, 1970s
OUTREACH
ARCHIVES APPEAL March 2020 will mark 150 years since the founding of the Leicester School of Art, the forerunner of DMU. The appeal aims to collect archive materials and histories from staff and students, past and present, to help create an exhibition to celebrate the occasion. Some of these new accessions have been donated as part of the Appeal.
Knitted bags produced by students of the School of Textiles, 1980s
Protest signs from De Montfort University Students’ Union, 2019 Patterns for footwear used as teaching aids in the School of Boot and Shoe Manufacture, 1950s
Students’ Union gig tickets, 1990s-2000s
4
NEW COLLECTIONS & CATALOGUES
NEW ARRIVALS!
New collections are uploaded to our online archive catalogue (https://specialcollections. catalogue.dmu.ac.uk/) and also announced via our Twitter feed (@DMUSpecialColls).
Peter Blakesley manuscript on Bradgate Park House, 1993.
Papers of Andrew Logan, artist and founder of Alternative Miss World, 1960s onwards.
Film star scrapbooks, 1930s.
5
THEMATIC EXPLORATION
1926 Anne Heynes
A HISTORY OF WOMEN AT DMU al, Build
Think Equ
ate for v o n n I , t r Sma
1888 Agnes Farman
Was rejected for the post of Deputy Principal for the Leicester School of Art because the committee would not consider appointing a woman to such a high position.
1880’s
Became the first female Head of Department after she was appointed Head of Women’s Crafts.
1890’s
Change
1947 Mrs Alice Redlich Became the teacher of the first ever School of Corset Design in Britain, at the Leicester College of Arts and Crafts.
1901 Scholarships for girls Advertised in the Midland Free Express newspaper, the Leicester School of Art awarded scholarships to 30 boys and 30 girls
1900’s
1931 First Female Editor of Student Magazine Student Nerissa Harben edited the 1931 issue of The Prism.
1920’s
1930’s
1898 Miss Frances M.B Livingstone
1940 Women Train as Engineers
Trained at the Leicester School of Art and made a full time teacher in 1898, Livingstone became ‘Chief Instructress’ (Head of Department) responsible for the department of Women’s Crafts.
Leicester Technical College offers engineering training to women as a part of the war effort.
1925 Motor Classes for Women 1907 Annie Clephan
An advocate for women’s education and suffrage, she became the first female committee member of the Art and Technical Schools in 1907.
6
1940’s
Leicester Technical School was the first institution to start a course for women drivers.
1
1992 Anne Mueller 1959 Miss Grace Best
Was Head of Textiles and Fashion Design at the School for 20 years. She was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Polytechnic following her retirement in 1979.
Became the first Chancellor of De Montfort University and was heralded as ‘the most successful woman civil servant of her generation’.
2015 Baroness Doreen Lawrence Universally recognised for her work on promoting social justice and anti-racism, she continues this work in her position as Chancellor of the University and with the opening of the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre.
1985 Nan Whitbread A Principal Lecturer at Leicester Polytechnic’s School of Education, she became the first female President of the NATFHE (National Association of Teachers in Higher Education).
1950’s
1970’s
1980’s
2011 Bryony Lavery Was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University. A feminist playwright, her work is most well-known for challenging patriarchal norms and gender stereotypes.
1990’s
2000’s
2010’s
1975 First Feminist Society
a ‘Women’s Liberation Group’ was advertised in the Student Union Guide by students Judy Cottrell and Anne Cesek.
2019 I Heart Consent/Not on my Campus
DMU students took part in national campaigns designed to promote discussion around the issue of consent and racism, specifically at universities.
1953 Mixed Hockey Match
In a bid to bring the two departments together female dress design students took on male architecture students. Comments on the match were (un)suitably gendered: ‘one must commend the tenacity of the ladies tackling: each seemed ‘out’ to get her man’.
2000 Usha Prashar Became the first BAME Chancellor of De Montfort University having been a governor at the University since 1996.
7
BEHIND THE SCENES
Where possible the archivist tries to maintain a sense of the original order of the material, keeping the hierarchy close to the filing structures used by the creator of the papers.
CATALOGUING Have you ever wondered how a collection goes from a pile of papers to an online catalogue? The first step in preparing a catalogue is to consider the collection as a whole and organise it into a hierarchy.
FONDS
SERIES
SERIES
Level s e i r e S Each level of the catalogue is assigned an alphanumeric reference code which allows the user to understand where they are within the hierarchy.
This moves from the general to the specific, that is, from an overview ITEM ITEM ITEM or summary description at Archive hierarchies are similar to family trees the top level, or Fonds down to a description of an individual piece of paper, the Item. Archivists can subdivide a Fonds further, if necessary, into Series and Files
FILE
Once the structure of the catalogue has been decided, the archivist will rearrange the items to physically reflect that structure. Individual items or files will be described in more detail according to the rules of the International Standard for Archival Description
FILE
FILE
FILE
eric ha-num
Alp
8
vel Item Le
Finally the completed work is made live on our online archive catalogue for researchers to discover!
