Thinking back on last year’s update and our hopes as the consultation room was seeing an increasing flow of researchers, it is probably time to admit this Archivist was perhaps slightly naïve with regards to anticipating frequentation… We have never been busier, currently taking bookings from July, that’s how popular we are!
Exciting projects have been underway for our users, with a book on the history of sports practice and education at Loughborough in the writing. That particular researcher makes up for a third of all bookings! Writing that book is no small feat, picking up from the likes of Prof Leonard Cantor, who wrote all the histories about the University and its predecessors. It has been a fascinating process involving analysis of Cantor’s and other previous researchers’ papers, which we are lucky to hold at LUA; and also conversations with former staff and alumni, cross referencing with documents from other private and public archives.
There have been, or will be, other opportunities to check out interpretative work afforded by archival research at LUA in recent and coming weeks. The inauguration of the Morag Bell building saw one of our scholars research the buildings history extensively from January, which led to two displays with photographs and informative panels, one on the day; the second, you can see on Alumni Reunion Weekend 2024.
Our collaboration with LUArts keeps on delivering much joy, with The Art Schools of the Midlands (exhibition) opening soon; we’ve worked hand-in-hand with curators and researchers on that event, and hope it is a good show of how LUA supports enhancement of the University’s cultural heritage. Another coming event that we are quite excited about is work by artist Kedisha Coakley, who has been coming to the Archive to explore and challenge our cultural practice around historical stained-glass panels. We have over 100 of those on campus! This archivist has been photographing and mapping them all and is hoping to further more interpretative work in that area.
However, outreach and access are not all and everything that we do at LUA. Extensive cataloguing and conservation work has been happening behind the scenes. Lest we bore you with details, suffice to say that the Papers of Sir Denis Rooke can now be browsed online, which we are quite pleased with, as it covers one full bay out of the 23 in the strong room! This is something to focus on as our online catalogue still looks a bit empty… We are hoping that the future Archive Assistant will be able to support us in that area especially. For now, reaching out to the Archivist remains the best way to approach archival research at LUA.
Now, we are not a little proud to present an innovative way of storing oversized historical maps, plans and drawings in the Archive. Traditionally, they are best stored flat, either horizontally in a maps cabinet or, vertically, hanging from – you guessed it – a plan hanger. But cabinets and hangers require quite a lot of floor space, and as any member of staff at LU would know (and students in the Library, these days!), space comes at premium. So, this Archivist had to come up with a solution: keeping maps and plans rolled when they do not fit in the cabinets; making sure they are rolled onto a supportive archival-grade core, which is then fitted onto a rod. The rods or railings are all hanging from special shelving, initially designed to hold rolls of cables in electric engineering. This solution works well for items that are not requested too often, items that are very brittle, dry or damaged, as it minimises surface pressure.
The original idea came from archival storage of historical textiles, but we’ve learnt since then that hanging is also a favoured solution for education memorabilia, such as oars. Luckily, we do not have that kind of artefact at LUA!
We do have many other interesting collections and records, that all are welcome to come and peruse. Please see, the LUA webpage for more information.
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Women were coached in athletics as early as the 1930s. Ladies’ hurdles coaching, [1938-1940], LUA/FG7/11/8 © London News Agency Ltd |
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Buildings development was dedicated its very own subcommittee at times of campus expansion. Minutes of the Buildings Development Subcommittee, 20/10/1954, LUA/LC/G4/M2 ©Loughborough College |
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Important details can be derived from this Timetable of evening classes of the School of Art in the early 1930s, Loughborough College Calendar, 1932-1933, LUA/LC/P/C24 ©Loughborough College |
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Unusual details start to come out in unexpected areas of campus, Stained glass panel in Rutland Building left staircase, 2023 © C. Moret, Loughborough University |
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Our solution for storing oversized plans and maps, 2024 © C. Moret, Loughborough University |