Turning Over New Leaves: Telegraphy and the Conservation of Gutta-Percha (1850-1939)

本项目将研究保护和可持续性实践对马来西亚联邦彭亨州Selborne种植园公众形象的重要性。它由Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company（Telcon）拥有，成立于1913年，是一个可持续的古塔胶种植园，以确保英国拥有的珍贵天然乳胶来源，这是连接世界的全球海底电报电缆网络绝缘不可或缺的，推动了19世纪和20世纪的全球化，并为今天的信息时代奠定了基础。到了1930年代，塞尔伯恩的管理层开始积极参与席卷马来半岛的保护运动，最终在半岛建立了第一个国家公园。目前，大多数关于海底电缆电报的史学都集中在其技术发展、对国际和国内政治的意义以及在媒体中的作用。这个项目更符合近年来的研究，其中海伦戈弗雷，凯西纽兰和约翰塔利分析了该行业在世纪后期的重大环境影响。这个项目的不同之处在于，它更多地关注Telcon的可持续发展战略，它如何在马来半岛的地面上发挥作用，半岛动态如何反过来影响Telcon，并使用了20世纪世纪的案例研究。被问到的主要问题是，在现有的史学中没有探讨过，在多大程度上是可持续发展战略，如种植园建设，是Telcon整体战略的优先事项？同样重要的是：塞尔伯恩种植园的管理层和他们的实地经验对公司的战略有多大影响？他们为什么要与20世纪30年代的环保运动保持一致？该项目是SWW DTP 2合作博士奖（CDA）项目的一部分：维持世界的神经系统：海底电缆电报的环境历史，大约1880-1940年。主要研究将在PK Porthcurno全球通信博物馆进行，以利用Telcon存档文件;在基尤的国家档案馆了解关于国王乔治五世委员会调查马来半岛野生动物保护的详细情况;马来西亚国家档案馆了解野生动物委员会的帐户和保护运动的起源;和彭亨国家档案馆了解塞尔伯恩种植园与州政府在环境倡议方面的互动。使用的主要方法将是全球历史和前沿研究，以最好地捕捉互动，演员和动机的复杂性，连接英国，英国电缆公司，荷兰橡胶公司和马来半岛。鉴于可持续发展目标和环境保护对当今社会的重要性，公众宣传也至关重要。我将在PK Porthcurno进行为期6个月的实习，在那里我将获得档案和策展实践方面的专业培训，并为博物馆档案馆的目录描述做出贡献。这些努力将使公众更容易获得收藏品和文件。另一个成果将是在PK Porthcurno举办的一个受这项研究启发的展览。为了准备设计这个展览，我还将利用巴斯温泉大学的遗产管理课程

This project will examine the importance of conservation and sustainability practices to the public image of the Selborne Plantation in the Federated Malay State (FMS) of Pahang. Owned by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company (Telcon), it was established in 1913 as a sustainable gutta percha plantation to secure a British-owned source of the precious natural latex, indispensable for insulating the global network of submarine telegraph cables that connected the world, drove globalisation in the 19th and 20th centuries, and laid the foundations for today's information age. By the 1930s, Selborne's management became active in the conservation movement sweeping the Malay Peninsula that eventually culminated in the founding of the peninsula's first national park.Currently, most historiography on submarine cable telegraphy focus on their technical development, significance to international and domestic politics, and role in media. This project is more in line with the studies of more recent years where Helen Godfrey, Cassie Newland, and John Tully have analysed the significant environmental impact of the industry in the late 19th century. This project differs by focusing more on Telcon's sustainability strategies, how it played out on the ground on the Malay Peninsula, how peninsular dynamics in turn influenced Telcon, and in using a 20th century case study. The main question being asked, unexplored in existing historiography, is to what extent were sustainability strategies such as plantation building, a priority for Telcon's overall strategy? Also significant: how much did the management of the Selborne Plantation and their on-the-ground experience influence the company's strategies and why did they align themselves with the 1930s pro-conservation movement?This project is part of the SWW DTP2 Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA) project: Sustaining the Nervous System of the World: An Environmental History of Submarine Cable Telegraphy, Circa 1880-1940. Primary research will be conducted at the PK Porthcurno Museum of Global Communications, to utilise archived Telcon documents; at the National Archives in Kew for details on King George V's Commission to investigate wildlife conservation on the Malay Peninsula; the National Archives of Malaysia for accounts of the Wild Life Commissions and the origins of the conservation movement; and the State Archives of Pahang to understand the Selborne Plantation's interactions with the state government regarding environmental initiatives. The main approaches used will be global history and frontier studies to best capture the complexity of interactions, actors, and motivations that linked Britain, British Cable Companies, Dutch Rubber Companies, and the Malay Peninsula. Given the importance of sustainability goals and environmental conservation to our society today, public outreach is also essential. I will have a 6-month placement at PK Porthcurno, where I will obtain professional training in archival and curatorial practices and contribute to catalogue descriptions for the museum's archives. These efforts will make the collections and documents more accessible to the public. Another output will be an exhibition inspired by this research at PK Porthcurno. To prepare for designing this exhibit, I will also take advantage of classes in Heritage Management at Bath Spa University