Betty Thompson
Born 1926. Moved to Cambridge in 1966 and lived in Castle Hill just up from Kettle's Yard. First encountered Kettle's Yard after her husband told her of 'the art collector'. They were shown round by Jim and she wrote to him offering to help. In 1970, after the first person lasted just over a week, Betty was appointed to run the then brand new gallery. She stayed for many years with personal and sometimes critical memories of Jim.
She worked through many physical changes to the site, in particular in the gallery.
In her interview, she describes the way both the house and gallery operated in the early years including challenges of working within a university structure. Description of working with different curators and their relationship with Jim. She gave up the gallery job in 1985. She then worked as an invigilator in the house until ill health forced her to give that up. Now retired and at the time of interview living in Cambridge.
By: Robert Wilkinson
Length: 6 hour 49 mins
Media: On 9 tracks on 6 CDs with summary,
Interview id: MYKY05
We do not currently have audio extracts available for this interview. If you are undertaking research and wish to access this interview, please contact the Education Officer at education@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk
