Constance Howard Resource and Research Centre in Textiles

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 2603 Howard
Held at	: Goldsmiths College, University of London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.gold.ac.uk/library/ ›
Full title	: Constance Howard Resource and Research Centre in Textiles
Date(s)	: [1952-2002]
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: c 13,000 slides; 1000 printed materials; 3,000 textile examples.
Name of creator(s)	: Constance Howard Resource and Research Centre in Textiles
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Constance Howard (1910-2000) joined the staff of Goldsmiths' College as a part-time tutor. She went on to found and become Head of the Department of Embroidery (later Textiles) in the College's School of Art, 1947-1975. She is seen widely as a leading pioneer in the making and teaching of embroidery as an art form. The Resource and Research Centre is named after her and was established by her successor, Audrey Walker, in 1980. In 1996 the Friends of the Study Collection was formed to extend and enhance information about this unique resource. Pieces are purchased for and donated to the Collection on the understanding that they will be made available for hands on research and study. The Centre regularly organises lectures and exhibitions, and the many slides and textiles housed there are being digitised as an ongoing project to provide a 'virtual' resource.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

The Constance Howard Resource and Research Centre in Textiles contains archives, Materials Collections and a library related to textiles and to the development of textile art. Collections include the archives of the Goldsmiths Textile course 1948-2009, 13, 000 slides of the work of graduates, alumni and staff of the course, teaching notes of the founding team, Constance Howard MBE, Barbara Dawson and Christine Risley. The Materials Collections include items from Constance Howard's personal collection of embroidery and costume; textile samples, a collection of techno-fabric samples from Nuno in Japan; and over 3,000 textiles donated or commissioned for the Centre. Archives include the records of textile artists and groups influenced by the Goldsmiths Textiles course, including the '62 Group' and the 'Fibre Art Group', [1962-2000], both groups of professional textile artists formed to raise the profile of textile art. These archives include slides, photographs, newsletters, correspondence, accounts, reviews and committee minutes. There are over 5,000 books and pamphlets in the specialised library which includes Constance Howard's book collection, and is strong in materials on textiles published in Eastern Europe in the later 20th century.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

At present, access to the Centre by appointment only. Please contact the Centre for details.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright in the artistic material remains with the original artists. Copyright in the archival material of the 62 Group and the Fibre Art Group remains with the donors.

Finding aids:

Cataloguing of the collection is in progress. Digitisation of the slides is ongoing. Systematic photographing of the collection is ongoing.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Various donations and purchases from 1980 to the present day.

Allied Materials

Related material:

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project. Updated by Jacqueline Cooke, 2009

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Feb 2002