Cornerstone Ceremony
- Date:
- 25 Nov 1931
- Reference:
- WA/HMM/RE/C
- Part of:
- Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and Library
- Archives and manuscripts
Collection contents
About this work
Description
The Wellcome Research Institution was built to house the Bureau of Scientific Research, the Physiological Research Laboratories, the Chemical Research Laboratories, the Museum of Medical Science and the Historical Medical Museum. A site was purchased adjacent to the BSR premises at Endlseigh Gardens, which were demolished. The cornerstone was laid at a ceremony on 25 November 1931, and a casket containing reports, photographs and other records of the WRI were placed in the foundations. The level and mallet used in the ceremony and the casket's handles are held in the archives [see WA/HSW/OB/19-21]
An illustrated handbook was published for the ceremony, with brief descriptions of each of the member institutions of the WRI.
Although this ceremony relates to all the institutions of the WRI and not just the WHMM alone, these files were generated by the WHMM secretary, Dean, who appears to have acted as general organiser of the event. The files do include correspondence with HSW, Pearson and Linstead.
See WA/HMM/PR/9 for press cuttings relating to the ceremony and the construction and purpose of its research bodies and museums.
See WA/PHO/Wri for photographs of the ceremony and the building under construction and at completion