Notes from the archive
By Shelley Hollingdrake, archive collections officer
For the first time in 25 years, the SDC archive collection will now be brought under one roof at Perkin House in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Most recently, we announced that Shelley Hollingdrake — previously the SDC’s education and engagement officer — will be taking on the new role as historical collections officer to help the society bring its fascinating textile collection together once more.
As the first of 12, we’re delighted to announce our latest blog series ‘Notes from the archive’, whereby you can keep up with monthly updates from the SDC’s textile collection — courtesy of our newly appointed historical collections officer, Shelley.
March 2024
Commenting on the launch, Shelley said: “I feel really privileged to be able to bring you news and updates from the SDC textile collection, where I will be posting about our wide range of activities and plans. I hope this new blog series will provide insight into the incredible variety of our collection — as well as the challenges that come with collecting digital records.”
Future plans
We have a huge collection and a ‘wonderful assortment of treasures’ as Dr Claire Wellesley-Smith commented on a recent visit: “It’s great to see your collections coming together again. The SDC archive is a significant piece of industrial heritage. It combines scientific and cultural knowledge over a long period of time and makes connections between past, present and future developments visible. It is always a pleasure to work with this unique resource and the knowledge of yourselves”
The society’s plans for the first six months are to begin the lengthy (and fantastically interesting) process of cataloguing the collection onto our collections management system (CMS). This includes researching each item, looking at its condition, photographing and logging it. With thousands of objects to uncover this will be quite a task!
Recent developments
Having brought the collection together for the first time in over twenty years, we have been busy making space for the hundreds of boxes containing the collection and ordering them to begin the cataloguing process.
The SDC has also recently played its part in the Colours Uncovered exhibition at Harewood House.
Commenting on the society’s efforts to assist with the exhibition, our historical collections officer, Shelley Hollingdrake, said: “Pulling up to the front door of Harewood House on a misty Monday morning to be greeted by Rebecca Burton, Curator, was a great way to start the week! We enjoyed unpacking the objects from our collection and were given a whirlwind tour of the house as it goes through its spring awakening. Rebecca was amazed at the objects from our collection when opening the boxes and understood completely how colour touches every aspect of our lives.”
The exhibition is now open and runs until 9 June 2024.
Coming soon
In recognition of our 140th year, the society has a busy year ahead from exhibition ‘show and tells’ at International Design Competition heats, mini exhibitions at the upcoming AGM and our annual Day of Celebration — we will also be highlighting the textile collection at the upcoming Dyes in History and Archaeology Conference (DHA43) in October.