The Collection of the Tomory Lajos Museum in Education, the Educational Collection in the Museum

Abstract

The collection of the Tomory Lajos Museum, located in the 18. district of Budapest, has been concerned with the history of education from its very birth. Lajos Tomory, the founding headmaster of the school, decided in 1956 to collect with his students old objects and school equipment from the surroundings of his school in the 18th district. His great dream was to create a pedagogical museum based on his collection, for which he engaged in a lively public and research activity. In 1981, he donated his collection, which had grown to include local history as well as education, and which he could only house in school cupboards and cellars, to the 18th district, which has provided a venue and organisation for the growing collection since 1987. From the very beginning, the founder and the public collection felt it was important to present the district's educational past in temporary and permanent exhibitions, and since 1985 there has been an almost continuous permanent exhibition on the subject - in various locations. Drawing on the educational and local historical material, guided tours for schoolchildren in the district, successful museum education sessions and joint exhibitions have been held since the beginning. In addition to the educational history material, the thematic material of the museum's display library is based on the founder's concept of education, on previous thematic collections and on the display of the museum's collections, and is also linked to a variety of museum education programmes.

Currently, the Tomory Lajos Museum is an independent institution (in a villa more than 150 years old) with several exhibition spaces. The educational material, which is popular with school groups in the district's primary and secondary schools, is on permanent display as part of the permanent exhibition on the history of the municipality, but recently, in addition to a research project on the present, the educational material held in the repository has been published in a larger permanent exhibition in thematic units.