Fonds ABY-DTCSA - Dundee Technical College and School of Art (formerly Dundee Technical Institute)

Identity area

Reference code

GB 3516 ABY-DTCSA

Title

Dundee Technical College and School of Art (formerly Dundee Technical Institute)

Date(s)

  • c. 1870-1936 (Accumulation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

88 volumes, 4 files, 2 folders, 1 archive box (49 photographs), 1 bundle, 1 rolled plan, and 2 loose sheets.

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Name of creator

Archival history

Dundee Technical College and School of Art was originally established as Dundee Technical Institute in 1888 under the Baxter Bequest. Sir David Baxter of Kilmaron bequeathed £20,000 for the establishment of a mechanics institute in Dundee for "the education of boys and young men in those branches of learning necessary or useful for working mechanics and other craftsmen".

After an initial test run of an initial syllabus under the administration of University College Dundee in 1887, courses were offered under its official name in 1888 in technical subjects, such as building construction. Later courses in jute manufacture, electricity, and telegraphy followed, and provision was also made for providing applied art classes as well.

The Institute was initially established in a building within the precinct of University College Dundee in Smalls Wynd, but the accommodation proved insufficient , and by 1901/02 rooms were also used in the YMCA and at Dundee High School. In 1907 work began on constructing new premises on West Bell Street, and this was completed in 1911, at which point the institution was re-named the Dundee Technical College and School of Art.

It carried on under this name until 1933 when a new scheme of management formed an art college under the Duncan of Jordanstone Bequest and incorporated it into a governing body administering it and the technical college, forming the Dundee Institute of Art and Technology.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Records transferred from the Secretariat and Library of Abertay University in 2019.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The collection consists of records relating to the administration and development of the Dundee Technical Institute, which later became the Dundee Technical College and School of Art.

The core of the collection is in the form of minutes of the main governing body (ABY-DTCSA-1) and committee of management (ABY-DTCSA-2), student enrolment registers recording academic achievements of students (ABY-DTCSA-3). These registers start at the end of 1902, and the gap in the student record before this is partially addressed by the prize lists that were published from 1892/3 onwards (ABY-DTCSA-7). These are amongst another core publicity record, syllabuses (prospectuses) advertising courses offered and describing their content (ABY-DTCSA-7).

A large part of the collection consists of correspondence relating to officials, such as the principal and treasurer (ABY-DTCSA-3-3, 4, 5, & 6). Amongst these are a number of letters from serving soldiers during the First World War giving accounts of what they are experiencing.

Other records dealing with development of the institution include the published Principal’s Reports starting in 1913/14 (ABY-DTCSA-6) and top level financial accounts (abstracts) within the financial records (ABY-DTCSA-4). Estates records also provide a detailed record of the project to construct a new building in Bell Street at the beginning of the twentieth century, including building plans (ABY-DTCSA-5).

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Final

Level of detail

Minimal

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

Script(s)

Sources

Accession area