2023 – a year in review

As we move into the new year we take time to look back over 2023 and reflect on the work of Archives and Special Collections in the last twelve months.

Signature of the first Duke of Wellington

Wellington 40

2023 was a significant year for the Archives as it marked the fortieth anniversary of the arrival of the papers of the first Duke of Wellington at Southampton after they were allocated to the University under national heritage legislation. The collection arrived on 17 March 1983, bringing to Southampton the University’s first major manuscript collection, leading to the creation of an Archives Department and the development of a major strand of activity within the University Library.

To celebrate this momentous occasion we hosted a number of events and activities throughout the year. It started with a Wellington 40 Twitter campaign, where both staff and researchers who had worked on the archive shared their favourite Wellington document. In March (the month when the collection arrived) we ran a series of blogs looking at forty years of work on the collection; conservation; events and the Wellington Pamphlets collection. This was followed by a series of Wellington themed blogs using the letters of the Duke’s name – starting, appropriately enough, with W for Waterloo.

On 7 July we hosted an in-person event, providing attendees with the opportunity to see behind the scenes, meet the curators and learn more about the work of the Archives and Special Collections, including conservation. As well as a selection of archival material on view, there was also an exhibition in the Level 4 Gallery reflecting on forty years of curation of the collection. And the visit was rounded off with tea and a talk by Dr Zack White about his research on the Wellington Archive.

Wellington 40 exhibition marking forty years of curation of the Wellington Archive, Level 4 Gallery

In October, the Special Collections Gallery opened again for the first time since 2020 with an exhibition The Duke presents his compliments. Taking the Wellington Archive as a starting point, the exhibition looks at the development of the archive collections since 1983. It continues to run weekdays (1000-1600) from 8 January to 16 February, so there is still time to come and have a look.

Events

As well as the event hosted by Archives and Special Collections as part of the Wellington 40 celebrations in July, we hosted visits for the Jewish Historical Society of England on 9 October and for the Come and Psing Psalmody event at the Turner Sims concert hall on 22 October. This latter event showcased some of the West Gallery music material collected by Rollo Woods, who was an expert in this field as well as a former Deputy Librarian at the University.

Rollo Woods

In November we ran an activity for the Hands-on Humanities day at the Avenue Campus. For the activity intrepid travellers were asked to take their archives passport and embark on a journey learning more about the collections. Feedback from those attending was very positive, with participants finding it a fun way to find out about the collections and the university. Highlights noted were “learning about history”, “discovering unexpected items” and, of course, “using the quill”.

Image of knitted pineapple purse from the Montse Stanley collection with magnifying glass and quill.

The Archives and Special Collections has continued to support teaching and research throughout the year, hosting sessions introducing students to archives for a range of undergraduate and master courses. Karen Robson and Jenny Ruthven have been involved in leading sessions on the curation of specialist libraries and on archives for the new MA in Holocaust Studies that runs for the first time in 2023/4. Karen will be leading further practical sessions on this course in the second semester in 2024. We also led two group projects as part of the second-year history undergraduate course in early 2023. This course asks the students to focus on archive sources for their project and for this year we offered a project about nineteenth-century press and politicians, utilising material from the archive of third Viscount Palmerston, and a project based on the papers of the Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry. 

Protest at Wembley Arena by members of the Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry [MS254/A980/4/22/178/3]

Collections and projects

Although the collection arrived and was reported in the review for last year, the Ben Abeles archive was officially launched in an event hosted by the Parkes Institute in June 2023. Karen Robson formed part of the panel for this hybrid event which attracted an international audience. Details of the Abeles collection is accessible in the Archive Catalogue.

Amongst the new Jewish archival and interfaith collections for 2023 were the papers of Professor Alice Eckardt, a leading scholar and activist in the field of Christian-Jewish relations, relating to her connection with a leading British figure in the same field – Revd Dr James Parkes. We have, throughout the year, acquired additional papers for existing collections, such as for Eugene Heimler and the Jewish Youth Fund. We also acquired more material documenting student life in previous decades with papers for the Med Soc reviews in the 1980s.

We have continued to develop our maritime archaeology archival holdings and the most sizeable acquisition of material this year has been the working papers of Peter Marsden relating to shipwrecks.

Part way through the year, Archives and Special Collections was the recipient of a grant from the Honor Frost Foundation for a project supporting work to make over 5000 digital images created from slides in the Honor Frost Archive, together with catalogue descriptions for each of the images, available online. The project is due to be completed by 31 January 2024.

Two stone anchors [MS439/A4278/HFA/8/3/12/8]: one of the images that is part of the Honor Frost project

Archives searchroom services

2023 saw the expansion of the Archives and Special Collections Virtual Reading Room service offering remote access to collections through digital appointments. This is a growing element to the archive reading room service and usage has grown by 28% in the last year. For information on how to book a digital appointment look at the Special Collections website access page.

This usage has been paralleled by a growing quantity of enquiries being handled within Archives – rising by 11% in the last year.

Looking ahead

In 2024 we are looking ahead to marking the 240^th anniversary of the birth of third Viscount Palmerston with events, including social media programmes and an exhibition relating to the Palmerston family and Broadlands. We have a number of projects ongoing and new for 2024, including working with the Parkes Institute to create a series of films promoting the collections and a three-year conservation project on the Schonfeld archive. Do look out for news on our social media channels.

Reflecting on our curatorial role in the research environment

As a curator we can take on many roles as we oversee the curation and engagement with collections in our care. But one role in which the curator is not so often cast is that of researcher, drawing on the knowledge and expertise of curatorial teams to lead or co-lead in research projects. In an endeavour to re-balance this, the Research Libraries UK, in conjunction with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, set up and ran its Research Catalyst Cohort Programme. I was one of the 12 participants on this inaugural programme which completed in April 2023.

This extensive and comprehensive timetable took the participants on a journey through aspects of research culture and management, as the RLUK Programme sought to equip the participants with the skills and knowledge to develop their own research project. The sessions sharing knowledge on everything from funding to developing partnerships to project management were well considered and informative, but what was particularly effective for me were the development sprints and the support of a mentor as part of the programme.  As in so much of life, confidence is key, and having impartial but knowledgeable facilitators with whom you could discuss your ideas was important in growing this key factor in the participants. Connections made during the course and the supportive culture fostered amongst the participants were another important factor.

