Dundee Technical College and School of Art (formerly Dundee Technical Institute)

Dundee Technical College and School of Art was originally established as Dundee Technical Institute in 1888 under the Baxter Bequest. Sir David Baxter of Kilmaron bequeathed £20,000 for the establishment of a mechanics institute in Dundee for "the education of boys and young men in those branches of learning necessary or useful for working mechanics and other craftsmen".

After an initial test run of an initial syllabus under the administration of University College Dundee in 1887, courses were offered under its official name in 1888 in technical subjects, such as building construction. Later courses in jute manufacture, electricity, and telegraphy followed, and provision was also made for providing applied art classes as well.

The Institute was initially established in a building within the precinct of University College Dundee in Smalls Wynd, but the accommodation proved insufficient , and by 1901/02 rooms were also used in the YMCA and at Dundee High School. In 1907 work began on constructing new premises on West Bell Street, and this was completed in 1911, at which point the institution was re-named the Dundee Technical College and School of Art.

It carried on under this name until 1933 when a new scheme of management formed an art college under the Duncan of Jordanstone Bequest and incorporated it into a governing body administering it and the technical college, forming the Dundee Institute of Art and Technology.

The collection consists of records relating to the administration and development of the Dundee Technical Institute, which later became the Dundee Technical College and School of Art.

The core of the collection is in the form of minutes of the main governing body (ABY-DTCSA-1) and committee of management (ABY-DTCSA-2), student enrolment registers recording academic achievements of students (ABY-DTCSA-3). These registers start at the end of 1902, and the gap in the student record before this is partially addressed by the prize lists that were published from 1892/3 onwards (ABY-DTCSA-7). These are amongst another core publicity record, syllabuses (prospectuses) advertising courses offered and describing their content (ABY-DTCSA-7).

A large part of the collection consists of correspondence relating to officials, such as the principal and treasurer (ABY-DTCSA-3-3, 4, 5, & 6). Amongst these are a number of letters from serving soldiers during the First World War giving accounts of what they are experiencing.

Other records dealing with development of the institution include the published Principal’s Reports starting in 1913/14 (ABY-DTCSA-6) and top level financial accounts (abstracts) within the financial records (ABY-DTCSA-4). Estates records also provide a detailed record of the project to construct a new building in Bell Street at the beginning of the twentieth century, including building plans (ABY-DTCSA-5).