Current and past projects

Grants awarded August 2022

Hackney Archives

“The Hackney Archives team are delighted that we have been successful in securing an Archives Revealed cataloguing grant for the arrangement and description of the Sir Collins Collection. Sir Collins was a community archivist. His collection documents key figures, events and initiatives of relevance to British history as a whole, and the contributions of African Caribbean people to this history in particular. We are incredibly excited that this grant has afforded us the opportunity to direct dedicated resources to processing this collection so it can be accessed and enjoyed by all.”

Holocaust Survivors Friendship Association

The Holocaust Survivors Friendship Association’s archive tells a global history through local stories from the North of England. The archive depicts the lives of over 90 survivors and refugees, covering their lives in Europe before the Second World War, their experiences of persecution and surviving the Holocaust, how they established new lives in Northern England, and their intergenerational family relationships. This project will allow us to create a detailed catalogue from scratch and unlock the archive’s rich potential for academic and artistic research, teaching, community use and audience engagement.

“This support from Archives Revealed comes at a moment of dynamic transformation for the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association as we rebrand into the Holocaust Centre North. Having a catalogued collection will transform the archive’s accessibility and support our aim to bring to life the lesser-known stories in our collection, in ways that are meaningful today.” – Hari Jonkers, Holocaust Centre North Archivist

St George’s, University of London

St George’s nursing collection charts the development and formalisation of nursing education in a London hospital since the 19th century, providing a wide-ranging resource for the history of nursing training. The records highlight demographic changes within the nursing profession, showing the impact of immigration and telling the story of changing Britain throughout the 20th century through the world wars and the introduction of the NHS. Focusing on voices often marginalised in traditional narratives of healthcare and medicine, the collection brings to light the stories of Black and working-class women, highlighting the vital contributions of those working in roles often away from the limelight.

The Archives Revealed grant will enable this exciting collection to be made accessible for the first time. The project will employ a Project Archivist to catalogue the collection using St George’s online catalogue, as well as making use of digital tools to create visualisations of the catalogued data to provide additional insights into the records. An extensive public engagement programme building on the cataloguing work with several local partners will bring the collection to new audiences with creative workshops, talks and social media engagement.

“The Nursing Collection at St George’s is an amazing resource and this cataloguing grant will make it accessible to a wide range of different users, fostering a sense of belonging and pride in our shared history. I know a number of local groups are really excited about it, as well as the local hospital and university communities. I look forward to hearing the interesting stories that will come out of it.” – Sue David, Associate Director, Information Services (Library)

University of Kent

The University of Kent is delighted that Archives Revealed is supporting the “Oh yes It Is!” project to catalogue the David Drummond Pantomime Collection, which will allow us to deliver a detailed catalogue supported by digital imagery. “Oh yes It Is!” will connect more people with theatre and performance history through the highly appealing and accessible form of pantomime. The David Drummond Pantomime Collection is a highly significant, diverse and fascinating archive that showcases the unique British pantomime tradition from 1800 to the early 21st century. The project will enable insight into regional and cultural variations through the lens of panto, reveal the stories and histories of people involved in popular performance, and foster research into the diversity of gender expression in pantomime and music hall heritage.

“We are incredibly excited to be able to begin work on this remarkable archive collection which will enable the David Drummond Pantomime material to be used and enjoyed more widely. Pantomime often represents people’s first visit to the theatre and connects people with memories of the past. We are looking forward to seeing the collection reveal traditions, personal stories and thought-provoking insights across a variety of themes. It is a beautiful collection and we can’t wait to enthuse more people about pantomime and comic performance!” – Karen Brayshaw, Head of Special Collections & Archives

National Museums of Northern Ireland

‘Unlocking Ulster’s Language Archives’ is a significant new project to catalogue and showcase the unique manuscript collections of native Ulster vernacular writing and records of local speech that are preserved by National Museums NI. The project will enable a dedicated archivist to compile a detailed inventory of language and dialect collections from different areas and eras, which tend to be categorised broadly today as Ulster-Scots writings.

These include the following, all held in National Museums NI Library and Archives at Cultra:

• the papers of Robert Huddleston (1814-87), ‘the Bard of Moneyrea’, a small farmer whose poetry reflects the accent and vocabulary of County Down in his era
• the Montgomery manuscript, capturing the speech of a Ballymena district family from the 1880s to the 1960s
• the glossaries of Sir John Byers and Dr R. L. Moore, medics who recorded the distinct words of people they met in Belfast and Bangor between the 1890s and the 1940s
• the research notes and correspondence of G. B. Adams (1917-81), the pioneering dialect curator at the Ulster Folk Museum.

Public engagement will also form a key part of the project, which fits within National Museums NI’s current ‘Languages of Ulster’ programme. The newly created catalogues will open up these collections to wider audiences, and stimulate interest among researchers and local communities. Events and activities inspired by the contents of these collections will also feature at the Ulster Folk Museum between now and late 2023.