Providing the tools and the belief in curators to move forward and both initiate important research projects or take a more pro-active role in their institutions in the projects of others, rather than just be seen as the people who provide access to the material, is an important and welcome development. It recasts the balance in a way that is much more healthy for the creation of new and exciting developments and utilises the best of the expertise and knowledge of all parties.

From a leaflet by the Jewish People’s Council against Fascism and Anti-Semitism, 1936 [MS60/15/53]

One of the aspects of participation on the RLUK Research Catalyst Cohort Programme was a requirement not just to learn about research culture but to use the experience to help participants to develop a research project idea. Taking what might be called a real-life curatorial issue, I used this opportunity to focus on issues relating to the curation of challenging material. There is a growing recognition of the challenges of dealing with sensitive material and in particular there has been much discourse relating to the decolonisation of collections. As an institution holding considerable Jewish archival material, we are looking at what curatorial issues arise from these collections.

Oswald Mosley at a meeting, 1954: one of the challenging items held in collections at Southampton

Strands of narrative about curating sensitive or challenging material are being developed in conjunction with MA teaching programmes at the University on which I have been or will be leading sessions. The first of these were sessions with students from the Winchester School of Art MA in Curation Studies in February. Using examples of a range of material from the collections, the students were asked to engage with these and analyse issues around the items. The resulting discussions enabled the students to interrogate questions of cultural sensitivity, language, imagery as well as curatorial challenges with regard to the acquisition, description and presentation of material and to begin the process where we can gather evidence relating to this.

Part of a leaflet by the Jewish People’s Council against Fascism and Anti-Semitism relating to fascist marches through the East End of London, 1936 [MS60/15/53 page 40]

Building on this experience, I shall be running sessions as part of the public history module of a new MA in Holocaust Studies starting in autumn 2023. In these sessions I will be leading students to interrogate further the challenges and responsibilities of curating sensitive material, in this case specifically focusing on the Jewish archive collections.

This student engagement is a starting point for a developing research project which will feed into discussion and development of curatorial practices in the care of such collections, starting here at Southampton.

Behind the scenes: Conservation of watercolours in the Broadlands Map Collection

Welcome to the third in our “behind the scenes” blogs where we shift focus to the work of Conservation and a project relating to the Broadlands Map Collection, part of the Broadlands Archive (MS62).

The Broadlands Map Collection consists of over 220 maps and plans from the mid 18th century to the mid 20th century. There is a wide range of media used, including pencil, iron gall ink, watercolour, printers ink and red India ink. The challenge of conserving this wonderful series is the range of media: the earlier maps are on vellum, with others on handmade paper, tracing paper, linen and finally machine made paper. The collection also includes very large items (2278mm x 478mm).

What all this material had in common was that they required cleaning, were tightly rolled and they had rips, tears and in some cases structural loss with general degradation.

The initial part of the conservation project was to survey the collection. From this survey a number of recommendations were highlighted, for the cleaning of the items, for the repair of small tears, and for the requirements of flat storage for ease of access.

Dry cleaning was undertaken with chemical smoke sponges and cosmetic sponges and then each item was placed between blotters with ever increasing weights to carry out dry flattening. Whilst items were undergoing this lengthy procedure a decision was made to explore the possibility of carrying out aqueous cleaning of the architectural watercolours and MBMAP57 was chosen as a test subject. Conservator Sonia Bradford talks about this work below.

The Broadlands map survey identified that several architectural watercolours not only needed cleaning, but being tightly rolled and in some cases damaged, were not easily accessible. These items were initially dry cleaned with chemical and cosmetic sponges and left to gently flatten between clean blotters under increasing weights since July 2017. After two years of flattening the watercoloured items were assessed with the following conclusion:

• They were still curled and difficult to handle
• They still contained ingrained dirt
• The pH of the stiff paper was acidic

Aqueous treatments would address the above problems, however the correct treatment would need to be carried out to avoid any detrimental or permanent damage to the object. As a result of this four watercolours were chosen to undergo various controlled aqueous treatments to ascertain the best course of action for the remaining collection. Below is a summary of the investigation and final results obtained to carry out successful conservation of this lovely collection. BRMAP57 consists of 4 elevation views of a proposed design of the bailiffs house at Broadlands. (N.E.S. & W) – they are of the same size, paper and watercolour palette.

North elevation

South Elevation

West Elevation

East Elevation

Fugitivity of the inks were spot tested with water and all results including the red line border were clear.

Humidification using a Cedar Box

The North (N) and East (E) views were placed in a cedar humidification box consisting of a layer of wet fleece placed on the Corian® studio table, then Gortex® (shiny side up), the object (with the illustration side up) and the glass top placed on the cedar box.

The documents were still heavily curled and therefore glass weights were placed at each end to hold the item in place until the humidification had sufficiently relaxed the paper. Unfortunately the pressure of the glass weights led to increased water absorption in that area and tide lines were beginning to form. Due to this, the objects immediately underwent a blotter wash to eliminate any permanent tide lines and take advantage of the paper in a relaxed state.

Blotter Wash

A series of controlled blotter washes were set up for the North and East views to remove ingrained dirt and the possibility of reducing acidity.

Felt was placed on the Corian® studio table with a layer of Melinex® to protect the felt. 2 x wet blotters and 1 x damp blotter placed on the Melinex® followed by the object (illustration side up). Thin Bondina® (17gsm), to protect the document and a perspex weight if appropriate.

If the object dried out too much the object was mist sprayed, and as discolouration appeared on the damp blotter this was replaced. pH tests were carried out throughout the process as the documents were now wet enough to use pH test strips (2.0 – 9.0)                                                               

1^st Blotter      2^nd blotter

North View                                        4.3                         4.4

East View                                            4.3                         4.4

Fugitivity of particularly the red border line was checked using a digital microscope during the washing process. There was no reaction/movement to the red line during the blotter wash.

1. Red margin before humidification

2. Red margin after blotter wash

Both documents continued to absorb moisture unevenly on the damp blotter and a decision was made to spray both papers until wet through and then re-placed on the damp blotter for impurities to be pulled through. This was achievable due to the stability of the watercolours/inks.

