McGregor Museum
Encyclopedia
The McGregor Museum in Kimberley
, South Africa
, originally known as the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, is a province-aided museum established in 1907.
Alexander McGregor had been a Mayor of Kimberley, whose wife bequeathed the building to perpetuate his memory.
Today the museum has its headquarters at the old Kimberley Sanatorium building in Belgravia, Kimberley, and it has several satellites including the original building in Chapel Street. The museum opened its doors on 24 September 1907. By coincidence 24 September was chosen as Heritage Day, a public holiday in South Africa post-1994.
The McGregor Museum is a primary research
institute in and for the Northern Cape (a province with a National Institute for Higher Education, but still lacking a university
) in fields of natural and cultural history (including zoology
, botany
, general history
, South African struggle history, archaeology
, social anthropology
). It curates important collections and archival material (see below) and, on the basis of its collections and research activities, performs educational and outreach functions to the community locally and throughout the province. Research programmes include international collaborative projects.
and many donors (from 1907), then aided by the Cape Provincial Administration (from 1958) and as a Province-aided Museum receiving an annual grant from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, Northern Cape Province, which also employs the staff of the museum (post-1994).
Directors of the McGregor Museum have been:
The current Museum Director is Colin Fortune (from 2000).
and cultural history
collections including a botanical herbarium
, zoology
collections, a history
archive
(including documents, photographs and oral history
recordings), ethnography
collections, archaeology
and rock art
collections, physical anthropology
, palaeontology and geology
collections. Most of these fields are represented by professional staff and collection managers, and the collections and associated research programmes are reflected in permanent and temporary exhibits in various sections and buildings of the museum as well as in outreach programmes in the province and displays in smaller museums.
(14 October 1899 – 15 February 1900) during the Anglo-Boer War
, Cecil John Rhodes
lodged in rooms at what was then the Sanatorium.
, Wonderwerk Cave
near Kuruman
and the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre
outside Kimberley.
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, originally known as the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, is a province-aided museum established in 1907.
Overview
Housed at first in a purpose-built museum building in Chapel Street, Kimberley, the museum was, and still is, governed by a Board of Trustees, aided financially by the municipality (up to the 1950s), then by the Cape Provincial Administration and, today, by the Northern Cape Administration through the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.Alexander McGregor had been a Mayor of Kimberley, whose wife bequeathed the building to perpetuate his memory.
Today the museum has its headquarters at the old Kimberley Sanatorium building in Belgravia, Kimberley, and it has several satellites including the original building in Chapel Street. The museum opened its doors on 24 September 1907. By coincidence 24 September was chosen as Heritage Day, a public holiday in South Africa post-1994.
The McGregor Museum is a primary research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
institute in and for the Northern Cape (a province with a National Institute for Higher Education, but still lacking a university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
) in fields of natural and cultural history (including zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, general history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, South African struggle history, archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, social anthropology
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
). It curates important collections and archival material (see below) and, on the basis of its collections and research activities, performs educational and outreach functions to the community locally and throughout the province. Research programmes include international collaborative projects.
Museum directors
The McGregor Museum operates under a Board of Trustees, originally aided by the Kimberley Municipality, De BeersDe Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
and many donors (from 1907), then aided by the Cape Provincial Administration (from 1958) and as a Province-aided Museum receiving an annual grant from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, Northern Cape Province, which also employs the staff of the museum (post-1994).
Directors of the McGregor Museum have been:
- Maria WilmanMaria WilmanMaria Wilman was the first Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa.Born in Beaufort West on 29 April 1867, she matriculated at the Good Hope Seminary in Cape Town before going on to complete a natural science tripos in geology, mineralogy and chemistry at Newnham College,...
(1908–1946) - John Hyacinth PowerJohn Hyacinth PowerJohn Hyacinth Power was the second Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa.Born in Waterford, Ireland on 2 November 1884, Power emigrated to South Africa in 1904 to take up a post as school master at Kimberley’s Christian Brothers’ College...
