Archives and Museums

Archive and museum collections provide direct links to the past, to inspire and inform. Sometimes, finding information can be a challenge, so I wanted to share some of the rich Romani sources I have come across, in the UK, overseas and online.

The Gypsy Collections, held at the University of Liverpool, comprises The Gypsy Lore Society Archive and the Scott Macfie Gypsy Collection. It spans c1860-1998 and amounts to 226 archive boxes and 35 volumes.

The Brotherton Library, University of Leeds holds a Romani collection of over 2000 items, including the library of Sir Angus Fraser, author of The Gypsies (1995).

Heritage Collections, University of Exeter holds material relating to Rupert Croft-Cooke.

Access to Archives can be used to search UK archives for relevant records.

The Romani Archives and Documentation Centre (RADOC), first assembled in 1962 in London, is now located at the University of Texas (which teaches Romani Studies), and is the largest Romani collection in the world.

The Croft-Cooke Gypsy Collection and extensive archive of Rupert Croft-Cooke are housed at The Harry Ransom Centre, also part of the University of Texas. (In the UK, there's some unease about collections going abroad - and indeed, I can't think what Rupert would say - but I'm glad the collection exists and is safe. If only I could visit!)

British Pathé (formerly The Pathé News) has digitised around 90,000 of its newsreel and documentary clips, made from 1910 until 1970. They are available to watch online and there seem to be more clips about gypsy life every time I check!

For museums in the UK, try The Gordon Boswell Romany Museum, The South East Romany Museum, The Wheelwrights' Working Museum and Gypsy Folklore Collection, The Museum of English Rural Life and Worcestershire County Museum... for a start!