After half an hour the wet blotters were saturated with tap water again and the damp blotter changed for a new one. Quite a lot of discolouration (especially the left band of the North view) had pulled through onto the damp blotter.

3. Objects drying under Bondina® and perspex sheet on Corian® surface

After the first blotter wash it was decided to remove the felts and to only use the Corian® work tables as a base to give an even contact and increased pressure with the damp blotters and a Perspex sheet on top of the Bondina® protective layer. The second blotter was left for 1 hour with fugitivity tests being carried out and a pH test completed at the end of the wash.

The second blotter wash showed more discolouration due to the flat surface contact and increased pressure from the perspex sheet.

If no further treatment was to be carried out, I would replace the damp blotter for a third time/until no further discolouration of the damp blotters.

Float Wash

A white photographic tray placed on a flat surface and filled to a third with cold tap water (almost pH neutral).

The object was placed on thin Bondina® and a dahlia spray mist to relax the object. The Bondina® and object (image side up) lifted up and placed or ‘floated’ on the water in the tray.

Small pieces of thin blotter were prepared for use in case of any water ‘pooling on the surface’. Cold water float wash carried out for 15 minutes and then the water changed for a second cold water float wash. Once the water showed discolouration it was changed. The red margin line was still stable with no movement therefore a warm float wash (approx. 30^oc) was carried out for 15 minutes.

N.B. the object should be spray misted if it becomes dry or if water pools on the surface of the object thin blotter strips can remove the excessive water.                 

3 x cold float wash                    1 x warm float wash

pH after 3^rd wash                             pH after warm wash

North View                                         6                                                             6.1

East View                                            7                                                              7

The objects were left to air dry on Bondina® and blotter overnight. If no further treatment were to be undertaken then the objects would be dried gradually with new blotters under a Corian® board to ensure even flattening.

Full Immersion Wash

Both North and East views were fully immersed on Bondina® supports in cold water for 15 minutes in a white photographic tray.

The full immersion wash is an effective way of ‘washing away’ any remaining impurities/dirt/acidity.

An alkaline buffer wash was discussed but not carried out for two reasons;

• A large proportion of acidity had been washed out during the various washes and a further alkaline wash would not particularly benefit the pH enough to carry out a 30 minute buffer wash.
• More importantly it was decided not to compromise a possible ‘colour change’ from the alkaline buffer due to the reaction it can cause with watercolours.

Full Immersion wash (pH test strip)

North View                                                        7.5

East View                                                            7.5

Results

The Humidification process was time consuming, lengthy to set up and due to the uneven moisture absorption the treatment was adapted midway (by spraying the paper until wet through)

The blotter washes again took a period of time to set up and carry out, this would be even longer if doing repeated blotter changes until no further discolouration appeared on the damp blotter. This was the first opportunity to carry out a pH reading and even after the second blotter the reading was still highly acidic at pH 4.4

The advantage of the blotter wash was the controlled element of the treatment. Due to minimum water being absorbed, but a strong ‘pull’ of discolouration impurities the object could be successfully cleaned and a low risk of damage/fugitive inks/colour change becoming a problem as the object could be easily retrieved and dried at any given point.

This would be an effective treatment if the document showed an acceptable pH level or if the document needed to be carefully monitored due to fragility/suspect fugitivity or any other reason where the procedure may need to be stopped immediately.

The float washes appear to have been effective partly because they removed a significant amount of discolouration from the object, however the pH acidity didn’t effectively change from the first blotter reading. If carrying out aqueous treatments on several documents I think that a 90 minute – 2 hour float wash would not only remove a substantial proportion of discolouration but would also improve the pH reading as the float washes were fairly short in the tests. The float wash also gives a level of control during the process and a full immersion wash can still be carried out if desirable.

Full immersion wash proved the most effective in ‘washing out’ acidity with the most improved readings and leaving the document with an acceptable neutral pH level. The water didn’t show any discolouration, but this is probably due to the fact that the item had already undergone multiple washes.

South and West Views

Due to the lengthy set up and process of the humidification cedar box and the various blotter washes and the disappointing results of the pH readings these processes were omitted and the objects were mist sprayed and float washed. The controlled washing on the North and East views had proven that the watercolour media was stable and that these two views were unlikely to react any differently. The float wash still being a controlled method of aqueous washing.

Aqueous Treatment

Both the South and West views were float washed in exactly the same way as the North and East views (see earlier). The only difference being that the items were float washed for 90 minutes and the surface of the object was mist sprayed where appropriate. A full immersion cold wash for 20 minutes was also carried out.

pH Tests                          

Before treatment                 After float wash       After full immersion

South View                        

4.3                                                         6.3                                         7

West view                          

4.4                                                         6.4                                         7.5

North elevation before treatment

North elevation after treatment

Conclusion

1. The continuous testing and controlled aqueous treatments of these watercolours has ensured that the colours and margins have not been affected. The results of the float washes and full immersion wash has significantly reduced the acidity to an acceptable neutral pH.

2. A further advantage is the object is now flat rather than tightly rolled. Several of the objects in the collection have suffered large rips and damage/detachment of tabs and map inserts from being rolled and un-rolled unprofessionally – before becoming part of the Special Collections!

3. Repairs can be carried out whilst still wet including large tears or weakened areas being lined with spider tissue and wheat starch paste.

4. Objects can be used for exhibitions without requiring substantial weights to combat curled and rolled items. Much lower risk of damage whilst handling flattened and repaired documents.

5. The objects can be stored flat between acid free tissue in archival boxes keeping them appropriately preserved with easier access for both curators and researchers who need to handle them.

We hope that you have found this glimpse into the work of the conservation section of interest. Do look out for our other behind the scenes blogs.

2019 – a year in review

And so we move to a new decade and an array of new activities for the Special Collections in the coming year. But before we look forward to what is to come, let us take a moment to look back at some of our activities during 2019.

Exhibitions and events

The first exhibition of 2019, The Leonardo Link: Image-Making from Anatomy to Code, which opened in February, worked as a companion to the exhibition of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci on show at the Southampton City Art Gallery. Southampton was one of 12 galleries to feature drawings by da Vinci from the Royal Collection, part of the UK events marking the five hundreth anniversary of the artist’s death.

