Hidden histories panel final draft

Thank you everyone for your comments, I’ve done what I can with them all, if there is still anything you strongly object to here please tell me as soon as possible.  I’m going to ask the university printer dept designers to make this look nice and ask if they can add a campus map (with the departments we have objects from highlighted) as our main illustration.

Here is the updated panel, building on from the first draft. How does everyone feel about having their name listed on the panel as part of the museum team responsible for this case?

Hidden Histories

Objects can offer the first clue and a great inspiration to explore new stories in the history of science. Here at Leeds we have recovered treasures once hidden across campus:  the camera used to take the first picture of DNA; a century-old seed tray tucked away in a now redundant teaching collection; an entire bookmaking workshop complete with papermaking, typesetting and bookbinding apparatus, to name a few.

All have interesting stories to tell.  Together they give a rare glimpse of the University’s
rich heritage, its origins as a medical school, its early days aiding the local textile industry, and its gradual transition into the institution it is today.   More than that, we get a sense of day-to-day life at the university back when these objects were used in teaching and
research.

For more information on the project or all these objects and more please see our videos on YouTube, our blog and our website.

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Hidden histories panel

Here is my draft text – please comment asap, the university printers (pcb) have said they need a week to print, so I’d like to send it off on Wednesday if I possibly can.  I thought we might use a map of campus (as I think Michael Kay suggested back at one of our first meetings) as the main illustration for the panel, ideally highlighting the departments we have objects from.  If anyone would like to suggest alternatives or additions to this please say.

Just so you know, I thought we might get a free standing panel (see the free standing panels outside the language dept as an example; the printers only do one size) to stand alongside the case.  Do say if you don’t think this is a good idea.  Also please tell me if any of you have any design skills – I have the dimensions, the text (see below) and illustration ideas, but no real clue as to how to put that all together to make something that looks nice.  If I get no volunteers I may have to send it to pcb’s designer.  Anyway, here is the text (its 154words as it stands):

Hidden Histories

Objects can offer the first clue and a great inspiration to explore new stories in the history of science. Here at Leeds we have recovered treasures once hidden across campus:  the camera used to take the first picture of DNA; a tray containing century old seeds tucked away in a now redundant teaching collection; an entire bookmaking workshop complete with papermaking, typesetting and bookbinding apparatus.

Individually these objects have interesting stories to tell.  Together they give a rare glimpse of the University’s rich heritage, its origins as a medical school, its early days aiding the local textile industry, and its gradual transition to become the institution it is today.   More than that, we get the details, daily life at the University, as these objects played
their part in teaching and research.

For more information on the project or all these objects and more please see our videos on YouTube; our blog and our website.