“Language, in all its diversity, belongs to everyone, and people from all backgrounds and traditions have a stake in its future. It’s a cornerstone to building good relations, a united community and our shared future. This project utilises and enhances public access to our unique archival assets. It will develop our skills and expertise, and enable us to explore our rich language traditions more fully.” – William Blair, Director of Collections at National Museums NI

Black Cultural Archives

“Growing our collection through unearthed, community-sourced material that expands the information we can share with our researchers is central to our mission. So, we are thrilled that this grant will allow us to catalogue the unique archive of Anita J. Mckenzie, a photographer whose practice explores identity and celebrates the power of community within African and Indian diasporas. Anita established The McKenzie Heritage Picture Archive in 1996 as a research project to ensure better representation of Black and Asian history. It contains ephemera, administrative documents and a large collection of photographs spanning the 18th to 21st century.

One of the first of its kind in Europe, this archive became a go-to outlet to source images on Black and Asian communities drawn from a range of community-based photographers, who captured everyday experiences and interactions from the perspective of these communities. For us, these community perspectives are crucial, as they underpin our commitment to not only positive but authentic representations of history in a variety of formats. We hope to use this collection to build on our cataloguing practice of equitable engagement with collection donors to make empowering and inspirational information available to the wider public.” – Black Cultural Archives team

South West Heritage Trust

The records of the Cary estate archive tell the history of Torquay in Devon over a period of 800 years. The collection will reveal stories of landholding, local families, and the growth of Torbay as the iconic English Riviera. The archive has recently been united at the Devon Heritage Centre, following the deposit of a large quantity of records previously held in Paignton. Cataloguing the collection will pave the way for a wide range of community engagement. We hope to use the archive to promote wellbeing, local pride and identity, and to work in partnership with local people and organisations to explore stories in creative ways.

“We are delighted to be able to open up the amazing Cary archive. Used imaginatively, estate archives can tell rich stories and have real relevance to local communities. Cataloguing the collection will enable these stories to be discovered and shared with local people.” – Janet Tall, Head of Archives, Learning & Development, South West Heritage Trust

Trafford Local Studies Centre

“We are delighted to receive an Archives Revealed cataloguing grant. The money will fund the 12-month post of one archivist, who will manage the cataloguing of the Trafford Historic Building Plan Collection (1850—1989). Consisting of over 100,000 individual drawings of private and municipal projects, this cataloguing project will not only allow us to better assist residents in the study of their houses and local neighbourhoods, but will also give architects, historians, and other scholars a remarkable opportunity to uncover new and exciting information about a number of significant building projects across the Trafford area.

We are confident that this project will have a transformative impact on our Local Studies and Archive Service, as it will offer staff valuable professional skills and training, and enable us to recruit a diverse cohort of volunteers. We look forward to using this collection to deepen our engagement, not only with our existing audiences, but also with new audiences as well.” – Councillor Joanne Harding, Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Strategic Partnerships

De Montfort University Special Collections

De Montfort University Special Collections is delighted to receive an Archives Revealed grant for our project ‘Extravagant Delights and Global Fantasies: cataloguing the papers of artist Andrew Logan’. Andrew Logan (born 1945) is a celebrated contemporary British sculptural artist and designer, whose life and work challenge perceptions of sexuality and gender. His personal papers are significant for their insight into the overlapping artistic, fashion and queer scenes in 1970s London and for the history of LGBTQ+ culture. In 1972, Logan founded the Alternative Miss World contest, a beauty pageant open to anyone, combining elements of drag culture, fashion shows and performance art. This cataloguing project coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first Alternative Miss World event and will contribute to celebrating this important milestone, allowing us to engage a varied and global audience.

“I am thrilled that we are able to continue the process of cataloguing the archive to make it available to future generations. Thank you so much.” – Andrew Logan

“I am very grateful to the Archives Revealed funding panel for supporting this project. Creating a detailed catalogue of this fascinating collection will not only support the study of 20th-century art and fashion, but also demonstrate our commitment to sharing LGBTQ+ histories. We have already seen how the vibrant creativity that bursts from these papers inspires our students and we are excited to have the opportunity to share them more widely through cataloguing and engagement.” – Katharine Short, Special Collections Manager at De Montfort University

Institute of International Visual Arts (INIVA)

INIVA’s Archives Revealed project will offer worldwide audiences access to their unique and rare archival collection, which offers a snapshot of an era, marked by political extremes and an explosion of creative expression. This led to the creation of INIVA in 1994, an institution dedicated then and now to nurturing and disseminating radical and emergent contemporary artistic practice centring the global majority, including African, Asian and Caribbean diaspora perspectives.

With their Archives Revealed funding, they will be able to employ an archivist for 16 months to catalogue key sections of the archive that are most in demand by their users, including their founding conference and early constitutional documents which feature speeches, writings, and practice by now internationally recognised academics and thinkers including Stuart Hall, Rasheed Araeen, Geeta Kapur, Gilane Tawadros and Eddie Chambers. They will also catalogue ground-breaking exhibition and programming material including Veil and X-Space, together representing a microcosm of INIVA’s institutional archive as a whole.

These archives will be brought alive via a dynamic open-source software called ‘Collective Access+’ for managing and publishing museum and archival collections, accessible worldwide. This new catalogue will contribute to wide-ranging research and academic knowledge by exposing hidden art histories, as well as promoting wellbeing and creative expression through interaction with archival extracts that are representative of their local communities in Westminster and beyond.

