Doc Rowe Collection Support Group

Subject: Doc Rowe Collection Support Group
From: lamarca
Date: 21 Oct 99 - 06:03 PM

Dear Mudcatters, I received an E-mail today about establishing a support group for the Doc Rowe collection of documentation of English holiday folk customs. I am ignorant of this work, but it sounds like a good cause. Could some of our U.K. 'Catters tell us more about the collection, Doc Rowe and John Adams? Here's the E-mail text (sorry for the length):

From: [e-mail] Organization: University of Salford - Manchester - Englan To: [e-mail] Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 21:32:13 GMT

The Doc Rowe Collection Support Group.

Many people will have spotted 'Doc' Rowe over the last three decades as he has photographed, filmed, videoed and audio recorded the traditions of the British Isles from Padstow Mayday through Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance to Scotland's Burry Man and beyond.

Doc's collection includes original material comprising 76,000 photographs, 4,000 cassettes, 3,500 hours of reel to reel tape, 900 hours of video, and 78 hours of film. There's even more supporting material like recorded broadcasts, 1,500 records, indexes of other collections, mummers costumes, an extensive library, etc. Most of this stuff is priceless- anyone who saw the video footage of Jane Turriff at the National Festival will verify that - there's hours more - more than many of us could view or listen to in the lifetime we have left!

Many people assume that Doc is funded for both the collection and the collecting, but this is not the case. No funds or facilities have ever existed in England specifically for research into our native traditions. Most research and collecting has to date been accomplished informally by individuals generally unsupported financially. Doc is one such person - probably the most important collector since Sharp or Kidson. He receives no support whatsoever, and has to try and keep the collection valid by selling photo usage to various branches of the media and engaging in consultancy - by no means an easy source of income. Now the collection has to move from its present home, which for various reasons has become unsuitable, and the time has come when both collection and collector finally need some help.

I am starting a support group to raise sponsorship to provide temporary storage for this hugely important collection. Negotiations are already taking place with an institution which is interested in housing the stuff permanently so the temporary solution is hopefully very temporary. When the collection is safe in its short term storage, I will also be seeking to raise a small sum of money to re-equip Doc with newer equipment for further collecting. At the same time, approaches will be made to a variety of funding agencies to help get major parts of the archive digitised and available on the internet. It's a big task and we need your help, particularly in these early stages.

If you have sufficient interest in the traditional heritage of these Isles to contribute a small regular donation (the price of a pint of beer per month?) or a one off donation (anything) to this important work, then please have a look at the Doc Rowe Collection Support Group web site at:

href=http://www.salford.ac.uk/media/research/docrowe/docrowe.htm

where you will find more detailed information.

Thanks for your time,

John Adams

Subject: RE: Doc Rowe Collection Support Group
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Oct 99 - 02:06 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: Doc Rowe Collection Support Group
From: Graham Pirt
Date: 22 Oct 99 - 02:22 PM

See my response in your earlier thread

Subject: RE: Doc Rowe Collection Support Group
From: wildlone
Date: 23 Oct 99 - 02:18 PM

as before refresh