Browsing by Subject "Helsingin yliopistomuseo"

This study discusses the Helsinki University Museum Craft Science collection, the objects of which have been accumulated during the history of textiles teacher education in Helsinki, starting in the late 19th century. The collection was transferred to Helsinki University Museum in 2002. While a number of its objects have been discussed in historical studies, research on the collection as a whole has been scarce. This study presents the history of the Craft Science collection and discusses the history of textiles teacher education in Helsinki on the basis of the collection. The study is a historical case study with a microhistorical approach. The material of the study consisted of context data for those objects in the Craft Science collection that had been catalogued in the collection in 1959–2003. The context data had originally been recorded in record books, which were reviewed to compile an Excel spreadsheet of the material and catalogue the data using Atlas.ti software. The data in the record books were supplemented with e.g. archive material. Three themes emerged in the body of the material. The first theme were objects from the upper socioeconomic class, which highlighted the fact that textiles teacher education in Helsinki was established by, and long controlled by, women from the upper socioeconomic classes. The second theme, coursework, demonstrated that while a number of other educational curricula were long run in parallel to textiles teacher education in Helsinki, textiles teacher education had a particularly high status. The timing of the coursework objects donated showed that when textiles teacher education was transferred to the University of Helsinki in 1975, the Craft Science collection increasingly shifted from a teaching collection to a historical collection. The third theme that emerged in the material was wartime, as the war greatly influenced textiles teacher education in Helsinki just as it influenced society as a whole. A number of persons involved in textiles teacher education in Helsinki had an active role under the military administration in East Karelia during the Continuation War. This history has been preserved in the Craft Science collection. Research on the history of textiles teacher education in Helsinki also indicated that major changes occurred after the war. In the post-war setting, the work of Hulda Kontturi created a strong connection between textiles teacher education in Helsinki and the cottage industry ideology, which increased financial stability and helped to establish permanent activity.