FromBirmingham Infants Health Society & School of Mothercraft 6th Annual Report [MS 4101].
Birmingham Heritage Week provides an ideal opportunity for The Friends of Birmingham Archives & Heritage (FoBAH) to finally showcase the results of their Born in Birmingham project (funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund) some 18 months later than expected.
The pop-up exhibition in the Wolfson Centre for Archival Research at the Library of Birmingham on Friday 17th September (1-4pm) will show the culmination of the research efforts of a team of volunteers who uncovered much about infant and women’s health and the pioneering work of those who worked in maternity services 100 years ago in Birmingham.
Here at the Iron Room, we are proud to support our community and especially those who do good work for its residents. The John Taylor Hospice is one such organisation. They have launched an appeal for contributions to an exhibition they will be holding at the Library of Birmingham, opening in November 2020, to mark their 110th anniversary, and are asking people across Birmingham to create and donate a ‘fleeting moment’ in the form of a fabric bird which will form part of the exhibition.
For those who are not familiar with the John Taylor Hospice, it was founded in 1910 as The Taylor Memorial Home, by Dr. Mary Darby Sturge, in honour of her colleague Professor John Taylor, a renowned gynaecologist, who had died only a few months earlier in February 1910.
The Home began as a hospice for women with terminal cancer in Park Road, Sparkhill, with space for only 5 to 6 patients. The following year, in 1911, it moved to Showell Green House in Sparkhill, and could then accommodate up to 20 patients. During this time, it was affiliated to the Birmingham Women’s Hospital, formerly The Birmingham and Midland Hospital For Women, and would receive, and care for, terminally ill patients from the Women’s Hospital. Continue reading “Fleeting Moments – Every Moment Matters”→
Whilst researching local World War One poets whose works are held in the War Poetry Collection of the Library of Birmingham, one of my most unexpected discoveries was a slim volume entitled “Ten Short Poems”, written by Genevieve Gwendoline Webb. Female poets of World War One are far less well known than male ones, but what was particularly surprising about this booklet was that Genevieve had written these poems when she was a child. Her age, precisely recorded at the end of each poem in both years and months, ranges between 12 years 9 months and 14 years 9 months. Thus we can see that Genevieve was still a schoolgirl at the time the verses were written.
Using genealogical resources such as online local baptism records and the 1911 census, it is possible to establish that Genevieve Gwendoline Webb was born on 23rd July 1901. Her parents were Edward Joseph Webb, a sorting clerk at the Post Office and Annie Florence Webb. Interestingly Genevieve’s mother Annie was formerly Annie Le Brocq and she was born in St Helier, Jersey. Genevieve was baptised on 11th August 1901 at St Francis of Assisi Catholic church in Handsworth. The 1911 census shows Genevieve living with her parents at 17 George Street, Lozells. She had 4 siblings, Theresa Annie, Edward De Grunchy, Frances Helen and Josephine Mary. Her grandmother, Catherine Helen Webb, also appears on the census as living with the family.
The earlier verses in “Ten Short Poems” are written when Genevieve was 12 years old. War had not yet broken out, and Genevieve’s writing, whilst somewhat sombre in tone, reflects the usual concerns of a schoolchild with poetic leanings. In “The Lonely Willow” she celebrates the beauty of the natural world whilst at the same time recognising the cruelty that mankind can inflict upon it. In another poem “To a Favourite Teacher” she records her innocent attachment to one of her schoolmistresses and the sadness she feels at their approaching parting. This is because (and note her use of capital letters in the second line of the title!) her teacher is “ABOUT TO BE WED”. Nevertheless the poetess insists,
Though oceans part thee from mine eyes,
I’ll often think of you.
One of the joys of living and working in a city like Birmingham is being able to look at all the different architectural styles and buildings found side-by-side throughout the city. Examples range from the Neo-Classical Town Hall, to more contemporary buildings such as The Cube and the Library of Birmingham. Buildings play such a role in our daily lives that they can contribute to our physical and mental health in positive and negative ways. A great example of a location where buildings have contributed positively to the health of the community in Birmingham is Bournville.
Earlier on in the year, a request for a loan came through from the Wellcome Collection to borrow some of our Bournville Village Trust documents. As a conservator, this is one of the parts of my job that I enjoy the most as it is an opportunity for these documents to be seen by a wider audience. It also allows people to learn about the history of Bournville and see how revolutionary this model village was and still is.