“INIVA is delighted to receive this grant to fund an archivist to catalogue key parts of our visual arts archive pertaining to our organisational set-up and two ground-breaking exhibitions. This fund will enable us maximise the digital reach of our collections to our global audiences, such as researchers and scholars, as well as provide our local communities with access to learn more about the history of INIVA, which has supported the development of Black arts in the UK since the mid-90s’ – Tavian Hunter, Library and Archive Manager, INIVA

“The cataloguing of key parts of our archives will facilitate the activation of significant histories in diverse contemporary art. These collections represent a continued push to challenge conventional notions of diversity and difference. People will be able to develop new and interesting responses that are built on the original ideas of the creators.” – Kaitlene Koranteng, Archivist and Engagement Producer, INIVA

Grants awarded August 2021

Culture Perth and Kinross

Perth & Kinross Sound Collection contains audio recordings, photographs and papers relating to the rich rural and cultural heritage of Perth and Kinross. The collection captures the memories of many rural residents, documenting changing traditions in farming, fishing, forestry, vernacular building, home life and recreation throughout the twentieth century. Their reminiscences are also a rich resource for local place-name history and for Perthshire Gaelic and Scots language and dialect.

The collection also includes recordings of Perth Burns Club Supper recitals, reminiscences from Perth Theatre staff, actors and audiences spanning 70 years of Scotland’s oldest theatre, and a variety of other recordings relating to local people, organisations and events.

The ‘In our own words’ project will create an online catalogue of the collection and an online portal will provide access to a selection of recordings and images, opening it up to worldwide audiences. An associated engagement programme will include talks, story-telling sessions, family activities, oral history workshops, and the creation of learning and reminiscence materials.

‘Culture Perth and Kinross is delighted to have been awarded a grant to catalogue our sound collection. The collection contains the stories of local people as told in their own words and, once catalogued, will add a new dimension to related material in our archive and museum collections, enriching understanding of our local heritage and the ways that people can engage with it. The subject matter will be of interest to a wide range of researchers and the creation of schools and reminiscence materials will support learning and inter-generational activities which will bring people and communities together.’ – Helen Smout, Chief Executive, Culture Perth and Kinross

University of Stirling

The University of Stirling Archives and Aberlour Children’s Charity are working together to open up access to Aberlour’s archives which preserve a detailed record of their work caring for children across Scotland. This funding will improve access for those with direct experience of care and will also provide new opportunities for the wider research community. The project will support current research at the university into creating a more inclusive approach to recordkeeping in the care sector. It will also support the upcoming 150th anniversary of the establishment of the original Aberlour Orphanage, with the archive providing a key resource for a period of celebration, reflection and analysis.

The archives will make a significant difference to individuals with a personal connection to the organisation through direct experience of growing up in the orphanage or through having a family member raised there. They will enable the archive to supplement and enhance their responses to individual’s requests for access to their records in line with data protection, with photographs, contemporary magazine articles or other information about life in the orphanage. Records of the lives of children in the current care system are much more comprehensive than in the past and they aim, through these archives, to enhance knowledge and insight for past residents and for their families.

‘Aberlour Children’s Charity is delighted to have been awarded a grant from the Archives Revealed fund which will enable us to maximise the potential of our archives. As well as being an important source of information for our 150th anniversary reflections, these archives are important for their potential contribution to our collective understanding of social care and social work history.’ – Sally Ann Kelly, Chief Executive, Aberlour Children’s Charity

University of Liverpool Library

Transforming the Mac Lua and the Irish Archival Landscape in Britain: History, Heritage and Community

The University of Liverpool’s Mac Lua Archive represents a rich repository of significant collections related to Anglo-Irish relations from the mid-twentieth century to the present, in particular the Northern Irish conflict and the peace process, labour relations and union activity, and Irish emigration to Britain, particularly Liverpool. Much of this material is unique or rare, and is of immense value to researchers of Irish history and to the Irish diaspora community in Liverpool, Britain and globally.

This Archives Revealed grant will see the collection transferred from the University’s Institute of Irish Studies to Special Collections & Archives, where a project archivist will catalogue it, ensuring its availability for teaching, research and community engagement activities. The intensifying national debate around British-Irish relations stimulated by Brexit has produced a surge of enquiries from researchers and journalists wishing to use the collection. As part of its long-term strategic vision, the Institute of Irish Studies will establish the Mac Lua as a global hub for primary research on the Troubles whilst promoting its function as a site of heritage for Merseyside and the Irish community in Britain.

‘The University is delighted to receive this award from The National Archives, which will enable us to transform access to the rich resource of the Mac Lua archive for the benefit of many communities, in line with our institutional commitment to place heritage at the heart of our research and civic engagement strategies.’ – Professor Dinah Birch CBE, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Cultural Engagement

Manchester Art Gallery

The Manchester Together Archive (MTA) is made up of the thousands of tributes left across the city centre at spontaneous memorials by members of the public following the Manchester Arena attack on 22 May 2017. This includes cards, letters, written notes, photographs, drawings, paintings, poems, personal mementos, candles, soft toys, artworks, decorative objects, artificial and dried flowers, textiles and other objects.

