{"id":379,"date":"2019-05-14T12:04:47","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T11:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/?p=379"},"modified":"2024-08-31T17:05:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T16:05:53","slug":"unit-31-southamptons-time-capsule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2019\/05\/14\/unit-31-southamptons-time-capsule\/","title":{"rendered":"Unit 31: Southampton’s Time Capsule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last semester, Year Three History students and their tutors on the module, \u2018Between Private Memory and Public History\u2019 visited a Southampton space not usually open to the public, Unit 31. Unit 31 \u2014 sited on an industrial park between West Quay shopping centre and IKEA \u2014 is Southampton City\u2019s Management Centre and houses some of the many objects that the city\u2019s museums, including Southampton\u2019s Sea City and Tudor House. There are no display spaces in Unit 31, however, in this blog post, student Shihab Abdulgadir and tutor Dr Jon Conlin reflect on the visit, and on the work that \u2018memory objects\u2019, such as those housed in Unit 31, do in constructing identities and histories.<\/p>\n

Shihab <\/em>Abdulgadir<\/em><\/p>\n

Unit 31 is an archive of items from Southampton and her inhabitants’ past.  Step inside and you\u2019ll find yourself amongst a myriad of items, ranging from the logbooks of ships long since broekn up to the wedding dresses of brides who have lived and died. While our module asks us to reflect upon our personal relationships to objects, Unit 31 felt akin to being inside a stranger\u2019s house.  A collection of objects, alien to me, with which I had no tangible connection.<\/p>\n

These objects are not worthless. Rather the value behind them lies largely in being able to understand and connect to the history behind them. Unit 31 illustrates the need for narrative to enable us to understand and appreciate the past. In Unit 31 the items lie bare until they can be used for an exhibit that can paint a more comprehensive, compelling vision of the past that we can experience, allowing us to see the items as more than material.  One item that did stand out \u2013 the deck chair from the Titanic<\/em>\u2019s sister ship, Olympic<\/em>\u2014 was shaped by the narrative told by the curator about visitors climbing on it (as in the scene in the film Titanic<\/em>) to take selfies. The curator\u2019s story allowed the item to hold a cultural value; the movie created a significance for it.<\/p>\n

Relics of the past are important for what they may represent historically but also culturally, they provide a physical manifestation of a time lost to that clasp of time. If my visit to Unit 31 taught me anything it was the value of being able to craft an immersive history so that we can re-experience and appreciate objects for more than their material or superficial worth.<\/p>\n

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A photograph of a deep-sea diving suit adorns a storage box nailed shut for posterity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr Jonathan Conlin<\/em><\/p>\n

Unit 31 is also a record of Southampton\u2019s diverse history across many spheres. Mangles, bicycles, toys, cash registers, a dentist’s chair; all aspects of the city’s life have their relics here, in the three storeys of industrial shelving and warren of cabins. Many items are in wooden crates, adorned with small photographs of the treasures within.<\/p>\n

This is a record of Southampton’s distant and not-so-distant past. The cabins provide climate-controlled storage for works on paper, textiles and metal objects. Cherished uniforms and an impressive collection of wedding dresses offer more than a record of life in Southampton, they also reflect its citizens’ changing views of themselves and of their own histories: of what was disposable, and what should be cherished.<\/p>\n

Unil 31 is a cross between an attic and a closet, except it is the city’s attic, the city’s closet: full of objects which ceased to fulfil their main function, yet retained such a hold on their owners that the latter could not bear to throw them away. Viewed in this way, perhaps the barrier separating the objects we see in museums and those we cherish in our homes seems less substantial.<\/p>\n

Unit 31 Homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

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Last semester, Year Three History students and their tutors on the module, \u2018Between Private Memory and Public History\u2019 visited a Southampton space not usually open to the public, Unit 31. Unit 31 \u2014 sited on an industrial park between West Quay shopping centre and IKEA \u2014 is Southampton City\u2019s Management Centre and houses some of the many objects that the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3768,"featured_media":425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,1,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meet-the-department","category-notes-from-the-archive","category-undergraduate","column","threecol","has-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2019\/05\/Unit-31-cropped-1.jpeg?fit=1918%2C2361&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9DnLX-67","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":369,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2019\/03\/06\/interview-with-recent-phd-graduate-dr-louise-fairbrother\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":0},"title":"Interview with recent PhD graduate, Dr Louise Fairbrother","author":"Jonathan Hunt","date":"6th March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"What was the subject of your research? My research looked in detail at how the town governments of Southampton and various other English towns organised their industry and trade in the sixteenth century.\u00a0 It focussed specifically on the way in which they controlled the groups involved.\u00a0 In Southampton\u2019s case, this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Meet the Department"","block_context":{"text":"Meet the Department","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/meet-the-department\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2019\/03\/Picture1-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":824,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2025\/08\/22\/political-witchcraft\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":1},"title":"Political Witchcraft","author":"Craig Lambert","date":"22nd August 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On 13 August, Southampton University hosted \u2018Political Witchcraft: Magic and the Politics of Representation,\u2019 an evening of public talks exploring how magical beliefs and practices have been researched, debated, and distorted by various interested parties at different times and places in history. Dr David Cox organised the event from Southampton\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the archive"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the archive","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/notes-from-the-archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/08\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/08\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/08\/image-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/08\/image-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":218,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/07\/19\/the-final-and-fateful-sojourn-of-the-iranian-revolutionary-and-scholar-dr-ali-shariati-1933-1977-in-southampton\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":2},"title":"The final and fateful sojourn of the Iranian Revolutionary and Scholar, Dr Ali Shariati (1933-1977), in Southampton","author":"Remy Ambuhl","date":"19th July 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This year, as part of the group project module, my students* explored the brief stay, in Southampton, of Dr Ali Shariati, who is recognised as the ideological father of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. His short stay in the UK and unexpected death on 18 June 1977 have been shrouded in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the archive"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the archive","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/notes-from-the-archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2018\/07\/shariati.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/01\/31\/sweet-tooth\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":3},"title":"Sweet Tooth","author":"George Gilbert","date":"31st January 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Christer Petley has recently collaborated with a renowned vocal artist, Elaine Mitchener, who has created a disturbingly powerful piece of performance art, Sweet Tooth, about British-Caribbean slavery and its legacies. The project has reworked archival text, drawn from Christer\u2019s research, in performances with the acclaimed jazz saxophonist Jason Yarde, percussionist\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2018\/01\/Unknown-300x287.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":47,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/01\/31\/the-southampton-stonewall-lecture\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":4},"title":"The Southampton Stonewall Lecture","author":"George Gilbert","date":"31st January 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"15 February 2018, 6pm Part of the annual series of lectures organised by the Faculty of Humanities.\u00a0This year's Stonewall Lecture will be give by Professor Alison Oram, Professor of Social and Cultural History at Leeds Beckett University. 'Queer beyond London: Culture and Place in English Cities since the 1960s' How\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2018\/01\/Alison-Oram-pic-2_cropped.jpg_SIA_JPG_fit_to_width_MEDIUM-300x186.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":64,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/01\/31\/staff-qa-alan-ross\/","url_meta":{"origin":379,"position":5},"title":"Staff Q&A: Alan Ross","author":"George Gilbert","date":"31st January 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, we have another interview, this time with Dr Alan Ross. History at Southampton: How would you describe yourself as a historian? Alan Ross: I tend to think of myself as a traditional Classicist: I use detailed linguistic and textual interrogation of ancient authors to answer literary, philosophical, and historical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Meet the Department"","block_context":{"text":"Meet the Department","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/meet-the-department\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3768"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":426,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379\/revisions\/426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}