200 years young

Next week sees the start of an eight-part lecture series to commemorate the bicentenary of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. NHS Lothian commissioned the series, and we’ve helped organise it, with the support of the Wellcome Trust and the Scottish Government.

The lectures will run from October (the first one is next Wednesday) to June 2013 and will cover a wide range of topics to illustrate various aspects of the Hospital’s history, from patient art to the treatment of soldiers after battle, with discussion of gender, sport and the Empire in-between! It promises to be a really interesting series, and tickets are free to try and encourage as wide an audience as possible – we hope you’ll sign up to one or two, or all eight! The lectures have already proved popular, with just a few seats left for the keynote lecture next week to be held in Edinburgh Council Chambers.

We’ve also been involved in the promotion of the lecture series. You may have already seen the recent addition to our homepage detailing the series (the image from the homepage, showing the Hospital in the 1950s, is reproduced below), and we’ve highlighted the series on Twitter and our Facebook page. We’ve also responded to some press interest and we’re looking forward to seeing an article about the Royal Edinburgh’s bicentenary, and the lecture series, that is expected to feature in the Scotsman on Wednesday next week.

Image (c) The Scotsman Publications Ltd

We’ll also be launching an archive appeal to run alongside the lecture series. We hope that staff, patients and members of the public will search through cupboards and attics to see if they have any items that record the history of this important hospital. These new accessions will complement NHS Lothian’s rich collection of Royal Edinburgh Hospital material that is already held by LHSA. More to follow on the appeal in later blogs!

For more information please see the following links:

For detailed information about the lectures and how to book your free place:
http://www.lhsa.lib.ed.ac.uk/home/REH%20Bicentenary%20leaflet%20web%20final.pdf

For a potted history of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital:
http://www.lhsa.lib.ed.ac.uk/exhibits/hosp_hist/reh.htm

For information on the Charter that gave the Hospital the ‘Royal’ in its title: http://www.lhsa.lib.ed.ac.uk/exhibits/reh_charter/index.htm

For a list of the material already held by LHSA that relates to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital:
http://www.lhsa.lib.ed.ac.uk/collections/LHB7/lhb7_index.htm