For the summer we had an exhibition drawing on images of University life over the decades, particularly resonant as 2019 marked the hundredth anniversary of the move to the Highfield campus.

A philanthropic spirit exhibition: a celebration of philanthropic acts

The autumn exhibition, A philanthropic spirit, drew on the Special Collections material to look both at ideas of philanthropic activity and at the work of individual philanthropists. It also featured material on the impact of philanthropy on the development of the University and there was a parallel exhibition in the Level 4 Gallery of portraits from the University Fine Art Collection of notable philanthropists in the development of the University.

In April we hosted the latest Wellington Congress. Featuring keynote lectures from Professor Charles Esdaile, Professor Nicholas Lambert, Dr Alicia Laspra and Dr Richard Gaunt, the 2-day Congress presented a wide range of papers on aspects of military, political, literary and social themes for the nineteenth century. And we were delighted to round off proceedings with the 2019 Wellington Lecture given by Professor Chris Woolgar on Wellington, “the scum of the earth” and the army in the Iberian Peninsula.

Professor Chris Woolgar

Special Collections took part in both the Science and Engineering Day on the Highfield Campus in March and at the Hands-on Humanities at a new venue at the NST City in November. The Science and Engineering Day provided an opportunity to offer a range of activities relating to the printed and archive collections and to the science behind conservation work undertaken by Special Collections.

Poster for Science and Engineering Day, March 2019

Alongside research sessions and introductory sessions for students from a range of disciplines – including History, English, Global Media Management – Special Collections has continued hosting drop-in sessions and visits for a range of groups. And as it was the centenary of the move to the Highfield campus, we held a drop-in session during Freshers’ Week for the first time that focused on student life over the decades since 1919.

Visits hosted in 2019 ranged from members of the Nautical Archaeology Society and from SCONUL to that of the Indian High Commissioner, as well as sessions  for scholars from China visiting the UK as part of the China Scholarship Council scheme. Two items on show that these latter visitors found particularly interesting were nineteenth-century publications on the Chinese language by Robert Morrison.

Visit by teachers from China as part of the China Scholarship Council scheme, June 2019

In November the Special Collections hosted, in conjunction with the Honor Frost Foundation, a workshop discussing issues around curating the heritage of maritime archaeology.

Social media and publicity

Throughout the year we have run a series of blogs and tweets relating to Highfield 100, marking the centenary of the move to the Highfield campus site. Starting in January, we posted monthly blogs looking at the developments of the University from 1919 onwards. An article on the Highfield 100 also was the Archives Hub feature for September 2019.

Since October we have embarked on a Highfield in a 100 objects Twitter series which will culminate in the Spring 2020 when the new Centenary Building on Highfield Campus is due to be officially opened. Images and material from the blogs has appeared on banners and on buildings around campus and have contributed to University publications such as a special edition of Hartley News sent out to thousands of alumni and to editions of Staff Matters. Complementary to these were a shorter series of blogs that looked at aspects of university development through time, such as sports facilities, Rag or the University grounds.

University College of Southampton from the south wing, 1919 [MS1/Phot 39 ph3100]

A number of blogs were linked to anniversaries such as World Poetry Day in March; the passing of the Catholic emancipation act over which the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, fought a duel in April 1829; British beer day in June, in honour of which we brewed a beer based on a recipe from Faulkner’s The Complete Family Piece (1739); the 75th anniversary of D-Day on 6 June; World Watercolour Month in July; the Great Exhibition of 1851 in October; and Human Rights week in December.

Blogs that highlighted different facets of the Special Collections have ranged widely, encompassing newer collections that complement that material within the archive of the first Duke of Wellington In the company of Wellington; Lord Shaftesbury the nineteenth-century philanthropist; geological collections in the Rare Books material; refugees in the twentieth century with a companion blog telling the stories of child refugees from Russia in the 1900s; and sanitation and health in Southampton. For the summer we posted a number of blogs on the theme of travel and voyages, starting with a look at western traditions of maps and map-making. Other blogs looked at travel to Far East and to South and Central America, accounts of three women travelling in Europe between the late eighteenth and early twentieth century and of those travelling nearer to home in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

The collections and staff also have featured in local TV and radio broadcasts, including one relating to Victorian valentines in February, and the Anglo-Jewish archives.

Collections

The Special Collections has continued to add to its holdings, most notably adding a number of collections that relate to nautical studies and maritime archaeology. The year started with the transfer of the papers of the eminent nautical archaeologist and maritime historian Lucian Basch (1930-2018) to the Special Collections. His extensive collection has been joined by working papers of Sean McGrail, who was a key player in the establishment of the Centre for Maritime Archaeology at the University, and of the maritime geoarchaeologist, Nicholas Flemming.

Some of the papers of Lucien Basch stored in his apartment prior to the move to Southampton

Amongst some of the smaller collections that arrived in 2019, were a couple of delightful volumes that complemented the existing holdings of the Basque child refugee archives. One is a photograph album recording a visit to the Basque country by Betty Lascelles Arne in May 1997 to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the departure of the Basque children on Habana on 21 May 1937 [MS440/6]. The other is a scrapbook by Helvecia Hidalgo (née Garcia Aldosoro), who was one of the child refugees who travelled in 1937: the album contains a range of photographs, booklets, cuttings and even the id and medical inspection tags pasted into the volume [MS440/4]. This scrapbook was added to a photograph album of Helvecia Hidalgo previously donated to the Archives.

The year also brought a further donation of material that relates to the holdings of the poet F.T.Prince. This was a small collection of correspondence between Professor Michael Kirkham of the University of Toronto with Prince, together with articles by Professor Kirkham relating to Prince which includes reflections by Prince on his poetry [MS328 A4222].

And as we began our reflection on 100 years of the University of Southampton at its Highfield campus, we were delighted to receive as part of a donation of papers of A.Evans – who had been the clerk of works of Hartley University College, Southampton, 1911-14, when the buildings at Highfield were being planned and built – a copy of the proposal for a rather more grand building at Highfield before these plans were scaled back. It provided a real glimpse into what might have been.

