{"id":507,"date":"2015-10-29T09:33:50","date_gmt":"2015-10-29T09:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/?p=507"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:22:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:22:04","slug":"the-universitys-history-told-in-pictures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/2015\/10\/29\/the-universitys-history-told-in-pictures\/","title":{"rendered":"The University’s History Told in Pictures"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rebecca Couchman-Crook<\/strong>, Archives Assistant<\/p>\n

The photograph collection\u00a0from the University of Leicester’s history is now more accessible than ever before! You can view them from the comfort of your sofa by simply\u00a0visiting Special Collections Online<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and scrolling down to The University of Leicester Archives<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In a move to make our collections easier to find and\u00a0reach a\u00a0wider audience we’ve uploaded a large selection of photographs (about 350) from the very beginnings of the University right up\u00a0until\u00a0the past decade. These join our other digitised photograph collections from the Leicester Mercury’s <\/a>Industrial coverage, “Vanished Leicester”<\/a> – buildings and streets demolished 1955-1975 – and Leicester during WWI<\/a>, amongst others.<\/p>\n

The University photographs reveal a sometimes forgotten story of how this institution first began. The Fielding Johnson Building was formerly the 5th Northern General Hospital during WWI, and as a tribute to fallen soldiers, and those that made it back safely, it was suggested that a University College be established in their memory using the building. This gave rise to the Latin motto on the University’s logo “Ut vitam habeant” – “That they might have life”.<\/p>\n

\"5th<\/a>

Fielding Johnson Building with ambulances, 1914-1948<\/p><\/div>\n

The University\u00a0College of Leicestershire and Rutland\u00a0went through many name changes, and gained its official\u00a0charter as a University in 1957 – which prompted a visit from HRH Queen Elizabeth II with the opening of the new\u00a0Percy Gee Building.<\/p>\n

\"Queen

Queen Elizabeth II and Lord Adrian, 1957<\/p><\/div>\n

We’ve had the odd famous face be honoured at our degree ceremonies too…<\/p>\n

\"Professor<\/a>

Prof. Stephen Hawking, 1982<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Sue<\/a>

Sue Townsend, 1991<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Richard<\/a>

Richard and David Attenborough, 1970<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The\u00a0University also opened the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and Arts in 1997, which gave rise to a star-studded opening, with Lord Richard Attenborough and Diana, Princess of Wales, arriving to mark the occasion.<\/p>\n

\"Diana,<\/a>

Diana, Princess of Wales and Richard Attenborough, 1997<\/p><\/div>\n

Have a browse<\/a>, and see what hidden parts of history you<\/strong> happen upon…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rebecca Couchman-Crook, Archives Assistant The photograph collection\u00a0from the University of Leicester’s history is now more accessible than ever before! You can view them from the comfort of your sofa by simply\u00a0visiting Special Collections Online\u00a0and scrolling down to The University of Leicester Archives. In a move to make our collections easier to find and\u00a0reach a\u00a0wider […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[38,36,2,39],"class_list":["post-507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-photographs","tag-special-collections-online","tag-university-archives","tag-university-of-leicester-archives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":543,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507\/revisions\/543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}