By Tabassum Ali

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As bulldozers demolished decades-old buildings over the last few months, one UK archivist saved pieces of the buildings to share their story with future students.

Director of Archives and university archivist Ruth Bryan has been collecting items from the dorms since June and has safely stored them in the basements of the Margaret I. King and Lucille Caudil Little Fine Arts libraries.

“We collect everyday stuff, things that you might take for granted,” Bryan said. “Things like hinges, thermostats, door signs, shower curtains, post office boxes and lamps are just a few of what we have.”

So far, the university archives has collected over 60 small pieces of decoration and furniture from the buildings. Because of limited space, Bryan said the department couldn’t store some larger items like floor tiles and banisters.

Some items, like carved wooden chairs and handles for doors, have been made obsolete as the years have gone on, Bryan said. Each lock from Holmes Hall was patterned and etched differently as well, Bryan said.

The oldest items are from the 1880’s and were collected from the Hamilton House, the most recently demolished campus building.

Bryan’s primary duty is to document the history of the university. She said that public history background is very important.

“Three-dimensional objects are important to document (life) experience,” she said. “It is interesting how small three-dimensional items can convey the sense of what it was like to be a student or a staff member in these buildings, and it is what connects us to the residence.”

The items are in the process of being catalogued for educational needs and for historic research, Bryan said. University Archives acquired the items from dorms and buildings like the Hamilton House, Holmes Hall, Jewell Hall, Keeneland Hall, Donovan Hall and the Wenner-Gren Research Laboratory.

None of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for the contractors, Bryan said, NCM Demolition and Messer Construction Co., which worked with University Archives in salvaging the items.

Bryan also worked closely with historic preservation graduate students who work in the archive. Historic Preservation graduate Justin Hathaway visited the older dorms before they were torn down.

“This project benefits students and public at large in a variety of ways, the first being that the pictures and other physical artifacts can still represent the buildings, even though they were demolished,” Hathaway said. “This allows students that have an interest in the history of the university a valuable resource to study; the same would apply for any members of the public that would be interested.”

Many of the buildings were also designed by long-time university architect Ernst Johnson, Bryan said, which motivated her to document what was left of the structures for the archives.

Most of the items will go on display, Bryan said, but will not be given or thrown away. Some may be accesible to students in pertinent fields.

“Some of the best art is in private hands,” Bryan said. “We want this to be accessible for everyone.”