The collection, which is housed in the Manchester Art Gallery, holds great cultural and emotional significance to the people of Manchester and those closely affected by the attack, as well as the many people from across the UK and the world who brought or sent items to Manchester to be added to the spontaneous memorials. Different facets of Mancunian identity are present in the collection, including strong connections to music, football and art, and a diverse range of people spanning different ages, religions and cultural backgrounds are represented through the items they chose to leave. These items demonstrate a huge range of creative expression, embodying the outpouring of love, solidarity and grief that followed the attack. Collectively, this body of material forms a record of personal and collective responses to the attack. The collection provides opportunities for people to access and engage with heritage for the purposes of remembrance, and opportunities for researchers to explore subjects including public memorialisation, grief, solidarity, resilience, active bystanders, trauma, healing and disaster response.

This project will be led by the Manchester Art Gallery, with the support of Archives+, and the University of Manchester. The project will continue and complete the cataloguing of the MTA, so that it becomes available online in its entirety for people affected by the attack, schools and colleges, researchers, and other members of the public locally, nationally and internationally. A key theme represented in the collection is connection, and the material presents opportunities for audiences to explore themes related to empathy, love, solidarity and our common humanity. This means there is great potential for the archive to be used as a resource that can support people’s emotional wellbeing. The MTA’s cataloguing will also allow Manchester Art Gallery staff to develop a deeper understanding of the different communities who contributed to the spontaneous memorials, and devise new programmes of engagement working with these communities across Manchester.

Acme

Supporting artists since 1972, Acme is a charity based in London which provides affordable studios, work/live space and a programme of residencies and awards. The Artist Tenancy Collection is a mixed-media collection, consisting of organisational documents and correspondence, architectural drawings, original artworks, photographs and digital files that records this rich history of studio provision within the changing built and cultural landscapes of London. Collected over the past fifty years, this living archive documents the voices of studio-based artists through a focus on the material conditions (the studio) that enable their labour.

This project ‘Everyday Artists: Uncovering 50 years of Acme’ will create a searchable online catalogue, making this unique collection accessible to researchers, curators, artists and a wider popular audience. Cataloguing the collection will also be the basis of a substantial programme of artistic engagement and educational outreach as part of Acme’s upcoming fiftieth anniversary.

‘This project recognises the centrality of the archive to Acme’s mission of supporting artists. It will uncover the experiences of artists in their studios, allowing us to rewrite the narrative of London’s emergence as an arts capital with their voices at the heart. The funding will enable us to make this rich resource accessible in time for our fiftieth anniversary, which will place the archive at the centre of an exciting programme of talks, exhibitions and commissions – bringing together artists of the past with those of the present, and the future.’ – Lea O’Loughlin, Acme Co-Director

Yorkshire Film Archives

The Ukrainian Video Archives Society (UVAS) Collection was created in 1983 with the mission to record the life of the Ukrainian community in Bradford to pass on to future generations, capturing their cultures, traditions and communities in over 500 films made over a period of thirty years. Recorded on video tape formats, the original collection is now being preserved and prioritised for digitisation by the Yorkshire Film Archive.

‘We are incredibly excited to begin work on this significant collection being preserved at the archive to give everyone the opportunity to learn about the history of the Ukrainian community and its contribution to the rich, diverse culture of the city of Bradford. The UVAS have always wanted their collection to be seen, to share their stories and, thanks to the Archives Revealed fund, we can now take that first step in making that possible.’ – Megan McCooley, Collections Manager at Yorkshire Film Archive

London Metropolitan Archives

The Africa Centre educates about, connects to and advocates for Africa and its diaspora. Cataloguing the Africa Centre Archives will memorialise and showcase the rich history and valuable work of the Africa Centre, helping people understand more about how the past social and political activism links with and positively impacts on the challenges of today.

The collection consists of a wide variety of records from the establishment of the Africa Centre in 1958 onwards, including minutes and annual reports to building plans, photographs of events and artists, events programmes, posters, menus, and audio visual material covering themes such as African society, politics, art and culture, people and beliefs.

The project will engage people with the Africa Centre enabling them to explore and disseminate the archives with wider audiences, develop interactive displays, remove barriers to access, and collaborate with educational, academic, arts, culture and heritage partners.

The Archives and Cornish Studies Service

The George Ellis collection is one of Cornwall’s foremost photographic collections. It contains approximately 95,000 glass plate negatives and 30 handwritten index ledgers, covering 1939-1982, and is an unparalleled visual record of the people and communities of central and east Cornwall. George Ellis moved to Cornwall from London in 1939 and worked as commercial and newspaper photographer for over 40 years. Based in Bodmin, he travelled widely around the area, capturing private and public lives, the everyday alongside the surprising. Its coverage means it is one of the most significant and representative collections at Kresen Kernow, including images of individuals and families, weddings, shops and business, community and major events, sports and schools. Pilot projects have also uncovered unexpected images, revealing hidden or forgotten stories, and showing diversity in Cornwall’s history. This project, ‘A Cornish camera’, will catalogue the incredible George Ellis Photographic Archive.

