Kingston University is getting ready to celebrate 100 years and U3A members have been asked to help uncover its history.
The university, which currently has over 20,000 students, was formed in 1992 when Kingston College of Technology, Kingston College of Art and Gipsy Hill Teacher Training College merged. Gipsy Hill teacher training college, which moved from South London to Kingston in 1946, is the oldest part of the university and will be 100 years old in 2017.
The project is a shared learning project (SLP) between the U3A and Kingston University Archives and Special Collections, which contain thousands of documents relating to the history of the university.
As part of the centenary the U3A would like to learn more about the Kingston Hill campus and the history of the buildings there. There is already some information, including that one of the buildings was owned by Florence Nightingale’s aunt and uncle, and that the crown prince of Egypt spent a few years there in the early 1900s.
The site has a fascinating story to discover and this is the aim of this project.
We ask SLP members to:
- Be available during the months of June, July and August 2016.
- Come to a preliminary meeting on 25 May to meet the group
- Attend an introductory meeting on 8 June and then fortnightly meetings
- The meetings will be on Wednesdays from 11am-1pm at Kingston University
- There will be a total of six meetings including the final presentation on 17 August
- Be prepared to work on the project on your own or in pairs between meetings
- You need to be computer literate: Microsoft Office, use the internet and email
- You need to come to most of the meetings
- Be prepared to contribute your research towards the final report at the end of the project
What’s in it for you?
- To work as part of team and develop your knowledge and research skills
- First time SLP members are welcome
- Your research, written up into a report, will be used to help celebrate the centenary of Gipsy Hill, and will be made available to future researchers looking at the site
For an application form and further information contact Jennifer Anning at ja_ku3a@btinternet.com.