(1947–1958) - Rudolph Carl BigalkeRudolph Carl BigalkeRudolph Carl Bigalke, was a zoologist, a director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, subsequently heading the Department of nature conservation at the University of Stellenbosch and serving for several terms as Dean of the Faculty of Forestry at that university. He was born in...
(1958–1964) - Richard LiversidgeRichard LiversidgeRichard Liversidge, naturalist, ornithologist and museum director, was born on 17 September 1926 in Blantyre, Nyasaland , and died on 15 September 2003 in Kimberley, South Africa.-Early career:...
(1966–1986) - Elizabeth Anne VoigtElizabeth Anne VoigtElizabeth Anne Voigt, née Speed, was Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, and, as an archaeozoologist, served a term as President of the South African Archaeological Society. In retirement, Voigt was appointed a Research Associate of the McGregor Museum...
(1987–1999)
The current Museum Director is Colin Fortune (from 2000).
Collections and exhibits
The museum houses major natural historyNatural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
and cultural history
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
collections including a botanical herbarium
Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
, zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
collections, a history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
(including documents, photographs and oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
recordings), ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
collections, archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and rock art
Rock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
collections, physical anthropology
Physical anthropology
Biological anthropology is that branch of anthropology that studies the physical development of the human species. It plays an important part in paleoanthropology and in forensic anthropology...
, palaeontology and geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
collections. Most of these fields are represented by professional staff and collection managers, and the collections and associated research programmes are reflected in permanent and temporary exhibits in various sections and buildings of the museum as well as in outreach programmes in the province and displays in smaller museums.
Expansion to the sanatorium
Outgrowing available space at its buildings in town,the museum's headquarters were moved in 1973 to the former Kimberley Sanatorium (built in 1897), which at one time served also as the Hotel Belgrave (1902–1933) and as the Holy Cross Convent School, Kimberley (1933–1971). The new museum headquarters were officially opened on 22 November 1976. For the duration of the Siege of KimberleySiege of Kimberley
The Siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony , when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try to capture the British enclave when war broke out between the British and the two...
(14 October 1899 – 15 February 1900) during the Anglo-Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, Cecil John Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes PC, DCL was an English-born South African businessman, mining magnate, and politician. He was the founder of the diamond company De Beers, which today markets 40% of the world's rough diamonds and at one time marketed 90%...
lodged in rooms at what was then the Sanatorium.
Satellites
Branches of the McGregor Museum today include the original McGregor Memorial Museum in town (city history displays), the Duggan-Cronin Gallery (photographic and ethnographic museum), two house museums, Dunluce and Rudd House, the Pioneers of Aviation Museum, the Magersfontein Battlefield MuseumBattle of Magersfontein
The Battle of MagersfonteinSpelt incorrectly in various English texts as "Majersfontein", "Maaghersfontein" and "Maagersfontein". was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein near Kimberley on the borders of the Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State...
, Wonderwerk Cave
Wonderwerk Cave
Wonderwerk Cave is an archaeological site, formed originally as an ancient solution cavity in Dolomite rocks of the Kuruman Hills, situated between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a National Heritage Site within a servitude ceded to and managed as a...
near Kuruman
Kuruman
Kuruman is a town with 12,701 inhabitants in Northern Cape province of South Africa, famous for its scenic beauty and the Eye of Kuruman, a geological feature bringing water from deep underground to the surface in the Kalahari Desert....
and the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre
Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre
Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre is a rock engraving site with visitor centre on land owned by the !Xun and Khwe San situated about 16 km from Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa. It is a declared Provincial Heritage Site managed by the Northern Cape Rock Art Trust in association with the...
outside Kimberley.
Some major museum projects and programmes
- Founding of the South African Museums Association in Kimberley in 1936
- Building of Chapwood Building with funds from McGregor Family, 1950s
- The Griqualand West Story, 1959
- Rudd House donated to the museum, 1969
- MagersfonteinBattle of MagersfonteinThe Battle of MagersfonteinSpelt incorrectly in various English texts as "Majersfontein", "Maaghersfontein" and "Maagersfontein". was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein near Kimberley on the borders of the Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State...