‘This remarkable collection is a rich and intimate record of life in the mid-20th century, showing the effect of the Second World War, the rapid social change of post-war Britain and the impact of local and national developments on Cornwall.  We are delighted to have been awarded this grant from Archives Revealed which will help us to transform access and open up the collection for people to explore their history and respond in new and creative new ways.’ – Tamzyn Smith, Principal Lead for Culture & Creative Industries

Grants awarded August 2020

Oxford Brookes University

Paul Hereford Oliver (1927-2017) was an architect, artist, scholar, folklorist, and collector, widely regarded as the most important blues scholar of the 20th and 21st centuries. Oliver pioneered research into the origins and development of the music and uncovered hidden lives of African Americans during Jim Crow segregation. The Paul Oliver Archive of African American Music is a mixed media collection that includes books, music recordings, music scores, audio reel recordings, and research papers. The audio reels include interviews and recordings of blues artists (and social contemporaries) made by Oliver in 1960 and the research papers also include a photograph collection.

This project will create an online catalogue for the audio reels and research papers which will enable the use of this influential collection not only by internal and visiting researchers, but also by a wider popular audience through exhibitions, educational workshops, online outreach activities and community engagement in conjunction with the European Blues Association.

‘Oxford Brookes University is delighted to have been awarded an Archives Revealed grant to enable us to undertake the cataloguing of Paul Oliver’s audio reels and research papers. As well as its significance in relation to the blues as a musical genre, the collection offers a unique commentary on the relationship between the music and African American history, which is of particular relevance as we work to better represent marginalised voices within our collections. The funding will enable the reach and use of this significant collection to be considerably extended.’ – Dr Helen Workman, Director of Learning Resources, Oxford Brookes University

West Yorkshire Archive Service

The Creating Kirklees project will transform the access, preservation, engagement and profile of the archives of the 11 local authorities that merged to form the Borough of Kirklees almost 50 years ago. This ambitious project will catalogue over 170 cubic metres of archives that comprehensively tell the unique story of the development of the entire Kirklees area from the 1820s to the 1970s and beyond. The extensive collections cover town planning, public health, schools and education, child welfare, transport, water and energy supplies, cemeteries and crematoriums, emergency services, wartime services and defence, and much more. Democracy is the beating heart of these collections and so strengthening local democracy is a key objective of the project.

Alongside the cataloguing work, the project will also deliver an innovative engagement programme that will help local residents to use these collections to uphold their rights and to support democratic accountability. In the longer term, the archives and stories discovered by the project will help to transform the delivery of the archive service by significantly contributing towards the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Kirklees in 2024 and the plans to develop a brand new archive facility as part of Kirklees Council’s Huddersfield Blueprint redevelopment project.

‘Whether through the architectural plans of homes, schools and workplaces, the records of war memorials and military tribunals, or local adoption and fostering records, these collections relate to every individual, family and community in Kirklees today. We cannot wait to start exploring and sharing these fascinating archives with the people of Kirklees to help them understand more about their past, present and future, to celebrate their identity and to support their democratic rights.’ – Robert Clegg, Kirklees Archivist, West Yorkshire Archive Service

Chatsworth House Trust

This project will open up access to six outstanding archives held by the Chatsworth House Trust.  These collections span over 450 years and contain papers created by prominent family members from Bess of Hardwick in the 16th century to the 8th Duke of Devonshire, a leading Victorian statesman. However, their content extends far beyond the family: the collections also reflect the wider circles in which the family moved – locally, nationally and internationally – and the people who worked for them.

The archives consequently touch on many aspects of British social, political, economic and cultural history. There are letters of several monarchs, aristocrats, politicians and statesmen from Pitt the Elder to Gladstone, along with architects, designers, artists and writers. The papers of philosopher Thomas Hobbes are included – one of our greatest philosophers and also an employee of the family – as are 17th-century estate papers shedding light on lesser-known servants.

Our Archives Revealed project will make detailed catalogues of these collections available online for the first time, and we will also deliver a range of engagement initiatives, including social media campaigns, onsite and online displays, internships, talks and tours.

‘This project recognises the centrality of the archives at the heart of Chatsworth as a cultural organisation. It will unlock stories about the past that can be used both to engage existing audiences and reach new ones. The funding will enable us to make a significant step forward in making the rich collections we care for more accessible, which is a strategic priority for the charity.’ – Kate Brindley, Director of Collections & Exhibitions

‘These archives are fundamental to understanding and telling the histories of the Cavendish family, Chatsworth House, the family’s estates and the people who have lived and worked on them over centuries. The Chatsworth House Trust is committed to making the collections more widely accessible and increasing their digital presence. Sharing the collections and engaging people in learning and enlightenment are also core ambitions of the Trust and of my family. I am delighted that this funding will facilitate a project which does all of these things.’ – the Duke of Devonshire

Lapworth Museum of Geology

The Unlocking Lapworth’s Legacy project will fund an archivist to catalogue Professor Charles Lapworth’s archive, the most complete of any Victorian or Edwardian geologist in the UK. The archive covers popular and topical themes such as fossils, dinosaurs, natural hazards, environmental change, evolution, and extinctions. This diverse content extends beyond the scientific subjects covered to record how geology and science influenced late 19th and early 20th century life and society in the Midlands and the UK. The project will unlock the potential of this incredible, interdisciplinary resource.

