Keepers of the keys: College exhibition celebrates porters

The changing roles and responsibilities of St John’s College porters since the mid-19th century are profiled in a new exhibition in the School of Pythagoras. The display is the first in a series of exhibitions celebrating the College’s staff.

One of the many duties of the porters has always been to maintain and distribute keys and to this day they keep a key to almost every room, hall and cellar door in the College. They even hold one to the Master’s Lodge as historically they were expected to go and wake up the Master in the event of an urgent phone call.

A selection of metal skeleton keys, kept by porters past, are displayed in the exhibition cases, their crumpled and yellowing labels recording the doors they once opened. 

Other highlights of the display include photographs of porters in the silk top hats that were once obligatory while on duty, records of incidents and accidents and a list of air raid precautions in place between 1915 and 1945.  A 1936 Christmas duty sheet shows the names of porters and the shifts they worked over the festive season 80 years ago.

The current porters at St John’s were given a two-week exclusive preview of the exhibition before it opened to the public. Claire Watson, a porter at the College, said “What struck me most when I saw the display was how much report writing used to have to be done by hand or typewriter. Modern technology has made the job much more efficient as we now do most things via email and we no longer need a porter stationed in every court thanks to fire alarms and CCTV.”

“I think this series of exhibitions will allow people to find out about the historic role their job has played in the College community”, Claire added.

Archivist at St John’s College and curator of the exhibition Tracy Deakin said: “Staff such as porters are the fabric that holds the College together. Many of them stay for much longer than your average student and their work enables the smooth running of the important teaching and research that goes on here.”

“The aim of this series of exhibitions is to recognise the contribution to the College made by staff and to encourage members of the community who might not normally visit the archive centre to come and enjoy the building and explore the resources found here.”

The School of Pythagoras dates from the 12th century and is the oldest secular building in Cambridge – older than any College, or the University of Cambridge itself.

In 2014 the building was converted into a new home for the College’s unique archive collection. The archives contain numerous fascinating documents about the College’s past, including records of its benefactors and property. Among the most stunning items in its holdings is a copy of the 1225 Magna Carta. These resources are available for use by College members, academic researchers and the public as a whole.

Exhibitions on gardeners, bedders and housekeepers are planned for the near future.   

“Keys, top hats and banners: A porter’s life” is open to all until 15 December 2016. Members of the public can view the exhibition by making an appointment with the archivist via 01223 338631 or archivist@joh.cam.ac.uk