Perspective view of the proposed Hartley University College buildings from the South west by Messrs. Clyde F.Young and Hubert S.East, architects, 26 May 1911 [MS416/14]

The year saw the completion of a number of cataloguing projects in the Special Collections. Work on the papers of Michael Sherbourne was the subject of one blog. Perhaps the most substantial archive cataloguing project undertaken by the archivist team in 2019 was the Yerusha Project relating to the Jewish archive collections at Southampton. A major project within the Printed Special Collections was the completion of the cataloguing of the Honor Frost Library.

Looking ahead to 2020

With new cataloguing projects and a new Archives management system, new collections and a range of events already planned, 2020 looks set to be another full year.

Part of leaflet We Protest! produced by the Jewish People’s Council against Fascism and Anti-Semitism, 1936 [MS 60/17/16/18]

The first exhibition of the year will be We Protest! due to open on 17 February. Taking the Cato Street conspiracy of 1820 as its starting point, the exhibition also will look at two subsequent nineteenth-century protests, before exploring the work of a number of 20th-century protest and pressure groups – such as the Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry – and of student protests.

As 2020 is also the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from Southampton, the Special Collections will be looking at the theme of Voyages of Discovery in blogs and activities during the year. And this will be the focus of the autumn Special Collections exhibition opening in October.

Do look out for details of our activities through social media and the Special Collections website.

Archivist projects: Cataloguing the Papers of Michael Sherbourne

This week archivist Lara Nelson discusses a recent cataloguing project focusing on the papers of Michael Sherbourne, a human rights activist who played an influential role in the movement to win Jews the right to emigrate from the Soviet Union.

Michael Sherbourne [MS434 A4249 7/2]

Born on 22 February 1917 in London, Michael Sherbourne’s family name was Sheinbaum. His father’s parents were from Poland and his mother’s Sephardi family (descendants of Spanish exiles), had lived in England since the seventeenth century. His father worked as a tailor and a taxi driver, and his mother was a housewife. In the 1930s Michael and his three brothers anglicised their surname to Sherbourne.

Michael was politically engaged from an early age. When British fascists attempted to march in one of the Jewish areas of London, a 19 year old Michael was to be seen taking part in the anti-fascistic action of the Jews, who filled the streets and blocked the march. This single event made Michael realise the importance of unity and determination in gaining victory over a powerful enemy. He took this on in his fight for the independent Jewish state and in his struggle for the liberation of Jews from Soviet captivity.

As a result of the Great Depression in 1929, unemployment was rife in Great Britain, peaking at just below 3 million by 1932. This partly led to Michael Sherbourne leaving school at sixteen, and joining the Civil Service. Interested in Zionism however, Sherbourne soon left the Civil Service and went to what was then Palestine, and joined the Zionist organisation Hechaluts, which means “the pioneer”.

Young Michael Sherbourne, 1939 [MS434 A4249 7/3]

Hechaluts was a group for the youth, providing news about the land of Israel (which at the time was Palestine); courses in Hebrew; Hebrew songs and dances; and pioneer training, which was named Hachshara. Sherbourne joined this training programme at the age of eighteen. The trainees practised agriculture and learned to be farmers. Sherbourne put what he learnt into practice at a training farm in Kent, where he was to meet his future wife, Muriel Cohen. After receiving their certificate for Aliyah, they left for Palestine on the first day of World War Two, 1 September 1939. They joined Kibbutz Anglo Balti for 6 months, then left for Haifa, where Michael was employed in the Royal Navy, and where their eldest daughter Norma was later born. Sherbourne’s involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy provided the opportunity for him to become fluent in French and Hebrew and to study Arabic.

Michael Sherbourne and his wife Muriel in USA, 1989 [MS434 A4249 7/2]

 After World War Two ended, the Sherbourne family returned to England. Shortly after the birth of Sherbourne’s second daughter Lana, Michael was forced to return to Palestine in 1948 to join the Israeli Army during the War of Independence. Michael was a fighter in the IDF (Hativat Sheva, Mahal), and participated in the decisive battle for Latrun.

As Muriel contracted tuberculosis, the Sherbournes could not stay in Israel long-term. In London Muriel underwent treatment for this over a 2-year period. Sherbourne focussed on training to become a teacher, taking a 13 month course at a teacher’s training college in London. At the College were 30 Jews, of which 28 were members of the Communist Party, causing Sherbourne to always be in disagreement with them. As a result of a challenge to learn Russian Sherbourne learnt took up evening classes, and went on to study a degree in Russian. Some say that Sherbourne also learnt Russian to learn the language of the enemy. After achieving his degree, Sherbourne switched from teaching metalwork and machine-tool mechanics to teaching foreign languages, and became Head of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages at a large secondary comprehensive school in North London, until he retired in 1979.

Section of Soviet Socialists map, c.1960s [MS434 A4249 4/12/2]

Even after taking a school party to the Soviet Union, and speaking to Jews at the Synagogue in Leningrad, Sherbourne did not learn about the Jewish problem in Russia until he attended a meeting in London where Jewish women from Leningrad spoke of their experiences. Following this meeting, the Association of Jewish Ex-service Men and Women organised a committee to help Soviet Jews, to which Michael and his wife Muriel asked to join. After telling the Committee that he could speak Russian, the first job delegated to him was to ring some of the Jews that had suffered in Russia. As Sherbourne made the phone calls, he received more and more numbers to call, particularly from a lady called Eder Nudel. Nudel made it her business to find Jewish prisoners who were given the misleading title of prisoners of Zion. Over a period of fifteen years, Sherbourne made up to six thousand telephone calls. Sherbourne would use the phone calls to find out when the person had applied for permission to immigrate, when they were refused, what difficulties they had faced from the police, and what their current situation was. Sherbourne would then communicate this information to the Israeli Embassy in London, and the activist group, the 35’s Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry. Over time, Sherbourne succeeded in forming a solid chain of communication between what he termed the “Refuseniks” and Jewish organisations wishing to help them emigrate from Russia.

Michael Sherbourne on the telephone with his recording equipment, c.1980s-1990s [MS434 A4249 7/4]

After meeting members of the 35s Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry at a conference held by the Chief Rabbi in Britain, Sherbourne began to work closely with the organisation. Peaceful protests were made outside theatres where Soviet artists performed, publicising the names of refuseniks and calling on the Soviet Union to release the Jews. Jeans were also sent to refuseniks to help them to earn money.

Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry calendar, 1989 [MS434 A4249 5/6]

Retiring from the synagogue and teaching in the late seventies left time for Sherbourne to write articles and give public talks on Soviet Jewry. Topics of these talks included “Russian Jewry: Triumph or Tragedy?”, “A Brief Account of Russian Anti-Semitism and the 35s Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry”, and “Jews in the U.S.S.R. – Cultural Genocide”. Sherbourne also attended talks relating to these topics, such as “Final Reckoning: Was the Soviet Union really ‘bad for the Jews’?” given by John Klier at the sixth annual Maccabean Lecture at King’s College London. Known as a strong personality in the campaign for Soviet Jewry, Sherborne received many enquiries, such as authors requesting his thoughts on their books and articles on the subject. An example includes Martin Gilbert on his publication Shcharansky Hero of Our Time.

Poster for talk given by Michael Sherbourne on “Russian Jewry Past, Present, and Future”, 2004 [MS434 A4249 1/3 Folder 8]

Putting his skill of being able to read and write in Russian to good use, Sherbourne also spent his time in the 1990s translating documents from Russian and Hebrew into English. Documents included publications, poems, and even family history and legal documents.

Front cover of We are from Russia by Paulina Kleiner translated from Russian by Michael Sherbourne, [MS434 A4249 2/1/1 Folder 1]

In 1971 Sherbourne invented the term “Refusenik”, when the Jewish movement in the USSR started to expand and the number of Refuseniks increased dramatically. Sherbourne went so far as to write to dictionary publishers and writers of newspaper articles when he thought that they had defined the word incorrectly, or had used the term incorrectly. Criticism included specifying that the term Refusenik refers only to a Jew, and that the term is not Yinglish, as it is a direct translation of the Russian word “Otkaznik”. He has also corrected publishers when he believed that definitions provided for “Red Sea” had been incorrect.

Some records within the Sherbourne collection relate to Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry. These include correspondence discussing the history of the organisation, newsletters and bulletins, and circulars and calendars. We also hold the collection MS 254 Papers of the Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry.

The Sherbourne collection provides a rich resource of material for the study of the campaign against the Soviet Jewry. Not only is there material which shows the point of view of parties outside Russia, there are also copies of the Russian magazine Kohtekct that contains articles relating to Soviet Jewry. Extensive material also relates to the conflict in the Middle East, as well as on anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and the Kristallnacht.

Thanks to the efforts of individuals like Michael Sherbourne, and organisations like the Women’s Campaign for the Soviet Jewry, Jewish communities in Russia have formed that have direct contact with many synagogues in Great Britain, who regularly meet.

“But there, in – inside the former Soviet Union, the children are teaching their parents to understand Judaism. It’s—it’s an amazing thing, how it’s risen, like Phoenix from the ashes. It’s amazing.” (Interview with Michael Sherborne, p.23, 6 September 2003 [MS434 A4249 1/1])

Michael Sherbourne on protest march in San Francisco near the Soviet Consulate, [MS434 A4249 7/2]

Preserving and conserving illustrations from the Printed Collections

In this week’s blog post Archives Assistant Emily Rawlings details her recent work rehousing illustrations from the Printed Collections.

As well as several hundred manuscript collections, and over 10,000 rare books, the Archives at Southampton is home to numerous prints of engravings, lithographs, etchings and woodcut illustrations from the 18th and 19th centuries. There are two collections of these: the Cope illustrations were part of the original bequest from William Cope (http://library.soton.ac.uk/cope) and provide an important visual record of the history of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The Main Library sequence of illustrations was acquired by the Library of the Hartley Institution in the late 19th century, and covers a wide range of subjects, including portraits, landmarks, wildlife and interpretations of Biblical scenes.

The illustrations were originally housed as loose sheets in plan chests, for anyone to consult in the Special Collections Open Access reading room. This arrangement resulted in mechanical damage from poor handling as drawers were rifled through, so the decision was made to move them to the environmentally-controlled archives strongroom in the early 1990s.

Original folders stored on archives shelving

Once moved into the secure accommodation the illustrations were assessed for preservation needs. The resulting treatment involved surface cleaning and rehousing in inert polyester wallets to protect them from further damage during handling. The original long-term proposal was to mount all the illustrations and store them in bespoke boxes. In the short-term, watercolour collections which had previously been separated by subject were reunited as collections, conserved, mounted and boxed; photographs were also removed and the prints and drawings were stored in their original folders flat on archive shelving. As an interim measure this was not successful as the folders were not rigid enough to adequately hold the slippery polyester sleeves, items that were larger than the folders were vulnerable to damage, and the folders were too large and unwieldy to move securely.

The folders provided inadequate protection for larger items

Over time individual illustrations were conserved and mounted, often for exhibition, but the plan to mount all the illustrations proved too costly in both time and materials. It was decided instead to re-house the collections in acid-free archival print boxes. These provide rigid enclosures for the prints and are lightweight to enable easy handling, as well as being easier to label and identify than the large, flat folders. Two sizes were chosen to represent the variety of supports, meaning that each collection of illustrations could be divided into two sequences according to the size of the individual prints and therefore held more securely, with less risk of damage to the smaller prints from slipping about in boxes that were too big.

Just like library books, the illustrations are classified according to subject, and they are stored in classmark order with a corresponding manual index. Re-housing the illustrations involved creating a running print-number sequence of illustrations in order of classmark, dividing up the prints into two sequences according to size, placing the prints into boxes in classmark order, and giving each box a number. As the project progressed, I maintained lists of which print numbers are in which box and made labels for each box detailing the class mark range held within.

The illustrations are now housed in the boxes, and are much easier to locate and handle safely.

Acid-free print boxes on archives shelving

The re-housing project was also an opportunity to carry out a simple condition survey of the collection to identify items requiring conservation treatment. This survey allowed a thorough inventory of the collection, which enabled cross-referencing with the manual index to check that the correct information for each print was recorded. It also gave a simple description of the condition of the collection so that a conservation plan for the illustrations could be formulated. Common examples of damage found in the collection include insect damage, surface and ingrained dirt, surface abrasion, staining and discolouration often due to acidic degradation of the paper, foxing caused by mould or bacteria, tears and lacunae to the object and damage caused by adhesion to poor quality paper supports and mounts.