An online catalogue will provide access to its unique content and linked museum objects, while an innovative public engagement programme, including online exhibitions, will engage new and existing archive users. The project will bring about a transformational change, creating a new, user-friendly museum archive service, and provide significant improvements in collection management and access. The project will enrich the Lapworth Museum’s staff and volunteers, allowing them to unlock potential within our other collections and use them creatively to engage diverse audiences. This cataloguing project will therefore not only have an immediate positive impact, but will also create a lasting legacy for the museum, its enhanced archive service and its users.

‘This unique archive at the University of Birmingham records the interaction between geology, sciences, education, arts, people and wider society in the late 19th and early 20th century. This Archives Revealed funding will help to unlock this wonderful resource, allowing researchers, schools and the wider community to explore and share in its inspiring content.’ – Professor William Bloss, Head of the School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham

The Garden Museum

The Garden Museum is the UK’s only museum dedicated to the art, history and design of British gardens. In 2017 we opened the country’s first Archive of Garden Design, housing the archives of the most influential figures in British gardening of the 20th century. Thanks to Archives Revealed funding, the museum will be able to catalogue one of the most significant collections that it holds: the archive of Beth Chatto (1923-2018). Chatto was one of the country’s most important gardeners and plantswomen, who became a household name for her ecological “right plant, right place” mantra.

This cataloguing project will make her records accessible to the public for the first time – from garden and horticulture students to archive enthusiasts, and from school groups to landscape design professionals.  Her archive is a treasure trove containing a wide array of works, including correspondence with Derek Jarman, Cedric Morris and George Harrison, Chatto’s professional diaries, press clippings, plant lists for her commissions, invitations, awards, flower arrangements, financial materials, and much more, painting a full picture of who Chatto was and why she was so important to the history of British horticulture.

‘The Beth Chatto Archive is a founding collection of the museum, integral in tying together other archives and objects in our collection through Chatto’s wide network of high profile friends in the horticultural community. Being one of the first to donate her archive, she encouraged her friends to do so too. We are therefore so excited to be able to catalogue her archive and make it accessible to the public, improving the research potential of the Archive of Garden Design as a whole and attracting new audiences through Chatto’s prominence in the field. Since Chatto’s ecological approach to planting links really well to the GCSE science curriculum and horticultural courses, the newly catalogued material will form the basis of innovative outreach and engagement programmes. We can’t wait to get started!’ – Rosie Vizor, Archivist at the Garden Museum

Writing on the Wall

The L8 Archive project will employ a full-time archivist who will work with a team of volunteers to bring into public access two nationally significant collections relating to Black History in the UK. The L8 Law Centre and LAARCA were anti-racist organisations, central to the defence and empowerment of Liverpool’s communities, who lived under extreme institutional racism in one of the country’s poorest areas. The collections speak of the inner-city uprisings of 1980–1985 which swept the UK, of the conditions that gave rise to those events and of the tenacity Liverpool’s black community, one of the oldest in Europe and distinct in its development.

‘We are delighted to have received this level of support from Archives Revealed, which in partnership with Liverpool Records Office, will ensure that this important collection is preserved and made available to younger generations who will benefit from understanding the rich history of Liverpool 8 and the activism and resilience of those who went before them. These archives contain invaluable lessons which can inform the today’s Black Lives Matter movement and future campaigns for equality.’ – Madeline Heneghan, Co-Director of Writing on the Wall

Leicestershire County Council

This project will make freely accessible to the world the remarkable wealth of information, human stories, images and memories which make up the Thomas Cook Archive. A dedicated archivist, supported by the staff of the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, will explore this priceless collection. It will be conserved and preserved and, thanks to this generous grant, fully catalogued to secure and bring into the light every facet and detail of the remarkable Thomas Cook story.

‘This funding will contribute to a full cataloguing and developing of the digital content in the Thomas Cook archive, making it more accessible for visitors and online audiences around the world. This unique archive is not only an important part of local heritage, but is valuable to millions of people around the world who either worked for Thomas Cook, travelled on holiday with the company or who live and work in countries which became destinations for Cook’s Tours.’ – Nick Rushton, Leader of Leicestershire County Council

Essex Record Office

Harlow was among the first post-war New Towns, designated in 1947, and cataloguing the wealth of records generated by the Corporation will provide an invaluable resource for users of the Essex Record Office. Studying the development of New Towns gives an insight in to the social, economic, political and cultural influences across the decades, taking us back to the great social change of the immediate post-war period and beyond, informing the learning of current and future town planners, historians and local people. The project will generate new usage, reach out to new audiences and cement Essex as central in New Town studies.

