Shameful loss of school records

Sir, – Lawside Academy played a unique role in the history of our city.

Founded by nuns in the late 19th Century it set out, step by step, to give Dundee’s impoverished Irish (largely Catholic) community access to the quality of schooling which other establishments in the city, notably the Morgan and Harris Academies, offered.

It took a long time, and only after the war did we

see any real numbers from this community make it to university.

That story of how education helped poor immigrants is a central part of Dundee’s social and economic history.

That the school’s records have been destroyed, while in the hands of our public authorities, is shameful (“Dismay as records of former secondary school disappear”, Courier September 25).

It also reflects the carelessness with which the education department viewed its stewardship of the heritage which was entrusted to it.

That it happened is not only a disgrace, it also means that vital evidence for future historians has ended up in a skip.

As an-ex Lawsider from the 1960s, the saddest aspect of this saga is the fact that – when I first heard of the problems Elisabeth Kerr was encountering in trying to find these documents – my very first thought was that they had most likely been thrown out.

How right I was. William Coupar. 30 Stephen Hill Road, Sheffield.