#UPMTC: Archives: A Brief Introduction, by Georgina Orgill
The final blog post in our series documenting the first Underpinnings Museum Twitter conference shares the presentation by Georgina Orgill, entitled Archives: A Brief Introduction.
UAL Archives and Special Collections Centre is home to over 25 different collections and archives related to filmmaking, graphic design, sound arts, comic books and the history of printing. This presentation will delve into some of our collections to reveal some unexpected underwear trivia and examine the practical aspect of carrying out research in archives.
Georgina Orgill is Senior Archivist and Stanley Kubrick Archivist working in the Archives and Special Collections Centre at University of the Arts London (UAL).
1 #UPMTC We have over 25 collections at the ASCC focused on filmmaking, graphic design, comic books & sound arts. Doesn’t sound like we’d have anything about underwear! But I want to show you a few surprises I found and talk about the process of conducting archival research.
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
2 #UPMTC The Stanley Kubrick Archive is our largest archive & has the only actual underwear we hold – underpants worn by Jack Nicholson in The Shining, as well as material about underwear designed for the astronauts in 2001: A Space Odyssey: ‘slickly tailored’ boxer shorts. pic.twitter.com/EiVHmuIkv3
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
3 #UPMTC We also hold the David Usborne Collection, a diverse collection of over 300 functional objects with an aesthetic value. A lot of the items were used in manufacturing & we have this stocking stretcher used in the manufacture of tights. pic.twitter.com/BkVvrzYOZ4
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
4 #UPMTC We also hold material created by our own students. This is a piece made by Candice Stewart and is part of the Tell Us About It Archive. In her statement she talks about the structure, strength & determination of the bra as related to her experience studying at UAL. pic.twitter.com/1psWfyuG4B
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
5 #UPMTC Even though our collections aren’t ostensibly places where you might expect to find underwear, I actually came up with quite a lot. Doing archival research sometimes requires you to look in unexpected places, & can be a complex process.
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
6 #UPMTC It can sometimes be difficult to know where to start looking. The archives of one person/group/company can be held in several archives and they don’t tend to be well-advertised – if you’ve never used one before the process can be intimidating.
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
7 #UPMTC One good place to start looking within the UK is Archives Hub https://t.co/bWYhrQtG6V This allows you to search for the archives of individuals, institutions and groups held in the UK. You can search by keywords or names, and it will show you where material is held.
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
8 #UPMTC Discovery is another similar search engine run by The National Archives https://t.co/M41eRIFzAs. TNA also have lots of useful guides to conducting research in archives, so it’s a good website to visit!
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
9 #UPMTC If you’re looking for archival material held outside the UK, Archives Portal Europe is a good place to start: https://t.co/RIYvxxTsH3
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
10 #UPMTC Most archives will need to you book an appointment before visiting, and different places will have different access arrangements. Some archives will have online catalogues where you can request material in advance. There might also be restrictions on photography.
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
11 #UPMTC When you visit archives, definitely ask the archivist’s advice about your research. We can’t help with everything, but we can suggest material to look at, help you with the catalogue or tell you about related collections held elsewhere.
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
12 #UPMTC Hopefully this will have given you a few starting points if you’re new to researching in archives. They can feel like intimidating spaces but most are free & open to all. You can learn more about all our collections here & how to visit by clicking the link in our bio.
— UAL Archives (@UAL_Archives) January 12, 2018
We have been sharing each of the conference presentations via its own blog post – you can find the whole series here. If you’re on Twitter, you can join the discussion via the Underpinnings Museum’s account and the conference hashtag #UPMTC
The header image for this post is the packaging for a pair of sheer cream silk stockings with clocked ankle by Rosaine Hosiery (c. 1920s, USA) from the Underpinnings Museum collections. Photography by Tigz Rice. Full listing coming soon.