Once the initial request had come through specifying which documents the Wellcome wanted to borrow, I assessed each item on whether it needed conservation treatment, what environmental conditions it needed to be displayed at, what the lighting level should be, whether it was to be in a display case or framed and making sure that the Wellcome’s exhibition space was secure and would meet our standards for Exhibition and Loan. Once this had been agreed with the Wellcome, I was then able to commence conservation treatment and prepare the documents for display.
Over 25 years ago, as part of the Birmingham Library “Meet the Decade” events, I put together an exhibition highlighting the work of several local war poets whose book or pamphlet formed part of the War Poetry Collection in the Central Library. Researching this exhibition had a lasting effect on me. Moved and enthralled by the words of these poets, I always hoped that one day I would have the chance to re-visit their work. Perhaps I might again have the opportunity to publicise the poems and to help the voices of these poets be heard once more.
As part of the World War One centenary events I have been given the opportunity to recreate an exhibition featuring these local poets as one of the community projects displayed in the Voices of the First World War exhibition at the Library of Birmingham. Whilst Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon are synonymous with World War One, others also sought to reflect the war through their verse. Many had written poems throughout their life. For others the events of the war, so unheralded and traumatic, meant searching for a way to come to terms with the experience. Writing poetry enabled them to do this.
Some of the works in the War Poetry Collection, such as “Poems and Drawings” by Henry Lionel Field and “Memoir and Poems of a Soldier” by Clifford Flower, have detailed introductions that provide an outline of the poet’s life. Biographical details are enhanced by quotes from the poets themselves and sometimes from their family, school friends and army colleagues.
Beyond the Battlefields: Käthe Buchler’s Photographs of Germany in the Great War
20 October 2017 – 14 January 2018
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
University of Birmingham
The Voices of War & Peace WW1 Engagement Centre is currently organising an exhibition of photographs by German amateur photographer Käthe Buchler (1876-1930), whose work forms one of the featured collections of the Museum of Photography in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. This is the first time that her work has been displayed outside Germany.
Käthe Buchler, ‘Nurse with patient and Christmas tree in the military hospital’, 1914-1918
Buchler photographed the German home front during the First World War. Her black & white images depict her family and community, children contributing to the war effort, women working in traditionally male roles, wounded soldiers returning from the frontline and the nursing staff who treated them. There will be two exhibitions in Birmingham, at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, focusing on Buchler’s images of women and children, and at the University of Birmingham, where her photographs of injured soldiers will be displayed alongside material relating to the University’s role as a hospital during the War. Both exhibitions draw extensively on the collections of the Library of Birmingham.
Käthe Buchler, Children from the A.V.G. (waste recycling company) with Pickelhaube (spiked helmet) in front of a puppet theatre on Hindenburg’s birthday, c. 1915
Käthe Buchler
Käthe Buchler was born in Braunschweig, Germany, in 1876. At age 19 she married Walther Buchler and by 1901 the couple had moved to an affluent area of the town. In 1905 they set up a foundation which awarded local grants in arts and culture. As well as supporting the arts, Käthe also belonged to many women’s organisations and to the Red Cross. In 1901 she had turned her attention to photography and Walther gave Käthe her first camera, a binocular Voigtländer. While she successfully taught herself to use the camera, she also sought advice from local professionals and attended courses in Berlin that were open to female students. She later developed and produced her own prints in the attic of the Buchler home.
Birmingham and Warwickshire have been important centres of Quaker activity since the middle of the 17th century and Quakers have been highly influential in the social, economic, philanthropic and political development of the region.
If you missed our popular ‘Uncovering Quaker Heritage‘ pop-up exhibition which we ran earlier this year (or enjoyed it so much you’d like to see it again!), we’re offering another opportunity for you to find out more about the records we hold and see a selection of original material from the archive of the Central England Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, dating from the 17th century to the 20th century.
There may even be a few additional items on display which have been newly deposited in Archives & Collections during the year…
Entry is free. All are welcome!
This material is made accessible via the Birmingham & Warwickshire Quakers project, a cataloguing project funded by a National Archives Cataloguing Grant and a bequest from a member of Central England Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.
The Iron Room 