CFP: Cultivating Connections, Research Opportunities at the Royal Horticultural Society Plan Collector Archive

Deadline: 11 April 2025

Archives Workshop: 12 May 2025

RHS Lindley Library, 80 Vincent Square, London

This one-day workshop seeks to raise awareness among humanities scholars of the rich archival holdings at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Working with nineteenth-century archival sources selected from the Plant Collector Archive, delegates and archivists will work together to develop research projects in a quick, fun and creative way.

Context

The RHS Plant Collector Archive covers the expeditions of 121 collectors employed by the Society between 1821 and 2003. This workshop will focus on records from the first half of the nineteenth century. These materials contain extensive data on peoples from non-European cultures, their interactions with collectors and the collectors’ portrayals of them, the landscapes and environments through which collectors travelled and the different knowledge systems they encountered. The archive is thus of relevance to the environmental humanities, literary history, history of science and colonial histories more broadly.
The workshop will provide a first opportunity for researchers to explore these themes.

Workshop format

After an opening session that introduces the archive, small groups of researchers and curators will work collaboratively on interpreting specific materials. Sources will be pre-selected by the workshop organisers, but participants are also welcome to propose in advance any additional items of interest – the Plant Collector Archive was recently launched online via RHS Digital Collections and is available for browsing.

Applications

Applications are welcome from humanities researchers at any stage of an academic career, postgraduate onward, and independent scholars. Please send a short description of your research interests and a brief CV to Sarah Easterby-Smith (ses22@st-andrews.ac.uk) by Friday 11 April 2025.

Costs

Attendance at the workshop is free, and lunch and refreshments will be provided. Travel bursaries, of c. £150, are also available. If you are interested in applying for a bursary, please include an estimate of your expenses (low-carbon travel only) with your application.

Organisers

Dr Fiona Davison (Head of Libraries and Archives, Royal Horticultural Society) fionadavison@rhs.org.uk
Dr Sarah Easterby-Smith (School of History, University of St Andrews) ses22@st-andrews.ac.uk