This month we were delighted to host the International Council on Archives, Section on University and Research Institution Archives (ICA-SUV) annual conference for 2024 in the Technology and Innovation Centre.

Speakers from around the world, including Egypt, Wales, India, the US, Canada, Britain and South Africa, grappled with what diversity meant to them in their professional capacities as research institution archivists. 

Seventy delegates were welcomed on behalf of Strathclyde by Jennifer Ba, Senior Race Equality Officer, who shared some diversity-related initiatives at the University. 

Speakers on day one discussed topics such as: how to deconstruct white-ness within archival collections and institutions; how to ensure a diverse narrative of the past and fill in gaps; the need to actively invite diverse voices into the archive and practice participatory record-keeping; the importance of international relationships between archival professionals to open up collections; and enriching the language we use in archival descriptions to better represent diverse communities. 

To close day one of the conference, delegates were invited to a Glasgow City Civic reception in the City Chambers. Glasgow Bailies welcomed the conference to the city and recognised the importance of the archives profession, as well as efforts to address inequality and promote diversity in our collections and practices. 

Day two saw presentations around the diversifying of collecting practices. Oral histories were suggested as an effective way to capture underrepresented voices for the historical record of the future. The importance of collaboration on an equal footing with communities was highlighted and our powerful position as custodians of historical collections, who have the ability to surface stories of hitherto hidden individuals, was reflected upon. It was recognised that any attempt to diversify collections and archival practice cannot be done alone, and that many institutional stakeholders must collaborate to embed the process. In the afternoon, speakers shared case studies for projects including a sensory map of an academic library and how to design fair and useful volunteering projects.

Day three explored reaching diverse users. The fresh perspectives of artists in residence were shared, as was the importance of welcoming students from a variety of disciplines into the archives to demystify and encourage future visits. Surfacing multi-language materials can be very inspiring for underrepresented communities of users, and working with creative writers can bring new narratives to collections. The day ended on presentations related to the importance of accurately recording the context in which archival records were created and the importance of tracing historical provenance and including this information on our catalogues. 

The conference concluded with delegate visits to the Glasgow School of Art and the Scottish Jewish Archive and Heritage Centre as well as our reading room. It was great to share some of our treasures with delegates as well as discuss the conference!

The conference was an excellent platform for exploring how we might embed diversity into our practice, and how we might begin to uncover our hidden stories. Inviting diverse audiences to use collections bring fresh perspectives. Diversifying collecting practices from now on will be vital in documenting diversity for future generations, and in tackling underrepresentation found today.

As part of the University’s Jubilee celebrations this year, the Library collaborated with colleagues in Events to create and mount an exciting and interactive oral history trail around campus.  

The trail is based on 'The University Experience' oral history project: a fascinating set of interviews conducted in 2002/03 by researchers in the Scottish Oral History Centre.  Those interviewed were members of academic and support staff and students who were at the University of Strathclyde and its antecedents during the period of post-war education. Staff interviewees include cleaners, administrative staff, and professors. Students studying engineering, science and the arts are all represented.

Clips and quotes have been selected from five of the interviews that give an insight into Strathclyde’s history and development. They have been installed in locations across the city centre campus- including at the entrance to the Library- and you can listen to the sound clips via QR codes at the stops along the trail.  Follow the trail to learn more about Strathclyde through the decades, and to discover corners of the campus you’ve never explored before!

Find out more about the locations and the quotes themselves on the oral history trail website.

You can read (and listen to) more clips from the collection on The University Experience 1945-1975 webpage.

Enjoy your wanders around campus! 

Each year, the University of Strathclyde confers a small number of honorary degrees upon exceptional people who have made a tangible difference in the world. To mark Black History Month, our display on Level 3 of the Andersonian Library highlights the first people of Ghanaian, Malaysian, Pakistani and Thai heritage to be awarded an honorary degree from Strathclyde, as well as the University’s first honorary graduate of Scottish-Nigerian heritage. Those featured are:

• Professor Robert Gardiner (1914-1994), who received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1973. Gardiner was a Ghanaian academic and civil servant who served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa from 1962-1975. He was also a Visiting Professor of Economics at Strathclyde from 1970-1975.
• Hamzah Sendut (1927-1996), who received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1976. Sendut was a Malaysian regional planner and academic. He served as a United Nations consultant on urbanisation and urban development and, from 1969, as Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia: the first science and technology university to be established in South-East Asia. 
• Bashir Maan (1926-2019), who received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1999. Maan was a politician and judge. Born in Pakistan, he came to Glasgow in the early 1950s, where he studied at two of Strathclyde’s antecedents, the Royal College of Science and Technology and the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Commerce. In 1970, he became the first local councillor from an ethnic minority group to be elected in the United Kingdom, winning the Glasgow Kingston seat for the Labour Party. He subsequently became the first member of his community to stand for parliament, to be a Justice of the Peace, and to be Deputy Lieutenant.
• Professor Krisana Kraisintu (born 1952), who received the honorary degree of Doctor of Science in 2006. Born in Thailand, Kraisintu is a world-renowned pharmacist and a former student of the University of Strathclyde (MSc in Pharmaceutical Analysis, 1978). Her most notable achievement is the development of locally produced, affordable, generic anti-retroviral drugs to treat impoverished HIV sufferers in Asia and Africa.
• Professor Jackie Kay CBE (born 1961), who received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in 2013. Born to a Nigerian father and a Scottish mother, Kay was raised in Glasgow by her adoptive parents. An award-winning poet, playwright and novelist, she was the Scots Makar (national poet of Scotland) from 2016-2021. In October 2023, she officially opened a plaza named in her honour at the University of Strathclyde.      

The display, featuring photos and documents from the University Archives and Special Collections, will be available to view until the end of October during the Library's opening hours.
 

In 1910, the Royal Technical College in Glasgow (now the University of Strathclyde) opened its School of Navigation, designed to equip students with the technical skills necessary for careers at sea. The School provided a wide range of training in seamanship, navigation, and nautical astronomy, using innovative tools and models to enhance learning. Among these was a 'land-ship,' a revolving mock navigation bridge on the College’s rooftop, which offered students hands-on experience with compass adjustment. This unique platform, built with a Kelvin compass, was a striking feature that appeared—at first glance—like a ship sailing high above Glasgow’s rooftops, with the dome of the City Chambers visible in the background. A giant telescope, housed in an observatory on the top floor of the College, was also part of the School’s resources, helping students study nautical astronomy.

In addition to these advanced models and apparatus, the College sought to incorporate practical training on the water. In 1913, they purchased a steam yacht named Vivid, intending to use it as a training ship for the students. The Vivid was meant to provide students with an opportunity to supplement their theoretical education with real-world experience at sea. Unfortunately, this ambitious plan met a tragic end. In July of that year, less than a day into its maiden voyage as a training vessel, the Vivid struck a rock and was wrecked off the coast of Colonsay. Although no lives were lost, the incident marked the end of the School’s aspirations to own and operate a large training vessel. After the loss of the Vivid, the School limited its maritime fleet to smaller boats—dinghies for teaching rowing and sailing.

Responsibility for the provision of nautical education was transferred to Glasgow Education Authority in 1965 and the School of Navigation became the Department of Navigation at Stow College of Engineering. In 1969, the responsibility was transferred to the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies.

Image references: OP 4/81/2 School of Navigation students aboard the training ship Vivid, 1913; OP/3/72 Photograph of deviascope on roof of Royal College building, c. 1913

Further information:

Photographs from the School of Navigation on Flickr.

Film of the Land-Ship in operation, c 1942 (Scottish Screen Archive)

David Pritchard, ‘The loss of the Vivid. The biography of a shipwreck’, July 2015.

