Showing 17 results

collections
Alexina Weir papers
GB 249 OM/473 · Collection · 1932-1942

Scottish Universities Entrance Board certificate of fitness to enter upon a course qualifying for graduation in any Faculty in a Scottish University; Royal Technical College class certificates and Diploma in Chemistry; University of Glasgow examination certificates and degree parchment; letter from [ ] Bilsland, Office of the District Commissioner for Civil Defence, Glasgow, conveying best wishes to Miss Weir for her future happiness and thanks for all her work in the laboratory.

O'Beirne, Alexina Hossack, 1914-2000, analytical chemist
GB 249 SOHC 18 · Collection · 2009

Oral history project, conducted in 2009 by David Walker of the Scottish Oral History Centre at the University of Strathclyde on behalf of Glasgow Museums, interviewing those who had earned their living working at Glasgow’s docks. A total of 17 men were selected as suitable for the project but in the end only 12 participated, with some becoming ill and others unavailable for interview. Although a smaller cohort was used than originally intended it did provide a representative sample of workers with experience of most of the docks that operated along the Upper Clyde at Glasgow and its environs. The group also had experience of many of the jobs undertaken such as electrician, plan maker and superintendent stevedore, plater, winch operator, checker, and crane driver. One additional respondent was interviewed who had never worked at the docks but had lived at Shiels Farm and had witnessed the opening of the still operational King George V dock in 1931. The average age of those interviewed was 72 with birth dates ranging from 1926 to 1947. All of the interviews were conducted at the respondent’s home with one exception which was conducted at the Scottish Oral History Centre.

The interviews were semi-structured in style which allowed the respondents to talk beyond their working lives. Hence the testimonies provide evidence of the daily work and conditions in which their working lives were undertaken but they also touch on other aspects of their lives, including family relationships, early job opportunities and trade union activities. The respondents were not only generous in donating their memories but also in providing photographic images which help illustrate the people interviewed, the types of ships that they worked on, buildings now demolished, and tasks undertaken such as handling large steel slabs, grain, coal or scrap iron. Although each interview was conducted separately there was some overlap in the recollections mainly due to the fact that many of the men knew each other as workmates and inevitably they were exposed to similar events in their careers.

University of Strathclyde | Scottish Oral History Centre
Glasgow Novel collection
GB 249 SC Glasgow Novel · Collection · 1819-2011

Collection of fictional works in which the city of Glasgow is an integral element or theme. First editions are present where available. The collection offers researchers the opportunity to consider the variety of historical and literary approaches used to depict Glasgow.

University of Strathclyde | Library
GB 249 GW · Collection · 2003 - 2004

Recordings and full transcripts of 6 interviews conducted with Wyllie by freelance oral history interviewer Jenny Simmons between 10 December 2003 and 15 March 2004. The interviews follow a 'life story' format, covering Wyllie's family background, childhood, education, work, leisure and later life.

Wyllie, George Ralston, 1921-2012, artist and sculptor
GB 249 SOHC 8 · Collection · Original recordings, 2005

Conversations between Neil Rafeek and two men who spent their working lives as laggers in the Clydeside heavy industries. Topics covered include childhood and growing up in Glasgow, the Clydebank blitz, housing, domestic life, social life, football, sectarianism, gang culture, National Service, working conditions, trade unions, health and safety, asbestos.

Includes notes and draft publications relating to a project about the working culture and notions of masculinity in Clydeside heavy industries.

University of Strathclyde | Scottish Oral History Centre
GB 249 SOHC 38 · Collection · 2019

Ongoing oral history project being carried out by Stellar Quines, a Scottish theatre company.

In the autumn of 2019, Stellar Quines created and toured 'Fibres', a play by Frances Poet about the impact of the shipyards and asbestos on a Glasgow family. It was inspired by a true story and mirrored hundreds of similar stories in Glasgow and the rest of the UK. In addition to producing the play, the company collaborated with Clydeside Action on Asbestos, one of Glasgow’s primary support services for those impacted by asbestos, to undertake an oral history project to gather some of those Glasgow stories .

The interviewer is Rosie Priest, Creative Learning Associate, Stellar Quines.

Stellar Quines
GB 249 SOHC 39 · Collection · 2013 - 2014

Oral history project, conducted in 2013 and 2014 by Andrew Kendrick, Angela Bartie, Moyra Hawthorn and Julie Shaw, researchers at the University of Strathclyde. The project's aim was to record the personal experiences of residential workers and children's social workers who worked with children in residential services in the period 1960 – 1975, exploring their views on the experiences of children and standards, and their reflections on changes over time. 22 people were interviewed.

The interviewees include house parents, residential care workers, social workers, childcare officers and teachers. They worked in a range of care environments including residential care homes and nurseries, group homes, and List D schools. These were located across Scotland including Edinburgh and the Lothians, Glasgow, Aberdeenshire, Stirlingshire, Ayrshire, Argyll, and Angus.

Topics covered in the interviews include working roles, daily routines, the backgrounds of the young people coming into care, social and economic conditions at that time, and standards of care within different care home environments. The interviews also discuss child abuse, use of corporal punishment, relationships with colleagues, education, dealing with challenging behaviour, the introduction of the Social Work (Scotland) Act and the children’s hearing system, and thoughts on developments in residential care.

Bartie, Angela, b.c. 1979, historian
GB 249 SOHC 32 · Collection · May - September 2018

Oral history project, conducted in May - September 2018 by Rory Stride, with women formerly employed at James Templeton & Co., carpet manufacturers, between c. 1960 and 1981. A total of six women were interviewed. The interviews last approximately between 45 minutes and 1 hour 15 minutes and were conducted at a variety of places across Scotland. The interview questions were semi-structured and largely directed by the responses of the participants.

