My name is Adam, I am an Assistant Archivist, cataloguing with support from the Archive and Special Collections Centre (ASCC), but working onsite at Wimbledon College of Arts. Last month I finished a project to catalogue the college archive. The catalogue is now available to browse and search online.
The archive holds a diverse range of material. It includes administrative records, photographs, information about events and exhibitions, prospectuses and audiovisual material. The earliest item in the collection dates to around 1897 while the most recent item is from this year. The collection is particularly strong in visual images with many examples of student theatre productions from the 1960s and 1970s. There are also photographs of staff and students working in the studios. During these decades the institution was known as Wimbledon School of Art.
Getting started
Before the start of this cataloguing project, the material had been spread across the college estate for several years. Some parts of it were stored in less-than-ideal conditions. Staff gathered the material and brought it to the library last year, where some preliminary checks were made to try and establish what exactly was inside the boxes. In total, there were 27 boxes of material. These needed to be organised, catalogued, and repackaged into archival standard boxes for transfer to the library’s special collections room.
To begin, I spent several weeks researching the history of the college. I also appraised the contents of each box so I could develop a strategy to catalogue the collection. I identified nine record series to organise the collection into. I then began to systematically catalogue each series.
Making discoveries
Sometimes, I was able to use records from one series to help catalogue another. For example, there was a large collection of mounted photographs from the 1960s and 1970s.
At first, I had little contextual information about what these images were depicting and why they were created. So, I consulted the press cuttings from those decades. I discovered that the photographs were of final year productions of work by theatre design students. They depicted scenes from a wide range of classic and contemporary plays.
The cuttings also featured programmes for these productions and press reviews. Through these, I was able to identify the names of designers and the scenes from plays that they worked on.
Preparing for Access
Once I completed the cataloguing, I then uploaded all my data into the university’s archive database powered by Axiell-CALM. CALM is an archive management software programme used by many archives across the world.
I checked that everything had been transferred and began to repackage the collection.
This involves placing items into archival standard boxes and using acid-free sleeves, folders and envelopes. This protects the material from any damage whilst in storage, and when handled.
I also helped to select material from the photograph series for digitisation. This will happen in the coming months so it can be added to UAL Digital Collections portal.
Reflecting on the content
It has been a very interesting collection to work with. For many years, the college was unique as the only higher education institution in Britain that offered a diploma and later an honours degree in Theatre Design. The reputation for the quality of this and other stage and screen courses remains to this day.
It is also worth mentioning that for much of its existence, the college also taught fine art. It focussed on painting and sculpture but also offered courses in graphic design and printmaking as well as art history and art theory at various points in its history.
Looking to the future
During my time at Wimbledon, I have been impressed with the creativity and imagination displayed by generations of students.
I hope that now the archive is fully accessible, it will inform researchers and inspire students for decades to come.
Find out more
To access the Wimbledon College of Arts archive in person at Wimbledon, please contact us via ASK.
For any other questions about Archives and Special Collections more generally, please email archive-enquiries@arts.ac.uk