Blackheath High’s archive is a happy place for me – I love spending time in the cool, dark room near our Theatre, surrounded by boxes and paperwork, and slowly piecing together the story of our school. With responsibility for the Blackheath High alumnae network, it is such a joy to see stories of the real women who have walked our corridors for nearly 150 years. 

I was delighted when History teacher Ms Blythe suggested starting Archive Club together. I felt strongly that students would find as much joy and satisfaction as I do in the archive, and of course it is a fantastic, tangible way to understand history – by seeing, holding and exploring it in real life. 

Every Monday Week 2, we meet up, put our white gloves on and begin the job of telling our school’s history through its artefacts. With 14 students eagerly signed up, our first job has been to create a categorisation method - a spreadsheet with a coding system, which asks students to give an approximate date, condition report and description of each item.  

And now the boxes are opening. So far, we have uncovered old register books from the school’s first pupils in 1880, complete with spidery writing and dates that feel incomprehensible to us now; uniform dresses and hats from the 1950s, making us think about the real girls who wore them; a journal listing the jobs Blackheath High girls did during WWI (sparking a wonderful conversation about gender inequality and suffragism); a former student’s Biology textbooks, including the most beautiful pressed flowers; and an admissions register including visionary fashion designer Dame Mary Quant.

What is beginning to emerge is a clear picture of how important Blackheath High School is – not just to the many thousands of women who have passed through its doors, but also as a pioneering feminist institution and as a vital part of the local community. 

We are so excited to build the archive, bring it out of the dark and begin to understand its historical and contemporary value. Watch this space for more stories as we reveal them! 

Written by Karen Canty, Alumnae Manager