News Release
Can You Add to the North-West's History
21st December 1999
As the century and the Millennium changes, a priceless photographic archive of Londonderry/Derry and the North West has now been made available on the World Wide Web.
Researchers at Magee College have appealed to the public to add to that collection with more images, with audio and even video material, to make it one of the most complete archives of the region's heritage.
The project has been co-ordinated by Mr Ted Leath:
"Magee College is fortunate to have a large collection of more than 3500 photographs of Londonderry/Derry and the North West, covering the period from the 1860s up to 1970.
"For many years the resources were not available for the upkeep of the collection or to make it easily available."
Two years ago, however, the collection of 3,500 photographs was one of 13 chosen from within the United Kingdom to be funded for a digitisation and cataloguing programme. The result has been a new on-line record of our past:
"It is a live experiment in community memory. We now hope local people will add and correct image information in the months to come. We want more images, audio and even video material for the collection."
The archive can be found at http://www.infm.ulst.ac.uk/~mcc
It includes the first ever photograph of the city and early photographs of the wooden bridge built across the Foyle in 1790. Following heavy flooding in 1814, it was decided that a more substantial structure was necessary but the newer bridge was not built until 1863.
Other features of the collection include early photographs of a hiring fair in the Diamond in the early Twenties. Such fairs were an opportunity for rural workers to secure jobs. Once hired, workers would leave home and live with their employer.
There are also photographs of Robert Young, the founder of the Ebrington Factory and now a centre for community development in the Waterside
For further information, please contact:
Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk
