‘MEMORY AND IDENTITY’: University of San Agustin opens Archives and Museum Hall

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By John Noel Herrera

The University of San Agustin in Iloilo City opened its new Archives and Museum Hall that houses the memories and identities of the university through its different important records and artifacts.

“It took us a while, but we are happy that finally we now have a more suitable space for our museum that we can all be proud of,” University President Rev. Fr. Frederick C. Comendador said during the program on Tuesday, Nov 8, 2022.

Comendador also said that they accumulated not only experience and memories all throughout the years, “but artifacts and records that are worth deserving of handing over to the next generations.”

Located on the 3rd floor of the university’s Fray Luis de Leon Building, the museum hall is composed of two main parts which are intended for the archival and museum spaces.

The archives contain school files from 1904 up until the present which are all “almost intact”, including the 1904 Libro de Determinaciones which contains decisions of the Augustinian community from July 1904 until the 1970s, and samples of old diplomas issued in 1912 and 1914.

“These files help us imagine the simplicity and the humble beginnings of this University and I take personal pride in this because our university holds these precious archival sources which, if scholarship in history is pursued, we have our own sources to glean into,” USA Archivist and Museum Curator Rev. Fr. Ric Anthony Reyes said.

The second space serves as the face of USA Archives and Museum, where it constitutes the permanent exhibition space for the combined curation of tactile and archival materials, which is divided into three areas:

-the first phase dedicated to the museum displays pertinent to the history of the university;

-the second phase for “Mga Panublion sang Kultura kag Relihiyon: The USA Panayana and Western Visayan Collection”; and

-the last area for thematic or seasonal exhibitions open for USA or non-USA sectors to put up exhibits.

Phase one of the gallery dedicated to tactile and archival materials showcases exhibits of its Rectors and Presidents, pictures, materials, and documentation from 1904 until the onset of World War II in the 1940s which include school and convent furniture.

The “Mga Panublion sang Kultura kag Relihiyon” gallery contains representative relics of Panay and Western Visayan history and culture which include collections of liturgical arts, crafts and metalwork; paintings and material sampling of the Augustinian churches in Panay, religious art (santos sculptures), Hiligaynon literature, Panayanon fabric, and the collection of Magdalena Jalandoni manuscripts and personal belongings.

Fr. Reyes also said that while it is important to look forward to the modernization of educational management, “we also need to deeply root ourselves into our identity as Agustinian educators and agents of our cherished values of Unitas, Caritas, and Veritas.”

“May the archives and museum not only be a place for old records and things of history, but will also be a source of inspiration, aspiration to live your life well,” Fr. Comendador added.