Aula, Museos y Colecciones

Se pretende destacar en este trabajo el patrimonio que conservan los llamados Institutos Históricos, centros de enseñanza secundaria creados antes de la II República. En este caso, se incide particularmente en los fondos científicos de estos centros y se utiliza como ejemplo clarificador, los resultados del trabajo realizado a lo largo de varios años que han permitido conformar un Museo específico en el Instituto Padre Suárez de Granada. Se comenta, asimismo, la descripción, organización y finalidad de los fondos expuestos, tanto de las piezas referentes a Historia Natural como a Física y Química, que constituyen los dos conjuntos más importantes, y se resalta la necesidad de que deben animarse las actuaciones de este tipo para permitir, recuperar, estudiar y sacar a la luz el valiosísimo patrimonio científico y educativo encerrado en aquellos centros de instrucción españoles.

Amongst the current concerns about rescuing and preserving the heritage of Secondary Schools, it is worth highlighting those in regards to their scientific heritage. Needless to say that those Secondary Schools catalogued as “Historical” are the ones that can bring a much more important offer in that sense. They are currently established under the National Association for the Preservation of the Heritage of Historical Secondary Schools. They all follow three steps: rescue, classification and restoration of their heritage, readily available for the study and enjoyment of the general public. The latter obviously depends on the physical space of the buildings, budgets and, not least important, the management, staff and resources. Each of these steps already mentioned has been followed by the Science Museum of Padre Suarez Secondary School in Granada since 1993 (formerly known as “Provincial Secondary School”). The Science Museum is officially registered in the Registry of Museums many years ago. I myself have the duties of managing the Museum as well as showing the collections for groups and individuals four days a week. The museum has an average of 6,000 visitors a year, mostly students from all ages.

The Science Museum has both a didactic brochure that serves as a guide to visitors and a book detailing the history of its heritage from 1845 to present times. The collections are spread over 3552.09 sq feet along four rooms and a corridor. Three rooms and the corridor are dedicated to Natural History, whereas the fourth room covers Physics and Chemistry. Despite the pillaging suffered at different moments in history, the Museum currently displays 5,700 items related to Natural History and 600 physics and chemistry apparati in perfect condition. The result is a Science Museum with an extraordinary potential.