Navigation School Committee minutes, 1910-1947 (ref: OE/1/17/1)

Royal Technical College calendars, 1910-1940, containing details of Navigation School courses (ref: OE/10/1)

Navigation School prospectus, c 1956 (ref: OE/10/3/9)

Plans of training ship Vivid, 1912-1913 (ref: OF/33/1)

Navigation School course handouts and examination papers, 1958 (ref: OF/33/2)

The Glasgow Technical College (Weaving Branch) was founded in 1877. It was located on Well Street in Calton, an area of Glasgow known for weaving since the 18th century. In 1896, the College changed its name to the Incorporated Weaving, Dyeing and Printing College of Glasgow.

In 1908, the College was integrated into the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College (a predecessor of Strathclyde University) and formed a new Weaving Department.

After this merger, the Weaving Department got new equipment, including 40 power looms and 16 hand looms. The department also had a well-equipped textile testing laboratory and a museum with a large collection of samples of raw materials and finished fabrics. The weaving students were also allowed to “avail themselves of the facilities offered by the other departments of the College, particularly Engineering and Chemistry”. The chemistry facilities included new dyeing, bleaching, and printing laboratories.

The weaving course of instruction lasted three years. It included “experimental pattern designing and weaving on hand loom, power loom, and domestic loom; yarn and cloth testing; and power loom tuning”.

The new Weaving Department also benefited from a scheme of cooperation with Glasgow School of Art. In 1909, the School of Art held classes specifically for weaving students, including an evening class on textile design, and a daytime class on colour. In return, the Weaving Department taught a course on applying design to textiles for art students.

The photograph shows an example of the beautifully woven diploma certificate awarded to students at the Weaving College.

Archives reference: OG 25 Diploma certificate awarded to students of the Incorporated Weaving, Dyeing and Printing College of Glasgow

We are delighted to announce the publication online of a full item-level catalogue of a small but important collection - the papers of Colin Kirkwood, writer, academic and psychoanalytic psychotherapist, and Gerri (Geraldine) Kirkwood, adult and community educator, community activist and English teacher. 

The papers document the work and thinking of this passionate and engaging couple, and some of their collaborators and friends, over 50 odd years from the mid 1960s to 2020, in the fields of community activism, writers' workshops and adult educational work in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the North Midlands in England. One highlight of their work was the successful establishment of the community newspapers ‘Staveley Now’ and ‘Castlemilk Today’, in which they encouraged ordinary people to speak out directly in their own voices. Another was the establishment of the long-running Adult Learning Project in the working-class Gorgie Dalry area of Edinburgh, where they implemented the ideas of the Brazilian adult educator, Paulo Freire. It is no exaggeration to say that Colin and Gerri were hugely influential. Their work changed the shape of adult education in Britain.

The collection includes the couple’s working papers, copies of many of their published articles and books, complete sets of the community newspapers ‘Staveley Now’ and ‘Castlemilk Today’, many Writers' Workshop booklets, as well as several letters and poems from friends, amongst whom were the Scottish writers and poets Tom Leonard, Bob Tait, Edwin Morgan and Ian Hamilton Finlay.

Colin himself has written a fascinating account of the couple’s lives and work, which is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the full background to this collection (archives reference: KIR/7/16 ‘The Kirkwood Papers’ by Colin Kirkwood). 

Explore the full catalogue of the Kirkwood papers on the online archive catalogue.

The teaching of mining engineering at the university can be traced back to 1859 when the Glasgow School of Mines was established in Anderson’s College. The School was an independent institution governed by a separate committee. However, it was short lived and closed in 1864. By the 1880s, classes in mining had resumed and day classes, leading to a Diploma in Mining, began in 1887 at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College.

Daniel Burns, a prominent figure in the field of mining engineering, was appointed Head of the Department of Mining and Geology in 1902. By 1909, Burns’ position was raised to the status of professor, when he was appointed the first Professor of Mining and Geology at the College.

This photograph shows mining and geology students from the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College in Alexandra Park, Glasgow. The date is unknown but it is thought to be around 1907 to 1909.

The photograph, endorsed ‘the College Survey Corps’, shows students with surveying apparatus. Part of the syllabus involved surveying and field work. Numerous excursions to mines and other areas were organised for the students. This allowed practical examination of the geology of the district. The majority of the field and underground work was undertaken during the summer months.