Battlefield Museum development, 1971 (refurbished in 1999 for the Anglo-Boer WarSecond Boer WarThe Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
centenary) - Move to the Sanatorium and building of new displays, 1973-1976
- Dunluce donated to the museum, 1975
- Memorial to the Pioneers of Aviation Museum, 1981
- NooitgedachtNooitgedacht Glacial PavementsThe Nooitgedacht Glacial Pavements comprise a geological feature between Kimberley and Barkly West, South Africa, pertaining to the Palaeozoic-age Dwyka Ice Age, or Karoo Ice Age, where the glacially scoured ancient bedrock was used, substantially more recently, during the Later Stone Age period...
open air displays, 1985 - Restoration and opening of Rudd House, 1988 (restored again in 2008)
- Opening of the new Humanities Block, 1991
- Wonderwerk CaveWonderwerk CaveWonderwerk Cave is an archaeological site, formed originally as an ancient solution cavity in Dolomite rocks of the Kuruman Hills, situated between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a National Heritage Site within a servitude ceded to and managed as a...
Site Museum opening, 1993 - Displays on the coming of democracy opened by Premier Manne DipicoManne DipicoManne Emsley Dipico, first Premier of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, was born in Kimberley on 21 April 1959. He was appointed Chairman of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa in 2006...
, 1995 - Through Vuzi's Lens - photographic display
- Sol Plaatje MuseumSol Plaatje MuseumThe Sol Plaatje Museum and Library is in Kimberley, Northern Cape, in a house where Solomon T. Plaatje lived during his last years, in Malay Camp, No 32 Angel Street. It was here that Plaatje wrote Mhudi....
displays at 32 Angel Street - Frontiers Gallery opened by Khuza Bogacwi, 1998
- Ancestors Gallery opened by MEC Brian Hermanus, 1999
- Victoria WestVictoria WestVictoria West is a town in the central Karoo region of South Africa's Northern Cape province. It is situated on the main N12 route, at an elevation of . It is the seat of the Ubuntu Local Municipality within the Pixley ka Seme DM....
Museum displays opened - MagersfonteinBattle of MagersfonteinThe Battle of MagersfonteinSpelt incorrectly in various English texts as "Majersfontein", "Maaghersfontein" and "Maagersfontein". was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein near Kimberley on the borders of the Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State...
Battlefield Museum refurbished for the centenary, 1999 - Siege of KimberleySiege of KimberleyThe Siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony , when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to try to capture the British enclave when war broke out between the British and the two...
Concert and Ball, 1999, 2000 - Canteen KopjeCanteen KopjeCanteen Kopje is a spectacularly rich Earlier Stone Age situated outside Barkly West in the Northern Cape, South Africa. It is a Provincial Heritage Site and has an open air trail including information boards...
and Barkly West MuseumBarkly West MuseumThe Barkly West Museum was established in 2000 in the old Toll House beside the Barkly Bridge which crosses the Vaal River at Barkly West in the Northern Cape, South Africa.-Establishment:...
, 2000 - Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art CentreWildebeest Kuil Rock Art CentreWildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre is a rock engraving site with visitor centre on land owned by the !Xun and Khwe San situated about 16 km from Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa. It is a declared Provincial Heritage Site managed by the Northern Cape Rock Art Trust in association with the...
public archaeology development, 2001, opened by Premier Manne DipicoManne DipicoManne Emsley Dipico, first Premier of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, was born in Kimberley on 21 April 1959. He was appointed Chairman of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa in 2006...
and Cheryl CarolusCheryl CarolusCheryl Carolus is a South African politician. She was born in Silvertown, on the Cape Flats, Cape Town. Carolus became involved in politics while still at school and became an activist after joining the United Democratic Front in 1983... - Robben Island project exhibition, opened by Ahmed KathradaAhmed KathradaAhmed Mohamed Kathrada is a South African politician and former political prisoner and anti-apartheid activist....
