History programme
In 2013, the University of Westminster will be celebrating its 175th anniversary. We have already successfully published The Education of the Eye: a History of the Royal Polytechnic Institution 1838-1881, and the University History Project is now in its second phase. The Quintin Hogg Trustees are continuing to support this project, led by Archive Services, which will see the delivery of two further publications:
‘An Education in Sport :Competition, communities and identities at the University of Westminster over three centuries’ by Mark Clapson due early 2012
A multi-authored History of the University of Westminster 1882-1992, due in 2013. Themed chapters on: Quintin Hogg 1864-1903, wartime, women’s participation, sport and leisure, travel (especially the Polytechnic Touring Association), changing higher education policy, and the emergence of the student.
Oral History Programme
As part of this project the University of Westminster Archive is also currently working on an oral history programme, enabling us to the record the life stories of men and women involved in the University and its predecessor bodies. Oral history is composed of spoken testimony, stories and experience and is a valuable way of capturing individual understandings and perspectives of the recent past. These stories will be added to the permanent Archive collection and will complement our paper records.
We are particularly keen to hear from individuals who were either members or students of Regent Street Polytechnic in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s and alumni who attended the Polytechnic of Central London in 1970s and 1980s.
If you are interested in participating in our oral history programme, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please email us via archive@westminster.ac.uk or telephone on +44 (0)20 7911 5167.
About 'An Education in Sport'
In 1882 the noted educator, philanthropist and businessman, Quintin Hogg, brought his Young Men's Christian Institute from Covent Garden to 309 Regent Street, London. It soon became known as the Regent Street Polytechnic (or, more usually, the Poly).
A strong believer in the health-giving properties of sports, Hogg financed a new gymnasium and swimming pool at the Regent Street building, while in the suburbs of London he purchased tennis courts and sports pitches, adding a boathouse at Chiswick.
By the time of Hogg's death in 1903, athletics, boxing, cricket, cycling, fencing, football, hockey, tennis, rowing, rugby and swimming were among many thriving sports at the Poly.
The Quintin Hogg Memorial Sports Ground, opened in Chiswick in 1906, became a popular and much-loved suburban venue, and a reminder that the competitive life of the Polytechnic spanned the whole metropolis. It is still owned and managed by the University of Westminster.
The sporting heritage of Regent Street and Chiswick was inherited in turn by the successors of the Poly - the newly-formed Polytechnic of Central London in 1970 and the University of Westminster in 1992.
An Education in Sport draws upon the extensive archives at the University of Westminster to celebrate a unique and ground-breaking sporting heritage that began in the 19th century, and is still very much alive today.
