Archives projects and events

Find out about the work we do with local and other communities.

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Change Minds

An old sketch of a building.

Exploring and sharing tales of living with mental health challenges in the past and today.

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Scotland’s Rivers and Hydro Schemes: The McClean and Berry Archives

A giant sits on a rock in the water, there are electric pylons behind him and he is holding a magic wand.

This cataloguing project focusses on the archives of Captain William McClean and Dr John Berry, who have both had an enduring influence on the use of water in Scotland.

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Big Back Garden

The pavilion at Baxter Park

The iconic Baxter Park in Dundee is the focus of this project which explores its history and how people enjoy it today.

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Brittle Bone Society

Margaret Grant, founder of the Society pictured in 1986.

This project aims to catalogue the extensive archive of the Society and make the collection as accessible as possible to the public.

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Boomerang

A female archivist and two older community members sit at a table discussing large photograph images of Dundee

Working with members of the Boomerang Reminiscence Group, the project encouraged and recorded their memories of home life, work and Dundee.

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Strathmartine Hospital Histories

Two community members sit in front of a stall advertising the work of the Strathmartine Hospital Histories project.

We interviewed former residents, staff members and people from the local community to understand what life was like at the hospital.

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Working with schools

School pupils look over some archived photographs in a scrapbook

Archive staff can visit the classroom to provide hands-on experiential learning opportunities across a range of subjects.

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Exhibitions

We regularly mount exhibitions of our collections, often in collaboration with others. Along with Museum Services we hosted a major exhibition Good Vibrations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the University in 2017 and produced a book of 50 favourite items from our collections.

The Michael Peto photographic collection has been exhibited in London, Ireland, Liverpool and Edinburgh as well as locally.

Prior to the pandemic we held two hugely successful exhibitions inviting designers and creative writers to produce work based on our collections: Bodies, Botanicals and Bindings: Reimaging Rare Books (2019) and River Deep Mountain High (2020). Watch this space for news of an exhibition to mark the Year of Scotland’s Stories in 2022.

Archives online

A lot of our engagement happens online whether through Twitter, Facebook, or our YouTube playlist (check out the great range of films about Dundee and its history). We also run the University Culture Blog which showcases the wide range of cultural and artistic activity at the University.

Mentally Healthy Tayside

Mentally Healthy Tayside

This pilot project built on the work that we have done using our hospital and asylum records to contribute to nursing, social work and medical classes.

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Great War Dundee

Great War memorial at the summit of the Dundee Law (hill).

Running during the centenary of the First World War this was a collaborative project with the School of Humanities and heritage groups and organisations in the City.

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