News / Joint anniversary for museum and archives
SHETLAND Museum and Archives is celebrating a brace of significant anniversaries this summer.
On 28 June it will be 50 years since the old museum at the Hillhead in Lerwick opened, displaying artefacts held by the county for the first time. It remained open for 40 years before moving to its current Hay’s Dock location.
The Shetland Archives, meanwhile, marked 40 years since it was first established on 6 May. Originally based at 92 St Olaf Street, the records were moved to Harbour Street and then to the huts at King Harald Street in 1981.
Both services were brought under the same roof when the brand new Shetland Museum and Archives building at Hay’s Dock was opened in 2007 – providing a central point of history, heritage and learning for locals and visitors.
A series of events are planned in the coming weeks to mark the two anniversaries.
There will be a display of artefacts in the museum foyer from Monday 27 June containing 50 items from 50 years, including one donated item for every year the museum has been open.
A second display of unusual documents and quirky archive facts illustrating the history of the Shetland Archives will be unveiled the same day in the archives display case on the mezzanine floor.
Curator Ian Tait and archivist Brian Smith will take an anecdotal look back over a cumulative 90 years of museum and archives services in a joint lecture event at 7pm on Tuesday 28 June.
The lecture will be held in the Shetland Museum and Archives auditorium and tickets are on sale now from www.thelittleboxoffice.com/smaa priced £3.50.
On Saturday 2 July members of the public will be encouraged to take a “hock ida attic” and unearth family heirlooms or unidentified treasures which can be brought to the museum for an appraisal day.
The archivist and curators will be on hand between 11am and 2pm in the museum’s boat hall to examine papers, artefacts, textiles or archaeology pieces and offer information and advice on origin and care. Please note that values cannot be given.
There will also be a treasure hunt for bairns to follow, finding the gold hidden within the collections and earning a prize. It will be a free activity, with entry sheets available at the museum reception from Monday 27 June.
Details about all of the events can be found at www.shetlandmuseumandarchives.org.uk.
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