Tears, dirt and discolouration to an interpretation of Passio Domini Nostri Jesu, engraved by K. Oertel [cq N 8026, print no. 440].

Stains and discolouration to a lithograph of Miss Fanny Kemble, drawn on stone by R. J. Lane [cq PN 2598.K28, print no. 525]

There are many ways to treat damaged artefacts, and all treatment decisions are made after careful examination and analysis of each item. A stained and discoloured print can be washed in water and/or solvents to both reduce and remove the cause of the staining. Tears and losses can be repaired using suitable tissues and papers and conservation-grade adhesives, most commonly wheat starch paste. Conservation treatments are both time consuming and expensive: the re-housing project and the basic conservation condition survey have allowed us to plan for this as well as ensuring the preservation needs of the illustrations are met.

The alphabetical subject/author index to the illustrations can be found in the Open Access area of Special Collections, accessible whenever the Library is open. The illustrations are available for researchers to consult in the Archives and Rare Books reading room.

Family correspondence of Sir William Temple

This week archivist John Rooney discusses his recent cataloguing of the family papers of Sir William Temple as part of ongoing work on the Broadlands archives.

Sir William Temple was the third child of Henry Temple, second Viscount Palmerston, and his second wife Mary Mee. Born on 19 January 1788, he was the younger brother of Henry John Temple, later third Viscount Palmerston. Alongside the two boys were three Temple sisters: Frances (the eldest), Elizabeth, and Mary. However, Mary, the youngest of the siblings, died when she was still a young child as a result of smallpox inoculation.

Letter from William Temple, Munich, to his mother Mary (Mee), Viscountess Palmerston, 11 July [1794]

Section BR32 of the Broadlands archives contains letters from William Temple to his mother, his brother Henry, and his sisters Frances and Elizabeth between 1794 and 1811, covering his early life and education. It begins when William is six years old and initially consists of letters to his mother, primarily relating to family life at Broadlands. In 1798 William followed his brother Henry to Harrow School where he studied until 1803. The correspondence from this period provides insights into his life at Harrow, as he discusses his studies and social engagements, together with details of Henry’s life at the University of Edinburgh, from 1800 to 1803, and subsequent tour of the Highlands. William and Henry were to maintain a close relationship throughout their lives with many of the letters in the collection containing references to (and reflections on) the future Prime Minister’s education and early political career.

It was with the death of their father on 17 April 1802 that Henry inherited the titled of third Viscount Palmerston. The following year he attended St John’s College, Cambridge, while William proceeded to the University of Edinburgh where he studied from 1803 to 1806. Correspondence from this period contains details of William’s life at Edinburgh, including his views on the controversial “Leslie affair” in which John Leslie, a suspected atheist, was appointed to the chair of mathematics at the University over the clergyman Thomas McKnight. Letters from 1805 also contain William’s views on the British victory at Trafalgar and the death of Lord Nelson, of which he writes: “If the report I have heard is true […] the late victory gained over the combined fleets, considering the number of the enemy’s ships taken, and the inferiority of our force; seems to me to be one of the most glorious and decisive that has ever taken place. It is impossible however to contemplate it with any feelings, but what are mixed with the deepest regret, when we consider how dearly it has been purchased; purchased with the loss of undoubtedly the greatest admiral Britain, or perhaps even the whole world, has ever produced.” [BR32/10/6]

As William made the move to Cambridge in 1806, Henry (now Lord Palmerston) was busy establishing his political career. He twice ran as a Tory candidate for the University of Cambridge constituency (first in 1806 and then again in 1807) but was defeated both times. He finally entered Parliament as Tory MP for the pocket borough of Newport in June 1807 and made his maiden speech on 3 February 1808, in which he defended the recent expedition against Copenhagen. Of the speech William writes: “I was surprised to hear him speak with such fluency and with so little hesitation, as speaking at all for the first night, but particularly before so large an audience and on so important a subject must be a most formidable undertaking. He performed however with very great success, and I am very happy to find that Sir Vicary Gibbs has written to Wood mentioning Harry’s debut in high terms of commendation…” [BR32/13/1]

Broadlands, the family home of the Temple children was later inherited by Henry John Temple, third Viscount Palmerston

A small selection of correspondence covers the period 1833 to 1837 during which time William is serving as British ambassador in Naples (1832-56). The letters from this period are from his sisters Frances (now married to William Bowles) and Elizabeth (now married to Laurence Sullivan), and Emily Ashley Cooper, Countess of Shaftesbury, primarily concerning family life, recent events at Broadlands, and William’s life in Naples. The final two letters date from 1856, the year of William’s death, with one being from Dr. William Ferguson to Lord Palmerston concerning his attending William during his final illness. Sir William Temple died on 24 July 1856, leaving no issue.

The accompanying section BR31 consists of two letters concerning the settlement of William’s estate, including a letter relating to a major collection of antiques bequeathed to the British Museum. By the time of his death both Frances and Elizabeth had passed away, leaving Henry, the eldest, the last surviving of the Temple children.

Lauching our new website

Frequent visitors to the Special Collections website will notice the new and improved design.  It is now constructed to be fully compatible with tablets, mobile phones and other devices.

Home page of the new Special Collections website

All the familiar features are still present including the searchable archive databases for the Guide to the Collections and the Mountbatten, Wellington and Palmerston Papers plus the Virtual Reading Room which provides access to digital images of material from the Palmerston Papers and the Anglo-Jewish Archives.

We have plans to expand our catalogues and finding aids with A-Z guides of subjects and names of individuals to help you navigate the collections.  This will build on the ten thematic guides on our website giving an introduction to sources for Jewish Genealogy, Refugees in the 20th Century, Holocaust, Sources on the 18th century, University of Southampton, First World War, Military and Political Collections, Sources about Ireland, Genealogical Sources in the Broadlands Archives and Ghettos.  There also will be a considerable expansion of the catalogues accessible online, helping you mine the riches of the collections.

Future social media plans include a Facebook page – watch this space!

