Kathryn Steenson
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A Marvellous Time at Mayfest!
June 6, 2013
Manuscripts & Special Collections staff were kept very busy at this year’s Mayfest, the University’s annual Community Open Day held on the 18th May, as over 1000 people visited the two separate events: ‘Marvellous Manuscripts’ in the Portland Building and ‘Wade into Water’ at Lakeside Arts Centre. Conservation staff were on hand at ‘Marvellous Manuscripts’ to show …
Saving the Soviet War Posters
April 22, 2013
I have recently finished working to conserve eight Russian posters; these plus many more posters can now be seen on our Windows on War online resource. The TASS posters were created during the difficult war years between 1943-45, although production ran from 1941 to 1946. They are known as TASS posters because they were produced …
Nottingham’s New Chancellor
March 12, 2013
Today Sir Andrew Witty will be installed as only the 7th Chancellor since The University of Nottingham received its Royal Charter in 1948. Here, we look back at the ceremony installing the University’s very first Chancellor. The role of Chancellor has changed considerably over the last 65 years, becoming less ceremonial and more ambassadorial as universities …
China’s Photograph Fever
February 21, 2013
In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in exploring China’s history. During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, the Red Army obliterated much of the country’s heritage, including photographs. Keeping archives was a subversive act; it became dangerous even for people to be caught with their own family albums. Huge quantities of …
“No Turtle is an Island”
February 7, 2013
One of the benefits of working in Special Collections is serendipitously finding an intriguing, amusing or surprising book amongst the 50,000 volumes held here. Whilst answering an enquiry recently, a member of staff came across this quirky poem by Melvin Plotinsky. ‘Requiem for a Turtle’ memorialises a turtle (tortoise), killed crossing a road in May …
Children’s Stories from Special Collections
January 30, 2013
To mark The Society of Storytelling’s annual National Storytelling Week from the 26th January, we’re highlighting some of the wonderful children’s stories held in our collections. It may seem strange for a University to have books of fairy tales, but one of our major holdings is the Briggs Collection of children’s educational games and literature from …
Christmas in the Collections
December 13, 2012
What image symbolises Christmas to you? Do you think of choirs of angels round a manger, or Father Christmas leaving presents under a tree decorated with baubles? Perhaps you take inspiration from the natural world and would choose a robin or mistletoe. References to Christmas are scattered throughout the collections at Manuscripts and Special Collections. This beautiful image …
What are your chances of a job?
August 22, 2012
Over the past year, Manuscripts & Special Collections has been gradually digitising our early copies of The University of Nottingham’s student newspaper ‘The Gongster’. It makes fascinating reading, comparing student life then and now, but this article from 11th October 1951 about the woes of graduate employment particularly caught my eye, with its relevance to …
Celebrating the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
June 20, 2012
The recent visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Nottingham as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations reminded us of an unusual item from the records of the Castle Gate Congregational Church. This extract comes from The Music with the Form and Order of the Service to be performed at the Coronation of Her Most Excellent Majesty Queen …
Manuscripts at Mayfest
May 30, 2012
Before May Fest, which took place on the 19th May, can become a distant memory, we’ve been having a review in Manuscripts and Special Collections of how the day went for us. We had on offer presentations and interactive activities at two different venues on University Park, in Trent Building and at the D H Lawrence …
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