The Young Archivist’s Group: Revisited - 31 January 2022

Want to read the School’s Punishment Book from 1881, and perhaps see the very first photograph of Bromsgrovians? Then I suggest you head out, not to the Old Chapel back in 2020, but the Heritage Centre to take part in the Young Archivists Group!

“The words ‘Young Archivists’ were very appealing to me and I was curious to see what it was about, as well as try something new”- the words of William D, a student of Bromsgrove, who was eager to familiarise himself with what this Bromsgrove Service was all about.

The Young Archivists group is all about storage and preserving our School’s history, whether it be done digitally or physically. Archives are incredibly useful for current members of the School and alumni to get in touch with people they remember and obtain some information or pictures of them for different occasions. For example, if you want to embarrass your friend whilst giving a best man speech, simply pull out a photo taken years ago from Bromsgrove’s archives, when he does not look in the most pleasant state…

But what do we actually do here?

On the day that I visited, Ms Thorpe, our archivist, was gracious enough to allocate us a simple task as an archivist: to sort out materials from the Old Chapel and assess what is needed, labeling and repackaging each of them in archival sleeves, then into boxes which are to be stored away in a MASSIVE storage facility the School has.

  
 

Along with storing material physically, you also store them electronically by cataloging the items on an Excel spreadsheet, marking roughly its date of creation, box listing it and sorting it.

Another fascinating thing about The Young Archivists Group is its outstanding museum, which preserves the social history of Bromsgrove School. It is not a static exhibition since more items are constantly being brought in from relatives of past Bromsgrovians, so each time you visit, something changes in order for you get a wider view of our School’s past. It gives a lot of information on students during both World Wars and fun facts you didn’t know about your School.

And on that note, give this Bromsgrove Service a try every Tuesday at the Heritage Centre, and if I haven’t convinced you, maybe these pictures will…

- Written by Naomi N