, 2001 - Workshop on human remains and publication of Skeletons in the Cupboard, 2001
- Malay CampMalay Camp, KimberleyThe Malay Camp in Kimberley, South Africa, with a history similar to Cape Town's District Six, Johannesburg's Sophiatown and Port Elizabeth's South End, was a cosmopolitan suburb originating in the early days of Kimberley's existence but subject to forced 'slums clearance' after the owner of the...
and Greenpoint history projects, 2002 - Finalist in first Provincial Premier's Award, 2003
- Ten Years of Democracy displays, 2004, and a contribution to the "Democracy X" exhibition at Iziko South African MuseumIziko South African MuseumThe Iziko SA Museum is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present site in the Company's Garden since 1897...
in Cape Town, in the same year. - Duggan-Cronin photographic exhibitionat Museum Africa in JohannesburgJohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
- Malay CampMalay Camp, KimberleyThe Malay Camp in Kimberley, South Africa, with a history similar to Cape Town's District Six, Johannesburg's Sophiatown and Port Elizabeth's South End, was a cosmopolitan suburb originating in the early days of Kimberley's existence but subject to forced 'slums clearance' after the owner of the...
displays opened by Premier Dipuo PetersDipuo PetersElizabeth Dipuo Peters, born on 13 May 1960, is the Minister of Energy of the Republic of South Africa , in the Zuma administration, having served as successor to Manne Dipico as the second Premier of the Northern Cape Province, 22 April 2004 to 10 May 2009...
, 2006 - Duggan-Cronin Gallery restoration and new displays, 2007
- Thandabantu exhibition, Alfred Martin Duggan-Cronin and Richard Madela - a photographic journey through Southern Africa 1919-1939, at Iziko South African MuseumIziko South African MuseumThe Iziko SA Museum is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present site in the Company's Garden since 1897...
, Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, 2007 - McGregor Museum Centenary,1907-2007 - restoration of the original museum building with new displays
- Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art CentreWildebeest Kuil Rock Art CentreWildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre is a rock engraving site with visitor centre on land owned by the !Xun and Khwe San situated about 16 km from Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa. It is a declared Provincial Heritage Site managed by the Northern Cape Rock Art Trust in association with the...
declared a Provincial Heritage Site, 19 Sep 2008. - Rudd House restored and re-opened, 23 Sep 2008.
- Contributed Stow's copies of rock engravings to the "George William Stow Exhibition" at Iziko South African MuseumIziko South African MuseumThe Iziko SA Museum is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present site in the Company's Garden since 1897...
, Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, November 2008. - Wonderwerk CaveWonderwerk CaveWonderwerk Cave is an archaeological site, formed originally as an ancient solution cavity in Dolomite rocks of the Kuruman Hills, situated between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a National Heritage Site within a servitude ceded to and managed as a...
approved as a Grade 1 National Heritage Site, Mar 2009. An international symposium on the site was held at Wonderwerk Cave in June 2009. - A role in the government project entitled ‘The History of the Liberation Struggle in the Northern Cape’ (2009). “This project will encapsulate our role as a province in the liberation struggle, and will serve as a gift from our veterans to the youth of the province,” said Premier Hazel JenkinsHazel JenkinsHazel Gertrude Jenkins is a South African politician and Premier of the Northern Cape Province.-Background and political career:Aged 49 at the time that she assumed office as Premier, Jenkins had been the Mayor of the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality, at De Aar in the Karoo...
in her State of the Province Address, 12 June 2009. The project was launched at the McGregor Museum on Heritage Day 24 September 2009. - The "Sacred Legacy" exhibition combining the "Shared Legacies", namely the photographic works of Edward Curtis and Alfred Martin Duggan-CroninAlfred Martin Duggan-CroninAlfred Martin Duggan-Cronin was a photographer at Kimberley, South Africa, who traveled throughout the subcontinent to document people and tribal life in rural Southern Africa.-Background and career:...
, opened at the Centre for African Studies, University of Cape TownUniversity of Cape TownThe University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
, 14 October 2009.