Update April 2009 : There will be an opportunity to visit the Archive during the 6th Annual Kings Alumni Weekend of 12-14 June 2009. For more information visit the Events Page, or click here to visit the Kings Alumni website.

(click on the banner above to go to the QEC archive, which is now live)

A recent successful Annual Fund application entitled; Student Days: images and documents from Chelsea and Queen Elizabeth Colleges 1900 – 1985 was passed in May 2008 and the funds have recently been transferred to the KCL archivists in order to commence work.

The following is with thanks to John Brockhouse who has been following the Annual Fund application on behalf of the KCHSS and QEC Committee.

The College Archives holds a large collection of photographs, publications and ephemera from Chelsea and Queen Elizabeth Colleges, with the QE material covering the College’s early emergence as a pioneer in women’s education and in the teaching of nutritional science through to its merger with King’s in 1985. The collections are full of vital and valuable material. They contain syllabuses and prospectuses for instance, which an ongoing value for alumni in explaining the detail of their courses of study. They also contain a wealth of illustrative material for alumni-focussed events and exhibitions.

At present the catalogues and collections are incomplete, lack detail and exist only in paper form. All of this limits their use and appeal. Many items also need sorting and repackaging. The application intends to conserve the collections, to redraft and relaunch the catalogues and deliver some choice content in a permanent Web display of images and documents.

There are approximately 40 boxes of ephemera and photographs – from staff and student portraiture, student magazines, press cuttings and lecture series. There is even an original sketch from the cartoonist Quentin Blake illustrating the front cover of a programme for a theatrical review at Chelsea College in 1957.

Much of the money needed for this project came from Archives budget with the remaining £4,095 coming from the Annual Fund and they have predicted a 3 month schedule for the first stage of item identification and collection care. The second and third stages are of web publication and promotion.

We will of course be updating the wider alumni population at a later date upon the completion of the work, however, should members of the Queen Elizabeth College alumnus group be interested in a tour of the physical archive material or other ways to get involved in the funding and promotion of this valuable resource please contact Robbie Buscombe (see below).

Robbie Buscombe
Head of Individual Giving
King's College London
James Clerk Maxwell Building
57 Waterloo Road
London SE1 8WA
Tel: 020 7848 3005
Fax: 020 7848 3070
Website: www.kcl.ac.uk

This page updated 05 October 2011 - with link to the live archive site)