Digital ‘safety measure’ for museum
Southland Boys’ High School is digitising its museum collection to provide people worldwide with online access to its history.
A committee member of the school’s old boys’ association, Ken Bowie, says when the collection goes live next year it will be an invaluable tool for people wanting research material. Already online are all editions of the school’s annual magazine, The Southlandian, from 1902 to 2021.
‘‘We get a lot of inquiries and inquiries from people wanting to donate things to the museum,’’ Bowie said.
‘‘It’ll be online for everybody to look at – old boys [of the school] in particular.’’
The old boys’ association has been a big supporter of the museum and its operator archivist, Lynley Dear, since it opened in 2006.
Digitising the museum’s contents would add a layer of protection around preserving the school’s history, Dear said.
‘‘It’s a safety measure.
‘‘Heaven forbid, if the [museum] building was struck by lightning and burnt down, there would still be a complete digital record of everything I’ve put in there over the years.’’
Nelson-based Paula Haines-Bellamy is doing the digitisation work after the old boys’ association arranged funding from the Southland Regional Heritage Committee. Haines-Bellamy has a museum collection management background.
The project had received $15,000, and it was not known whether more funding would be needed,’’ Bowie said.
Haines-Bellamy thought there could be more than 500 items to process, including solid objects, such as sports cups, blazers, framed photos and an old school bell.
Paper-based documents were also being photographed or scanned, she said.
It was important for the school and old boys’ association to know what historical items they had, Haines-Bellamy added.
‘‘I think most schools are becoming aware of their own history and how to look after it.
‘‘Southland Boys’ is lucky they’ve got a building for it [museum]. A lot of schools wouldn’t have that facility or space.’’
The SBHS’s museum building was built in 1914 and formerly housed a tractor before becoming home to the school’s history collection.
Lynley Dear, Ken Bowie and one of the school’s former rectors, Rowly Currie, were among those who searched the school for museum pieces in the early days.
‘‘Some people donated items . . . we even got old school canes, old school equipment and old scales,’’ Bowie said.
‘‘We knew there were items around the school in sheds and some things that were saved from the skip when they renovated classrooms.’’
Meanwhile, Dear is compiling a book on the school’s history, from when it opened in 1881. The book will be launched in 2026 when the school celebrates its 100th anniversary on moving from its original building in Forth St to its current location in Herbert St.