Make 'em laugh, make 'em cry! Collecting for lifetimes – the interactive museum about Croydon peole

Forfattere

  • Angela Fussel

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/nm.3658

Sammendrag

For most of its history, Croydon was a bustling market town to the south of London, a stop on the coach journey between the capital and Brighton. But when the first railways were built in the 1830s, Croydon started to turn into a London suburb and with that change came a loss of identity.

Local groups began to campaign for a museum of Croydon in the late 19th century. Their voices grew louder when the centre of Croydon was redeveloped in the 1960s. Much of the character of the old town was lost when theatres, cinemas and schools were replaced by multi-story car parks, shopping precincts and office blocks.

It was partly in response to this public demand that the local councillors decided to include a museum in the redevelopment of Croydon's central library. They were also moved by a need to improve Croydon's image. By the 1980s, the name Croydon had become a byword for boring, bland and mediocre. The councillors were convinced that a dynamic image had an important part to play in economic success. They saw a museum as playing a key part in establishing that image. 

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