Level Fonds
(General), which defines the information which ought to be recorded about each collection and item. This includes date, size, medium, historical background information, content, conditions regarding use and reproduction, languages, any special concerns or closures and any related material.
de
nce co
refere
Visit our catalogue to navigate the hierarchy https://specialcollections.catalogue.dmu.ac.uk/records/D/037
HERITAGE CENTRE
HERITAGE SUNDAYS April 28th will be our first Heritage Sunday of 2019. This year sees some changes with St Nicholas Church (Leicester’s oldest church) joining the programme. Guided tours and refreshments are available between 11am-3pm. Take a stroll in the Roman town or visit the Bath Site with the Friends of Jewry Wall Museum.
St .N
ola ich
hurch s’ C Also this year, Blue Badge guides are available for The Magazine; Castle Great Hall; Trinity Chapel and ruins of the Church of the Annunciation (Trinity Chapel and the ruins of the Church of the Annunciation are a package tour). Each tour lasts one hour and can be booked through Visit Leicester by calling 0116 299 4444 or visit 51 Gallowtree Gate, Leicester, LE1 5AD. Booking is essential.
HERITAGE CENTRE
OPENING HOURS Tuesday - Friday 12pm - 5pm
CONTACT (0116) 207 8729 heritage@dmu.ac.uk
9
BEHIND THE SCENES
WORK EXPERIENCE
...wth Zoyaah Abdulla
Hello there! My name is Zohyaah Abdulla. As a Leicester College student, I have recently completed my work experience at DMU’s Special Collections located in the Kimberlin Library. I was originally assigned to the webpages and libguide but when my work placement co-ordinator emailed me the list of available placement positions at DMU, the Archives and Heritage work appealed to me more so I put my name forward for that instead. I was delighted when my bid was successful and first off, I met Assistant Archivist, Dr Natalie Hayton, who was my supervisor for the next week. She gave me a warm welcome and then took me down to Special Collections for a tour of the holdings. She explained their role within the university and showed me the archives, rare books, artwork and artefacts. I was impressed by the collections, ranging from sports history to literature and performing arts which are very useful for research and projects. It was interesting to learn that Special Collections is not only accessible to DMU students but to the public. During my placement I was given the exciting opportunity to create and install a pop-up exhibition that would go on temporary display in the Heritage Centre, the university’s museum space located in the Hawthorn Building. I was so thrilled at the idea of having the chance to use the archives for a specific project and the opportunity to look through a couple of collections while I made my decision about what to exhibit. In the end I chose the England Boxing Collection as there was such an interesting range of papers and programmes, photographs and artefacts. However, I was particularly drawn to the items relating to the Olympic Games: trophies, plaques and documents dating from 1882 to present. A theme for my display was emerging.
10
BEHIND THE SCENES I then began the difficult task of selecting which items to use and which to leave out. Using various tickets from boxing games, photographs, trophies, medals, ornaments and pins I began to experiment with creating the display in the display case. Focusing on creating mini displays within the case to create a pleasing appearance I was surprised that I did not get to use as many of the items as I had chosen. Putting them all in made it look overcrowded and untidy. It was definitely a case of less is more. Once I was happy with my display we needed to transfer the items safely to the Heritage Centre. At this point I met Heritage Assistant, Steven Peachey, who helped me package the items and organise their transit. Once there I used the images I’d taken with my phone to recreate the same arrangement in the case, making it a quick and easy process. Steven also gave me a tour of the space, explained its function and the many events that take place there throughout the year. On the last day of my placement the Heritage Team were hosting an outreach activity for Talent 25, a collaborative project between DMU and the local community exploring the value of arts-related experiences, and Archives Manager Katharine Short wanted me to get involved. For the event, we showcased the English Civil War armour held at Special Collections to several groups of school children and I led a mini-tour around the Art of Healthcare exhibition. It was a busy week; as well as creating a pop-up exhibition and being involved in a fun outreach activity I was also able to get an idea of cataloguing a new collection and to look through some of the amazing old books and archives. It really was fascinating to have access to materials produced so many years ago – to see them and to touch them. Overall, I’ve had such a wonderful time getting to know everyone and I have definitely learned some valuable skills and lessons that I can apply to the remainder of my Business course and to future employment. I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity to work alongside some amazing people.
Katharine writes: “It was a pleasure to host Zoyaah - she was enthusiatic and eager to turn her hand to anything. We were especially impressed by her coolheaded approach when faced with a number of excited primary school children!”
11
THEN
! W O N AND
The School of Corsetry, now the Contour Fashion course, was founded in 1947. elow, 2
in At work
Contour
b 970 and shion, 1
Fa
De Montfort University Kimberlin Library 00.21 Mill Lane Leicester LE1 9BH T: +44 (0)116 207 8776 E: archives@dmu.ac.uk W: dmuspecialcollections.our.dmu.ac.uk @dmuspecialcolls
019
Students at work in the Fletcher Tower studios which have been relocated to the Vijay Patel Design Wing.