Archives reference: OP4/104 Students from mining and geology class in Alexandra Park, c. 1907-1909

This photograph, taken in the old Andersonian building, shows the Natural Philosophy laboratory of Professor James Blyth (Professor of Natural Philosophy 1880-1906). From left to right, the staff are Andrew Scobbie (mechanic); A. MacDonald; James Blyth; Dr James Muir (later Professor, 1906-1938, historian of the College and biographer of John Anderson); and Vincent J. Blyth (the Professor’s son who later went into industry).

The teaching of Natural Philosophy originated in 1796 at Anderson’s Institution with the appointment of the first Professor of Natural Philosophy, Thomas Garnett. It was not until later, however, that a department formally came into existence. From at least 1899, there are references to the Department of Natural Philosophy.

James Blyth was appointed Chair of Natural Philosophy in 1880, a position he kept until his death in 1906. Blyth contributed to the popular evening classes in natural philosophy as well as offering day classes. A wide range of subjects were covered in both the day and evening classes including: theoretical mechanics, acoustics, heat and optics and electricity and magnetism. Classes also included practical laboratory demonstrations.  

Blyth would probably not recognise the department today due to the many changes which have occurred. In 1968 the department split into the Department of Natural Philosophy (in 1983 renamed the Department of Physics) and the Department of Applied Physics. The two were reunited as the Department of Physics and Applied Physics in 1986. In 2002 the department was renamed the Department of Physics.

Archives reference: OP 4/96/1 Staff of Natural Philosophy Department, Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, c. 1902

This is a photograph of one of the world’s first structures to generate electricity from wind power. It was designed and built by James Blyth (1839-1906), a pioneering professor of Natural Philosophy at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College. 

Blyth was born in Marykirk in Kincardineshire in 1839 where he attended the parish school and later Montrose Academy. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and graduated with a BA in 1861, completing his MA in 1871.  He spent his early career working as a tutor and teacher. In 1880 he was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at Anderson’s College (later the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College), where he taught until his death in 1906.

Blyth’s research concentrated on electrical problems, such as the telephone and microphone, and on the generation and storage of electricity from wind power. He began to experiment with windmill construction in 1885, building a windmill in the garden of his house in Marykirk. The windmill was a 33 feet high cloth-sailed, horizontal structure. The electricity generated was stored in batteries or ‘accumulators’ and was used to power the lights of the cottage.  This early design had its faults. Blyth found that the cloth sails were not very successful. When the wind was too strong he had to stop it to prevent the sails being torn to pieces. To remedy this, he built a new windmill in 1891. This image is of this new windmill. In this new design, the cloth sails were replaced with semi cylindrical boxes attached to four strong arms. This design proved much more satisfactory, reaching a terminal speed instead of racing in strong winds.

Blyth was granted a patent to protect his invention in 1891 and awarded the Brisbane Gold Medal by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1892 for his research.

Not everyone was impressed with Blyth’s work, however. He had offered the surplus electricity from the windmill for lighting the main street in Marykirk but the locals rejected his offer, fearing electricity ‘the work of The Devil’!

Archives reference: OM/17/8 Stereoscopic photograph of 'Box Horizontal Windmill', Marykirk, Kincardineshire, around 1888.

The summer fete in the Learning and Teaching Building, on Wednesday, saw beautiful blue skies and sunshine while staff and students celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of our Royal Charter. It was 60 years to the day the ‘university’ status of the institution was ‘put under seal’ by Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral.

The Archives and Special Collections team were delighted to bring the Royal Charter itself out of the security and tranquility of the archives and onto campus, in a special protective case, so that Strathclyders could catch a glimpse of the very important record.

We really enjoyed catching up with colleagues from around the University, and were positioned next to the Bedellus, Samuel Stewart, who had the ceremonial mace, jubilee cap, and some of the gorgeous ceremonial robes on show.

We are looking forward to further Jubilee celebrations as 2024 continues!