Day 2: London Metropolitan Archives

The jack the ripper tour guide standing in an alley in the area of some of the murders.

Kelsi and I standing in the archives. 

The oldest piece of writing in the archives, dates back to 1067 after William the Conqueror. 

 White Chapel

Where several Jack the Ripper victims were seen before the murders

City University

This morning we travel to the City University campus for a quick tour of the journalism department, and to meet other students. Half of the group separated when crossing the street to the tube station, typical when you are traveling in a group of 25. As half of the group leaves, never to be seen again, the other half is left standing in Paddington with no clue where to go. Two of us end up with Dr. Callison as we walk to full length of Paddington, with no clue what train to take or where to transfer trains. There are several girls with no idea where to get off the train, and we decide that it is unlikely that we will see them again when we meet back up at City University. After a grueling 30 minutes of train after train, we take the escalator up as we spot the lost group of girls. As I shout one name out, we start crying out ear-splitting yells in excitement like we haven’t seen each other in years. So excited to meet up with the group, we head to City University. We enter the journalism department, and sit in a classroom. We learn about media outlets in London and the greater London area. With much smaller circulation than national newspapers in America, there are many more national papers in the UK, than in the United States. After a short coffee break with other journalism students, we head to lunch and the London Metropolitan Archives for a tour. It was interesting as they preserve documents from all over London and its vast history. There is even a document that dates back to 1067 with William the Conqueror in power. After the archives, we go to dinner at a trendy place called The Fence, but delicious as it is, we have a tour scheduled in the Aldgate area to learn more about the Jack the Ripper. We arrive just in time to meet our tour guide, a vivacious man with many different personality aspects. He takes us to the sites of several murders thought to be by Jack the Ripper. There are many different theories for the murders as no one was ever convicted for the crimes. With over 100 different suspects in the murders, there are “Ripperologists” all around the world with various opinions of what might have happened. All of the victims of Jack the Ripper were prostitutes of numerous ages. The victims were mutilated and had body parts severed. As gruesome as the tour was for me, as I am really sensitive to blood and gore, it was also very interesting and informative. With such busy days for the last two days, coming back to the hotel was our first thought. We need a full night’s rest for our adventures tomorrow at the Tower of London.