Archive
The Institute's digital archive
Photographs, documents, publications, minutes and recollections held by the Trust. Cataloguing is under way — this collection grows as items are described and checked.
35 items in view
98th Annual General Meeting and centenary history book, 2024
The Athlone Institute Trust celebrated 98 years since its formation with an Annual General Meeting on Thursday 21 November 2024. A book capturing the history of the Institute and those who kept its ideals alive was distributed. Attendees included representatives of St Stephen’s, Holy Trinity, URC Immanuel, URC Zionskerk and Bethel Congregational Church, with Fr Christopher Swartz as outgoing chairperson.
Institutional history
An ecosystem of community institutions, 1996–2016
The Institute became the seedbed of an ecosystem of community institutions: community broadcaster KC 107.7 (1996), the Bursary Fund (1998), the Athlone House of Strength supporting women and children affected by abuse (2006), and the Centre for Hope and Healing restoring lives impacted by substance dependency (2016).
Community institutions
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5288
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5289
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5291
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5294
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5302
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5303
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5305
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5307
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5317
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5320
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5322
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5325
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5330
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5333
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5334
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5335
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5341
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5349
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5355
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5357
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5360
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5366
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5369
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5371
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5375
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Bursary presentation ceremony, 2013 — photograph 5380
A photograph from the Athlone Institute Bursary Project's 2013 bursary presentation ceremony, held at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre in Paarl. Recovered from the Trust's own earlier website. Names of those pictured are not recorded — if you can identify anyone, please tell the archive.
Bursary ceremonies
Early bursary register
A register of students assisted by the Institute in its early decades. Entry details are being verified before full publication.
Bursaries
Founding of the Athlone Institute, 1926
The Athlone Institute was established in Paarl in 1926 through the collective efforts of St Stephen’s Anglican Church, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Immanuel Uniting Reformed Church, Zion Uniting Reformed Church and Bethel Congregational Church, together with forty parishioners who mortgaged their properties as surety for a loan. At the opening, Reverend William Lloyd declared: "The coloured people of the district of Paarl can now boast of a complete system of education from Sub A to St. X, including the training of teachers. No other district in the Union can boast of such educational advantages." The Institute established the first school and teacher-training college for non-white learners and students in Paarl.
Institutional history
Founding of the Institute, 1926
Record of the decision by Paarl church communities to establish an institute providing higher educational opportunity for their students.
Governance
Frank Pietersen Music Centre, 1970
The Frank Pietersen Music Centre, founded in 1970, has nurtured generations of musicians. When the Athlone Training College closed in 1993 as part of the restructuring of teacher education, its buildings became the home of the Music Centre, ensuring the campus continued to nurture learning, creativity and opportunity.
Community institutions
Institute photographs
A group of photographs documenting Institute gatherings, trustees and student recipients. Individual items are being catalogued.
Photographs
Noorder Paarl High School and the Athlone Training College, 1953
In 1953 the government assumed responsibility for the original school buildings for the newly established Noorder Paarl High School, while the teacher education programme became known as the Athlone Training College, which attracted students from across South Africa.
Institutional history
The Group Areas Act removal and the return of 1974
In 1974, when the Group Areas Act forced Noorder Paarl High School to vacate its historic home in exchange for asbestos-sheeted classrooms east of the Berg River, the principal likened the exodus to "being spectators at your own funeral". Barely a month later, a storm tore the roofs from the new buildings, forcing the school back to its original Athlone Institute campus, where it stands today.
Institutional history
Gaps in the record
The Institute's early decades are thin online. If you hold photographs, programmes, certificates or recollections, they belong here.
Send something to the archive