Papers of a ‘Professional Revolutionary’
September 5, 2013
The next exhibition at Lakeside Arts Centre’s Weston Gallery features the papers of a local activist and Communist Party officer, Fred Westacott. Flyers, pamphlets and speeches in his personal archive document a lifetime of campaigning, as a supporter of a variety of local and international causes, from the Miners’ strikes to the Vietnam War protests. …
Manuscripts in the Media
August 19, 2013
As a University department, it’s not surprising that many of the enquirers who contact us and visitors to the Reading Room are academics and students, both from The University of Nottingham and other institutions. What people often don’t appreciate is how often we are approached by the media, either during their initial research or because …
All Work and No Play
July 15, 2013
Students using the Business Library over the summer exam season may, whilst taking a small break from revising, have noticed the display has changed from the subject of electricity to one probably closer to their hearts: the harsh reality of working life (albeit for children in the 18th and 19th centuries). The concept of childhood we have today is largely a modern …
Picturing the Medical School
July 8, 2013
The process of cataloguing the archives of the University of Nottingham’s Medical School has uncovered a wealth of around 350 photographs and over 100 slides. To find such a large amount of images documenting the construction of the Medical School and University Hospital (later to become Queen’s Medical Centre) during the 1960s and 1970s is …
Meet Nottinghamshire’s People
July 4, 2013
Nottinghamshire’s People – Ancestral Stories from the Archives celebrates the lives of Nottinghamshire’s people and their communities. Family history is enormously popular despite – or perhaps because – tracing ancestors can be quite a challenge. Genealogists often use the classic family history sources, such as parish registers and the census, without exploring the other documents …
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 …
“Hitler is kaput!”: Soviet war poster victory celebrations
May 9, 2013
As Victory Day (Thursday 9 May) is marked across Europe, the celebratory sentiments of some of the Soviet propaganda posters featured in the online exhibition Windows on War, are still powerful, even though almost 70 years has passed since the war ended. The posters appeared almost daily in the windows of TASS, the Central Telegraph …
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 …
Windows on War – guest blog by Laura Todd
April 12, 2013
Among the archives of Manuscripts and Special Collections, is the University’s rare collection of Soviet war propaganda posters, dating from 1943-1945. The collection was a gift from one of the University’s Professors of English, Vivian de Sola Pinto (1895-1969). The collection of posters is the largest in the UK and covers an array of different …
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 …
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