The interviews focus on the women’s working lives and their first experiences of employment after secondary school but specifically exploring their experience of work at James Templeton & Co., the preeminent carpet manufacturers in Glasgow during the 1960s and 1970s. The company had seven factories, located in the east end and southside of Glasgow with the company’s Crown Street factory being the last to close in early 1981 when Templeton Carpets amalgamated with Stoddard Carpets. Topics discussed include trade unions, working conditions, gender divisions in labour, staff camaraderie, management and staff relationships, and periods of redundancy, unemployment and re-employment after leaving James Templeton & Co. The interviews also cover the women's feelings and opinions regarding the gentrification and redevelopment of the former headquarters and factory of James Templeton & Co. located at Templeton Street on the north eastern edge of Glasgow Green.

University of Strathclyde | Scottish Oral History Centre
GB 249 OP · Collection · 1792 to date

Black and white, sepia and colour photographic prints and negatives, including glass negatives; transparencies; postcards; sketches and artists' impressions.

Photographs of people are mainly individual and group photographs of staff and students. Images of machinery and equipment include slides used for teaching purposes, and an early photograph of an Argyll motor car on the ramp in the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory. Photographs of University buildings include Anderson's University, the Mechanics' Institution, the Weaving, Dyeing and Printing College and Allan Glen's School, in addition to the later buildings of the Royal Technical College and the Scottish College of Commerce and the modern buildings of the University. The visit by HM King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and the laying of the foundation stone of the Royal College Building in 1903 is also represented in the collection. There are also aerial photographs of the campus at various periods of development. Photograph albums preserve the memory of honorary graduations, VIP visits and other events.

Robertson collection
GB 249 SC Robertson · Collection · 1678 to date

Collection of material on the history and description of Glasgow, industrial archaeology in the West of Scotland, Scottish topography and travel history. Also includes a collection of ephemera, notes and articles.

Robertson, John, 1912-1990, local government officer and researcher
GB 249 OF/26 · Collection · 1944-2007
  • Management committee papers
  • Annual reports
  • Financial records
  • Estates and buildings records
  • Certificates of accreditation of courses
  • Prospectuses
  • Course leaflets
  • Handbooks for international students
  • Examination papers
  • Awards ceremony programmes
  • Student records
  • Prize and scholarship records
  • Uniforms
  • Student memorabilia
  • Group photographs
  • Internationale Kochkunst Grosser Preis medal
  • Function menus
  • Visitors' books
  • News cuttings books
  • Year books and newsletters
  • Teaching aids
  • Published articles about the Scottish Hotel School
  • Corporate merchandise
  • Board game entitled 'Who wants to be a hotelier'
  • Certificate of corporate membership of Hospitality Action
  • Scottish Hotel School Library records
Scottish Hotel School
Singer strike, 1911
GB 249 SOHC 2 · Collection · Original recordings, 1988

Conversations between members of Glasgow Labour History Workshop and former Singer employees, discussing working conditions and the strike at the Singer sewing machine plant in Clydebank, Scotland, March / April 1911.

Clydeside industrialists began to introduce scientific management practices in 1910. The Singer sewing machine plant in Clydebank became the site of the first explicit confrontation between capital and labour in Scotland resulting from the ensuing reorganisation of work processes. Within two days of twelve female cabinet polishers going on strike, the Singer works became paralysed as the majority of the 11,000 workforce joined in.

University of Strathclyde | Scottish Oral History Centre
GB 249 SOHC 45 · Collection · 2014

Oral history project conducted on 1st and 8th October 2014 by Rebekah Russell for her history honours dissertation entitled 'Deindustrialisation in Springburn and the impacts on women's lives in 1960-1990' at the University of Strathclyde. The project aimed to gather information as to the nature of working life and the impact of local factory closures on women who lived or worked in the Springburn area of Glasgow during the period 1960-1990. 8 retired women were interviewed at the Alive & Kicking Project, Springburn: Betty Long, Catherine Rogers, Isabella Martin, Joan Pollock, May McAleese, Molly Roy, Margaret Cullen and Susan McFarlane. Topics covered in interview included descriptions of daily life during the period, details of job losses, redundancies, health issues, gender stereotypes encountered in the workplace, struggles for equal rights and equal pay with male work colleagues, and the effect upon the women, their families and their community of local factory closures in Springburn during the Thatcher Government of the 1980s. Some transcripts are incomplete.

Russell, Rebekah, b. c. 1990s, student at University of Strathclyde
Study Circle records
GB 249 STU · Collection · 1894 - 1942

Study Circle minute book, 1919-1937; envelope of newspaper cuttings, telegrams, letters and other ephemera collected by or associated with the Study Circle, 1909-1942; album containing character testimonials, tributes, letters, election leaflets, newspaper and magazine articles and other ephemera relating to Robert Shanks, founder of the Study Circle, 1894-1921.

Study Circle, Glasgow
Thomas O'Beirne papers
GB 249 OM/472 · Collection · 1934 - 1947

Correspondence relating to engineering qualifications; photograph of Royal Technical College students participating in the annual Student Charities Day; caricature drawing of Keith Speirs (known as 'Bindle'), Union Attendant at the Royal Technical College; copy of 'Uno Ygorra', the Glasgow Students' Charities Committee magazine.

O'Beirne, Thomas, 1910-1975, mechanical engineer