Universal Children’s Day

Today, 20 November, is Universal Children’s Day in the UK and many other countries around the world.  Over 60 years ago, the United Nations encouraged all countries to promote mutual exchange and understanding among children and to initiate action to benefit and promote the welfare of the world’s children.  Universal Children’s Day is not simply a day to celebrate children for who they are, but of bring awareness to children around the globe that have suffered abuse, exploitation and discrimination.

We take the opportunity to share with you some of our holdings which relate specifically to the welfare of children.  Recent acquisitions are archives concerning a relatively little-known influx of child refugees just prior to World War II.

Black and white photograph of six boys in a colony; some are giving the clenched fist salute, a symbol frequently used express unity or defiance and resistance in the face of violence. [MS 370]

In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, a group of almost 4,000 children, the niños vascos, plus some teachers and priests, were evacuated to the UK from Santurce/Santurzi, the port of Bilbão/Bilbo in the Basque region of Spain.  They were part of a movement which saw some 20,000 children leave the war zone, dispersed to countries across Europe and overseas. War, hunger, revolution, counter-revolution, denunciations, persecution, summary trials and executions, and mass repression resulted in the disintegration of family and community life and forced thousands of people into exile. Homes or “colonies” were set up all over the UK, mainly in England and Wales, staffed and financed by individual volunteers, church groups, trade unions, and other interested groups. Those Guernica evacuees who remained in the UK became known as the “Basque children” and tried to keep in touch with each other.  An organisation, the Basque Children of ‘37 Association UK, was founded in November 2002 with the desire that these children should not become los olvidados (the “forgotten ones”).

The Special Collections holds archives for the Basque Children of ‘37 Association UK (MS 404), together with small collections relating to Basque child refugees (MS 370) that have come from individuals. There are also a series of interviews of niños vascos conducted as part of an oral history project undertaken by the University of Southampton: http://livesite.soton.ac.uk:1776/archives/projects/losninos.page

The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the University of Southampton, in partnership with Hampshire Archives and Local Studies, a grant for a project under its Your Heritage scheme. Led by Dr Alicia Pozo-Gutierrez and Professor Chris Woolgar, the project recorded life story interviews to document an important facet of the Spanish Civil War and its consequences.  The project looked at the experiences of the children who came to Southampton and the UK, their lives here, the question of return to the Iberian peninsula, and the complex questions that arise from transnational migration in time of conflict. The interviews were carried out by volunteers.

A book, Here, look after him, came out of the oral history project and can be purchased at the online store: http://store.southampton.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=1&catid=150&prodid=1109

You can also view an online exhibition which was produced as part of the project: http://livesite.soton.ac.uk:1776/archives/exhibitions/online/basques.page

Conserving the Wellington Papers

With a special Explore the Wellington Archive event and the 27th Wellington Lecture taking place at the end of the month, we take the opportunity to look at the ongoing work being done to conserve the Wellington Papers.

The Wellington Papers came to Southampton with a major challenge of conservation: some ten percent of the collection was so badly damaged it was unfit to handle and 10,000 documents were in a parlous condition. The University has made good progress: about seventy percent has been conserved and is now available for research, including papers for 1822 (for the Congress of Verona), for Wellington as Prime Minister in 1829 (the year of Catholic emancipation), and for some of the Peninsular War.

A campaign to raise funds for the conservation of the Wellington Papers was launched in October 2010. Grants from the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust, the J.Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust and the Rothschild Foundation as well as modest funding from alumni supported the conservation of the badly degraded and mould-damaged papers from 1832, which is described in this article. A current project, jointly funded by the Foyle Foundation and the University and appropriate for the bicentenary of Waterloo, is focussed on the military papers for 1815.

The conservators began by working with the less severely damaged materials for 1832 to enable them to develop expertise in conserving this type of exceedingly fragile material before tackling the most fragmentary bundles.

Documents were fully documented before separation. Tests carried out before treatment included fibre analysis, chemical spot tests, pH tests to determine acidity, mechanical rub tests for surface cleaning, examination under optical microscopes and UV light and tests to determine ink solubility and the extent of iron gall ink corrosion.

Papers were separated manually and collated. Separation, particularly of the most severely damaged bundles, is a painstaking and time-consuming task. In some instances papers have fused together due to compression whilst damp and great care is necessary to prevent disintegration of the paper.

Surface cleaning was undertaken where possible and where necessary individual items were given aqueous treatments, including washing supported on non-woven polyester on silk screens in cold and warm water to remove discolouration and soluble degradation products, calcium phytate treatment to stabilise iron gall ink corrosion and deacidification with calcium hydrogen carbonate. Fragments were washed alongside documents either loose or within non-woven polyester pockets. These were then realigned with the original which was lined to hold all fragments in place during the repair procedure.

The documents were repaired by leafcasting similarly toned paper pulp consisting of a blend of cotton and hemp fibres. The conservators have created a reference tool of differently toned papers that match the papers within the collection. Griffin Mill Papermakers produced a special making of handmade paper to our specification.

After humidification, pressing and resizing where necessary, documents were refolded and stored in custom made four flap folders and acid free boxes. Any fragments that could not be identified were noted, housed in melinex pockets and stored alongside the documents. Photographic documentation was made of all the processes.

To date most of the bundles of documents have been conserved using leaf casting and paper pulp repair. The expertise gained by the conservators has enabled them to concentrate on the most fragile items with work underway on the separation and stabilisation of the final 6 bundles. These present some of the most severe conservation challenges as the separation of fragmented material can take several months to complete before any treatment is possible.

Many of the fragmented bundles for 1832 are now accessible for the first time since the 1940s. This is historically very significant material as it includes the first Duke of Wellington’s papers relating to the first Reform Act. As Wellington was the leader of the Tories in the House of Lords during the progress of the Act, by enabling archivists to access and catalogue the material, the whole picture of the debate now will be available.

As noted above, on Wednesday 28 October 2015 the Special Collections will be hosting a free open afternoon in conjunction with the 27th Wellington Lecture.  It will provide an opportunity for visitors to view some of the Wellington Archive and to meet the curators. For further information and to register please go to: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/exploring-the-wellington-archive-university-of-southampton-tickets-18286477346