Old Campbellians start the ball rolling
The Old Campbellian Society, which represents the College's Alumni and has members all over the world, was the catalyst for this project. The Society began to raise funds in order to reframe the images and brought this to the attention of the College. The College then took the step to consult with PRONI in recognition that these images were important archives and hence needed to be assessed before any reframing could take place.
PRONI's expertise indicated the need to store these originals - some dating back to 1912 - in specialist temperature controlled facilities or fear losing them forever. A big decision needed to be made in order to ensure the faces of these boys and men could continue to sit within the College walls in perpetuity.
And so a partnership with PRONI was born. PRONI kindly agreed to digitise all the images, digitally restore them to their former glory and store the originals in their specialist facility with access for everyone to see. The College in turn is able to continue to display the enhanced replica images with no risk of further damage to the originals.
But this was just the start. The images are a poignant reminder of the sacrifice these boys and men made, but the College believed it was time to tell the stories of their lives, not just their deaths. Former College Historian, Keith Haines had toiled for many years to collect and collate much information about these men and this restoration provided an opportunity to build on this work, open up the College archives and share the stories with as many people as possible.
At the heart of the project is the Photograph Restoration which is being carried out by PRONI through their specialist digital unit. The images have all been dated and a narrative on each is being compiled which will illustrate a fascinating insight into different photography techniques in the early 20th Century.
This initiative will open up our archive, utilising it as a tool for learning for the wider community. It will bring these individual histories to life for every generation in East Belfast, discovering untold stories and keeping these stories alive for future generations.
Robert Robinson, Headmaster at Campbell College Belfast
The engagement element of the project is centred around the following elements which all aim to share the existing stories and build new ones.
Old Campbellians start the ball rolling
Cathy Law meets with PRONI to ascertain the state of the images and look at options
Building the wider proposal
A full proposal is submitted for funding support to HLF
HLF announce funding support
Dr Thorpe and Dr Montgomery are appointed
The images are taken down in Central Hall and replaced with temporary replicas
Work begins in earnest at PRONI on all the images
Website, creative engagement and digital team in place
European Heritage Open Day sees the first official Men Behind the Glass Tour hosted by East Belfast Historian Jason Burke
A presentation to local School Principals at Campbell College
PRONI hold their first teach workshop on digital restoration
Dr Thorpe and Dr Montgomery dig deep into the archives to build the research
Primary Schools Creative Engagement delivered in partner schools
