The document describes a project exploring letters between Iris Murdoch and Philippa Foot held at Kingston University Archives. The project involved community groups from the local area engaging with the letters through archive visits, discussions, and creative activities. It details the groups and ages involved, project activities, funding sources, and lessons learned about engaging diverse audiences with archival materials.

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Widening the Arc of
Friendship
Exploring the letters from Iris
Murdoch to Philippa Foot with the
Local Community
Katie Giles and Frances White

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Kingston University Archives and
Special Collections

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Iris Murdoch Collections at
Kingston University Archives

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Shift in C21st archive theory
we
are
what
we
KEEP …
we
are
what
we
USE …

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‘Iris Murdoch and Philippa Foot:
an Arc of Friendship’

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Project team:
 Project Co-ordinator: Dr Anne Rowe
a.rowe@kingston.ac.uk
 Project Officer: Dr Frances White
frances.white@kingston.ac.uk
 Archivist: Katie Giles
archives@kingston.ac.uk

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Project participants came from:
 Adults with Learning Difficulties, Kingston
 Age Concern Kingston at the Bradbury Centre
 Kingston Carers
 Kingston LGBT Forum
 Mind in Kingston
 Reading Groups
 Surbiton High School
 The Tiffin Girls’ School

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Age range: 10 – 83 years

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Project activities:
 Archive visits
 Discussion groups
 Film viewings of Richard Eyre’s Iris
 London walks: Westminster and St James’s
 National Gallery & National Portrait Gallery
 Creative response workshops
 Exhibitions
 Talks
 Story-telling performances

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Project Span and Support:
May 2012-July 2013
 The letters arrived on
30th April 2012 in this
red canvas bag
 It became an iconic
symbol for the project
 Cost of letters £50,000
 Total grant £107,000
from the National
Lottery through the
Heritage Lottery Fund

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Spread of Letters from Iris Murdoch to
Philippa Foot
a

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Airmail letters from Iris Murdoch to Philippa
Foot
a

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Postcards from Iris Murdoch to Philippa Foot
a

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KUAS100/1/1
a

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KUAS100/4/50
A

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KUAS100/1/38- The Dog of Happiness
a

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Transcribers working on the letters
A

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Transcribers working on the letters
A

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Group discussion in the Archive

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Group discussion at Kingston Library

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School Visit to the Archive

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a
a
School Visit to the Archive

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a
School Visit to the Archive

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a
School Visit to the Archive

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A memorable day in the archive
… with adults with
learning difficulties in
Kingston
facilitated by HFT
and Fran O’Brien of
Yadapa
www.yadapa.com

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a
Visit to the Archive

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a
Visit to the Archive

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a
Visit to the Archive

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a
Receiving their certificates of participation

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Certificate of Participation

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Lessons Learnt
 How to pitch talks on the Archive to a
range of audiences
 Be creative in thinking of ways to get
community groups involved
 Work with experts
 Feel the fear… but do it anyway!

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Contact us:
 Frances White:
frances.white@kingston.ac.uk
 Katie Giles: K.Giles@kingston.ac.uk
 KU Archives: archives@kingston.ac.uk
 KU Archives Blog:
http://blogs.kingston.ac.uk/asc
 Iris Murdoch Archives Project:
http://fass.kingston.ac.uk/research/iris-
murdoch/