"Take Flight" - Behind the Scenes Tours of the Archives

Take a flying visit through the fascinating collections in the Archives. To celebrate the opening of the new Caroline Skeel Archives Reading Room, the Archives will be running free Behind the Scenes Tours, for both staff and students, throughout November 2009.

There will be an opportunity to view the improved facilities for users and exclusive access will be granted to the secure vault where the collections are stored. The tour will also showcase some of the highlights from the Archives, featuring the eccentric, innovative and pioneering. Everything from ‘The Great Carles’, champion pigeon charmers, who delighted the People’s Palace with their performance in 1887, to the French student revolution of 1968.

The tours will be taking place on the following dates, November 9th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 23rd, 25th, 26th, 30th. Tours will last 30 minutes and will take place between 12.30-2.30pm, exact time to be confirmed. To book a place on a tour or for more information email archives or telephone 020 7882 3873.

The Archives hold a wealth of fascinating institutional and personal archives, dating from the 18th Century to the present day. The collections document the rich history of the College, and provide vital evidence for research in the arts, humanities and social sciences and science and engineering. To find out more see the archive website.

Now open, Caroline Skeel Archives Reading Room

The Caroline Skeel Archives Reading Room opened on the 2nd Floor of the Main Library on 12th October 2009. It will provide easier access to invaluable historical collections.

The Archives chart the fascinating history of the College and also contain primary source material for subjects in the arts, humanities and social sciences, dating from the 18th century to present day.

The purpose built room is open Monday to Friday 9.30am-4.45pm and provides a dedicated space for users of the Archives. The room is supervised by specialist Archives staff, able to assist users to search the collections for relevant material.

Users will be permitted to order material on demand, up to 6 records at a time, for retrieval from the Archives storeroom. Copies of records are provided at reasonable rates, including photocopying and scanning services. Users are permitted to use their own digital cameras to take photographs of items from the collections, free of charge. Find out more here: www.library.qmul.ac.uk/archive/news.htm or visit the 2nd Floor and drop into the Caroline Skeel Archives Reading Room.

The room is named after Professor Caroline Skeel (1872–1951), who was a Lecturer in Classics and History at Westfield College. She was also responsible for the College library from 1902, attracting gifts from learned societies and others which substantially improved the collection.

For more information about the Archives collections or to make an enquiry see: www.library.qmul.ac.uk/archive email archives@qmul.ac.uk or telephone 020 7882 3873.

Did you know what happened on this day 127 years ago…?

Welcome to the new academic year! It is an exciting time of year for Queen Mary and the thousands of new students who will be settling in over the up and coming weeks. It is difficult to imagine the humble beginnings of one of Queen Mary’s predecessor colleges, Westfield College, which opened for the first time on this day 127 years ago, in Hampstead, North London…

Westfield College, one of the first ladies colleges in London, opened its doors on 2nd October 1882, welcoming just 5 students in total! The only teaching staff were the Mistress, Constance Louisa Maynard, and the Resident Lecturer, Katherine Tristram. The numbers gradually increased but it is quite a contrast to today where Queen Mary has a community of over 15,000 students and hundreds of lecturers!

Westfield College merged with Queen Mary in 1989 to form Queen Mary and Westfield College, better known today as Queen Mary, University of London. The Westfield Student Village at Mile End is one of the lasting legacies of Westfield College, making Queen Mary unique in being the only College of the University of London to have on-campus halls of residence. Meanwhile, the original site of Westfield in Hampstead, is now largely occupied by Kings College or has been converted to private flats.

To discover more about the fascinating history of Queen Mary visit the Archives website:
www.library.qmul.ac.uk/archive
or pop into the new Archives Reading Room located on the 2nd floor of the Main Library, due to open on 12th October.