This exhibition explores the 100 year anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone for the Keppel Street building; from the purchase of the new land, the foundation stone ceremony to the building we know and love.
The Journey to Keppel Street
Explore behind the scenes of the move, design and construction of the Keppel Street building.
Albert Dock Building.
The original School was established as part of the Seamen’s Hospital Society which has its origins in the hospital ships which docked on the Thames at Greenwich. The Hospital and School were based in the Albert Docks as this is where the largest number of ships docked in Great Britain and it gave students the chance to see tropical diseases in their acute stages.
(LSHTM buildings/04/04/10)
The previous building, Endsleigh Gardens c.1920;
In 1920, the London School of Tropical Medicine (as it was known at the time), with the Hospital for Tropical Diseases moved to Endsleigh Gardens taking over a former hotel which had been used as a hospital for officers during the First World War. The building now acts as the UCL Student Union on Gordon Square.
(LSHTM buildings/04/06/07)
Keppel Street site before LSHTM.
Keppel Street was part of the Duke of Bedford’s Bloomsbury estate and previously contained 40 Georgian houses (when it originally ran to Russell Square) and another 42 in Keppel Mews North (now Malet Street). A well-to-do area in Victorian times, Keppel Street housed several distinguished residents, including the painter John Constable, the novelist Anthony Trollope, the Irish nationalist politician Charles Stewart Parnell and the American illusionist Harry Houdini. As well as residential properties, there was a wine shop and a chapel on the site but these had all been demolished by 1911. (https://grokipedia.com/page/keppel_street)
Shakespeare’s Hut, 1916.
The National Theatre Committee purchased the Keppel Street site in 1913. It intended to build a Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in readiness for the tercentenary of the playwright’s death in 1916. These plans were shelved at the outbreak of the First World War.
In 1916 a YMCA hut called the Shakespeare Hut was constructed as a ‘home away from home’ for Anzac soldiers to rest, recover and be entertained. In 1923 the Rockefeller Foundation bought the site for £52,000 (which would be approximately £2.6 million today).
The Rockefeller Foundation.
Lancet article article announcing the Rockefeller Foundation’s gift of $2 million (equivalent of around $40 million today) towards the building and equipping of Keppel Street.
Acknowledging LSHTM’s colonial ties also includes evaluating the donors and contributors.
In recent years, The Rockefeller launched an internal investigation to uncover details about its involvement in the eugenics movement. More information can be found on this here.
Architects design of the building.
A competition was held to design the new Keppel Street building, five sets of architects (all experienced in laboratory design and construction) entered. The winning design was by Morley Horder and Verner Rees.
Unsuccessful entry, 1926.
This is one of the unsuccessful entries in the competition to choose an architect for the school. This design, by Messrs A.W.S. Cross and Kenneth M.B. Cross is more ornate than the winning design.(LSHTM Buildings/01/04/03).
The 1926 General Workers Strike.
According to a report in the British Medical Journal of 28th May 1927, construction of the LSHTM Keppel Street building was delayed as a result of the General Strike. The strike lasted May 4th-12th 1926, an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage-reductions and worsening conditions for 1.2 million locked-out coal miners. It was a sympathy strike, with many of those who were not miners and not directly affected striking to support the locked-out miners.
Building Contracts, December 1925.
Ceremony of the Laying of the Foundation Stone
Explore the event for the Ceremony of the Laying of the Foundation Stone, the guests, schedule and experience.
‘We who are assembled here to-day and are looking forward into the future must indeed be lacking in imagination if we do not feel convinced that this great concentrated effort, this prolonged and sustained education of trained minds, and the following of the great maxim that prevention is better than cure, will here play a beneficent and noble part in the happiness and the health of mankind’ – Neville Chamberlain, Speech at the Laying of the Foundation Stone Ceremony
Neville Chamberlain was the Minister of Health 1923-1929 (and again briefly in 1931) and was invited to lay the foundation stone for the Keppel Street building. He went on to be Prime Minister in 1937.
Neville’s father, Sir Joseph Chamberlain was Secretary of State for the Colonies, it was due to partial funding from the Colonial Office that the school was able to be established in 1899. Colonies were also instructed by the Colonial Office to contribute money for the establishment of the School and pay regular financial contributions for the first 30 or so years of the School’s existence. In short, the foundation and maintenance of the London School of Tropical Medicine, as it was then known, were made possible through the forced labour and financial exploitation of colonised subjects.
There is more information on the School’s colonial ties, and the continued work of the archives service to address the historic and ongoing consequences of this here.
The ‘Ceremony of the Laying of the Foundation Stone’ was quite the affair boasting famous guests, grand speeches, music and food to surround the placing of the stone.
Order of Proceedings, 1926.
Cover and selected pages from the ‘Order of Proceedings at the Ceremony for the Laying of the Foundation Stone’, featuring a sketch of the final design for the building, the schedule for the event and names of notable speakers. (LSHTM buildings/01/05/01)
Programme of Music, 1926.
Orchestral music was provided throughout the event by the K.P Orchestra. Keith Prowse was a famous music publisher. (LSHTM buildings/01/05/01)
A sample of some of the selections is linked below, this was curated by Benedict Long for this exhibition.
Estimate for refreshments, 1926.
The event also included ‘tea’ and ‘light refreshments’ provided by W. Hill & Son Ltd. This ‘Estimate for Refreshments’ outlines the menu for the day. A subsequent luncheon was also held where selected guests enjoyed a French inspired five course meal at the Carlton Hotel. (LSHTM buildings/01/05/01)
(playlist link will go here, just finishing it)
The Ceremony in the News:
The ceremony was widely reported on across major UK newspapers and the colonies.
LSHTM Keppel Street Opening Ceremony Invitation, 1929.
After 3 years of construction, the School’s Keppel Street building was officially opened by HRH The Prince of Wales (who went onto become Edward 8th who abdicated), on 18th July 1929 at 12pm.
(LSHTM buildings/01/06/07)
(All images are from the LSHTM Archives Service unless otherwise stated)