‘We’re absolutely delighted that the Essex Record Office has been successful with its funding bid. The records of the Harlow Development Corporation, which shaped the town, are one of the most significant resources for 20th century Essex, and looking at the development of new towns provides a fascinating insight into the political and cultural influences over the years.’ – Councillor Susan Barker, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Customer, Corporate, Culture and Communites

Grants awarded June 2019

Leeds University Library Special Collections

The Dictionary of National Biography describes Herbert Read as ‘poet, literary critic, and writer on art’. This hints at the range of his influence but falls short of the ‘half-a-dozen fields’ that he half-joked had made his legacy hard to characterise. ‘In dissipating my talents’, he wrote, ‘I have made it difficult for my contemporaries to recognise the underlying unity of my purpose and my practice. I am left with the hope that someday someone will take the trouble to trace “the figure in the carpet”.’ Read’s archive is as varied as his many projects and interests – it reveals the full extent of his influence on British/European/transatlantic/international cultural development in the twentieth century.

This innovative project will use the large-scale creation of index records for people, places and subjects. It will also link between different parts of the archive, alongside a functional approach to the cataloguing. This will allow us to properly represent Read’s complex personal and intellectual networks, and to create meaningful entry points for researchers, using online visualisation tools drawing from our collections management system. The project will support a dynamic engagement plan, reaching academics, arts practitioners and the wider public. This year-long project will reposition Herbert Read as a focus of cultural study, and transform his currently inaccessible archive into a significant resource for innovative and wide-reaching scholarship.

Barnsley Archives and Local Studies

Barnsley Archives and Local Studies exists to preserve and make available the documentary heritage of the Borough of Barnsley. First established in 1987 in the town’s Central Library, the Service moved into Barnsley Town Hall in 2013 as part of the Experience Barnsley project. This saw a new archive centre developed alongside the first museum to tell the story of the borough’s history.

The ‘All manner of wickedness’ project aims to open up and make accessible over 300 years’ worth of nonconformist archives relating to the Borough of Barnsley for the very first time. These collections will include baptism and marriage registers, minute books, accounts, diaries, photographs and numerous other sources that will be useful for family, local and academic research. Most of these collections relate to Methodist places of worship, but the records of Baptist, Congregational and Independent churches can also be found. The title of the project refers to a visit to Barnsley made by Methodist Church founder John Wesley in the 18th century. He claimed to have found ‘all manner of wickedness’ in Barnsley on his arrival, but then joyfully reported that Methodism had been embraced by the town.

Berkshire Record Office

This project will catalogue an exceptional archive for one of England’s great waterways.  The Thames Conservancy Collection forms a unique and unbroken record over 200 years, covering the river’s management from its source to its tidal reach at Teddington.  The catalogue will transform access to this vast collection for researchers interested not only in the Thames but also in topics such as water purity, biodiversity, land drainage and flood management.  It will also inform a wide range of public engagement events planned for 2021, when the 250th anniversary of the conservancy will be celebrated.

Durham County Record Office

The amazing Durham Light Infantry (DLI) archive is one of the most extensive and coherent regimental collections in the UK. It has a full chronological coverage, from its origins in the 1750s to its closure in the 1960s and beyond, including both active service and peacetime experiences.  Its photographic content is outstanding, comprising daily life from the 1850s onwards. It brims with personal perspective through diaries, letters, artwork and poetry, providing an extensive record both formal and informal of the thousands of individuals that made up the DLI.  The reality of war is fully depicted together with leisure activities. This virtual world tour shows lost worlds of people, architecture and landscapes, such as Imperial India, Korea before Communist rule, and interwar China. Though much is already available for research, a significant quantity remains uncatalogued and inaccessible.  Our Archives Revealed grant will enable us to remedy that and bring new stories to life.

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives

Aberdeen Harbour has been central to the economy of the North East of Scotland for many centuries and is nowadays famous as the hub of the UK oil and gas industry. This project will catalogue the historical records of Aberdeen’s Harbour Board at a time when a major expansion of the harbour is underway. The collection will be made publicly accessible for the first time, bringing together records currently held by the business and those already in the city’s collections. The funding from Archives Revealed will allow Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives to employ a Project Archivist to create a multi-level description of the collection that will be available through the archive’s online catalogue.

The University of Sheffield

The Blunkett Archives is a unique collection of national significance which records David Blunkett’s remarkable journey from a deprived area of Sheffield to the highest level of British politics. One of the most significant aspects of the collection is that it covers a transformative period in British political history from a unique perspective – that of the first blind cabinet minister in the UK. The collection dates from the 1950s to the present day and includes political and personal correspondence, policy papers, press cuttings, diaries, school reports, sound recordings and photographs.

The project will complete the detailed cataloguing of the collection, and provide access to the collection for the first time through an online catalogue. The project also aims to engage with new audiences through outreach activities with local schools, both to promote use of the Blunkett Archives and to encourage broader engagement with archives.

Wiltshire and Swindon Archives, Heritage Services, Wiltshire Council

The Moulton Archive contains the important business archives of early pioneering rubber manufacturers, Spencer Moulton, dating from 1848-1956, and the business, estate and personal archives of inventor and entrepreneur, Dr Alex Moulton of The Hall, Bradford-on-Avon, dating from the 19th century to the start of the 21st century.

