Project Showcase: Newruskinarchives
03 January 2014 – editors
The back of this postcard reads “Engineers at Ruskin College Oxford, 1906, sent and supported by their fellow trade unionists at a cost of 1d each.” Photo source: Hilda Kean
The newruskinarchives database website has recently been launched in response to the destruction last year of most of the archive of student records at Ruskin College, the historic trade union and labour movement college in Oxford.
There was much press coverage of the scandal and widespread criticism of the actions of the (now former) Principal, Audrey Mullender. The international petition drew over 7,500 signatories including those of many public historians. However the vast bulk of the student records, as well as dissertations, were unnecessarily destroyed.
We are very aware that the lives of many former Ruskin students have been recorded in prestigious collections such as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography or the Dictionary of Labour Biography. But such existing material has never been gathered together in one searchable place. Nor have the lives of less famous students been publicly acknowledged.
We realise that it will never be possible to ‘recreate’ the material stored in the ruined archives. However, we think it important to remember the life experiences of people whose memory has been treated so shabbily. We also want to ensure that the destruction is not forgotten. This public history project aims to create ‘history’ through a crowd-sourcing approach with many people contributing their own knowledge and experience.
You personally do not need to know lots about a former Ruskin student. By starting a database entry, others can search for a name of a family member, fellow former student etc and add to it. We also welcome ephemeral material.
~ Dr Hilda Kean FRHistS
Email address [email protected]
Background to the destruction of the records:
- “The Ruskin College archives: Destroying a radical past” (History@Work, Nov. 28, 2012)
- “Ruskin archive: Dust-up” (The Guardian, Oct. 28, 2012)
- “Row after John Prescott’s old college ‘shreds archive’” (The Telegraph, Oct. 5, 2012)
- “Whose archive? Whose history? Destruction of archives at Ruskin College, Oxford” (History Workshop Online, Oct. 4, 2012)