Stephen Moulton was a friend and agent of Charles Goodyear. His work led to the growth of the rubber industry and had a far-reaching impact upon the industrial economy of the UK. Later, Dr Alex Moulton (1920-2012), inherited his family’s inventive spirit. His award-winning inventions include the revolutionary small-wheeled Moulton bicycle and suspension system for the iconic Mini car. The archives reflect his professional career, personal life and the evolution of the Grade 1 listed estate, The Hall, in Bradford-on-Avon. The archive is deposited with the Wiltshire and Swindon Archive Service, based at the Wiltshire And Swindon History Centre, who have worked in partnership with the Moulton  Trustees to preserve the archive for everyone.

The National Trust

The Edward Chambré Hardman Archive contains over 180,000 photographic prints and negatives dating from the 1920s to 1970s, alongside business records and personal papers. Together these provide unique insight into the work and personal life of Liverpool’s foremost portrait and landscape photographer, as well as recording a fascinating social history of the mid-20th century. The archive is currently largely uncatalogued and access to it is significantly restricted, yet the collection has tremendous engagement and research potential and could be relevant to many people. The Edward Chambré Hardman Archive Project will see the National Trust and Liverpool Record Office working in partnership to catalogue, digitise and conserve a significant section of this unique collection over a two-year period. As a result, the archive will be made publicly accessible for local and online exploration, academic research, new exhibitions and creative community engagement opportunities.

Glamorgan Archives

The ‘Time and Tide’ project will address the cataloguing needs of two significant and interlinked collections at Glamorgan Archives – the records of Associated British Ports South Wales (ABP) and those of the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation (CBDC). ABP inherited records of its predecessor bodies and this material, dating back to 1800, tracks the growth, development and subsequent decline of Cardiff Docks. The records of CBDC pick up the story, charting the modern redevelopment of Cardiff Docks. Cardiff exists as a city because of the docks – it is the quintessential Victorian boom town. The regeneration and consequent gentrification of the docks had a significant local impact. Cataloguing these records will make them fully accessible for the first time, both to the local community and researchers from across the world.

Grants awarded June 2018

Derbyshire Record Office

The ‘Discovering Franklin’ project will create a detailed catalogue of the archive of Sir John Franklin, who led a disastrous expedition to discover the North West Passage in 1845. The project will reveal Franklin’s story and explore the women around him: his daughter Eleanor and his wives Eleanor Anne Porden and Jane Griffin. Visit Derbyshire Record Office.

Explore York

‘On the Drawing Board’ will catalogue the collection of Engineers’ and Architects’ drawings created by City of York Council and its predecessor bodies between the early 19th century and the late 20th century. The drawings document the evolution of York’s building landscape and important social changes such as clearance of slums, creation of new streets, roads and bridges and the building of homes for heroes. Visit Explore York.

Berwick Record Office

The ‘Twixt Thistle and Rose’ project will vastly improve access to the Berwick Borough Archive, enabling the re-cataloguing of the core collection and amalgamation of later uncatalogued records to form a complete online catalogue, documenting the unique history of this independent border town. Visit Berwick-upon-Tweed Record Office.

Staffordshire Record Office

The Lichfield ‘Bawdy Courts’ project will widen access to the vastly under-exploited church court records, revealing the voices of ordinary people and telling the story in their own words with detail that may be informative, amusing, or even scurrilous, about the dispute and disputants, hence the contemporary nickname ‘bawdy courts’. Visit Staffordshire Archives.

University of St Andrews

The Hidden Burgh project will catalogue the records of the administration of Cupar – one of the six medieval royal burghs of Fife – from 1364 to 1975, and will have a particular emphasis on engaging the archives with the local community in Cupar. Visit the University of St Andrews Archives.

Aerospace Bristol

‘Out of the Aircraft Hold’ will tell the story of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, founded in 1910 in Filton, North Bristol, by revealing the previously hidden early company records, technical drawings relating to aircraft and engines, historic advertising brochures and fascinating correspondence and notes. Visit Aerospace Bristol Archives.

Seven Stories – The National Centre for Children’s Books

‘Notes in the margins’ will open up two collections – the Aidan and Nancy Chambers collection and the Laura Cecil collection – offering a new understanding of children’s publishing in the 20th century. The papers in these collections provide valuable insights into the roles of the literary agent and reviewer in shaping the work of some of the most accomplished writers and illustrators for children in the last forty years, ad offer new perspectives on diversity in children’s publishing. Visit the Seven Stories website.

British Motor Industry Heritage Trust

The ‘Art of Selling’ project will create a comprehensive online catalogue for a unique collection of sales and press material originating from British Leyland, revealing the product history of British Leyland and the rich social and industrial history of the British motor industry. Visit the British Motor Museum Archive.

Media Archive for Central England

The ‘Rewind-Playback’ project will enable the cataloguing of the Midlands Community Video Collection, which tells the important story of regional independent media and highlights: a key moment of technological change relating to the adoption of videotape technologies. The content of the video collection celebrates the hidden voices of diverse and marginalised communities across the Midlands from the late 1970s. Visit the MACE Archive.