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A glimpse into OH Frewin’s Museum for Print and Community Press

To visit the OH Frewin Museum for the Print and Community Press, means to not only study the finer ingenuity behind the evolution of print, but to walk down the harrowing path of South African history through the lens of the community journalist's camera.

May 5, 2022

Sjani Campher 2 minutes read

The museum, which is located at a historical landmark, celebrated its grand opening on 28 April 2022, in the lofts of OH Frewin Printers, a well-known and established enterprise in Middelburg.

The monumental opening itself was suggested by Dr Anton Rupert in 1982, who thought the museum would be a befitting preservation of the memory of Oscar Henry Frewin, the founder of OH Frewin Printers and the Middelburg Observer in 1903.

Executive Director of the Forum for Community Journalists, Marietta Lombard at the ribbon cutting ceremony with Tobie van den Bergh (Editor, Middelburg Observer) and Dries Venter (Senior Director, OH Frewin).

Mr Frewin not only founded the first-ever community newspaper in Middelburg, but is globally recognised as the “Father of Community Press”.

Marietta Lombard, Tobie van den Bergh, Dries Venter with two of Middelburg’s former mayors, Ben Mokoena and Mike Masina.

The museum is the first of its kind in the world that encapsulates the evolution and history of both print and community press.

A series of printing presses and machines dating as far back as the 1800s, is what greets the visitors at first glance. The origin of print and all of the available mediums are exhibited and explained.

A collection of Victorian Gestetner machines.

A deeper look leads visitors to an antique collection of field and video cameras including a fully operational dark room that was used by journalists to develop their own photographs for print.

A collection of antique field and video cameras.

A display that includes mechanical typewriters and the modern-day computer visualises the dawn of the digital age.

Award-winning photographs and frontpage articles bring to life the art behind journalism, as it captures history day-by-day through reporting on current events.

History bleeds into itself where restrictions in movement and curfews resurface themselves during both a troubled apartheid era and Covid-19, through a display of imagery, articles and examples of travel permits that rendered journalists as an essential service.

Travel permits issued to journalists during the 2020 National State of Disaster.

Journalists had to carry a travel permit during the apartheid era, allowing them access to segregated areas.

The threats and intimidation aimed at journalists, who refused to bow down to expediency, are laid bare in the ominous display of a hangman’s noose and a banner stating the words TRAITOR that was erected at the entrance of the Middelburg Observer by disgruntled residents in 1991 during the cultural integration of public schools.

A banner stating the words TRAITOR and a hangman’s noose was put up at the entrance of the Middelburg Observer for publishing an article about racial integration of public schools in 1991. The chilling exhibit captures the kind of threats and intimidation journalists faced in the apartheid era.

Award-winning journalism is celebrated in the commemoration of legends like the Middelburg Observer’s Buks Viljoen, who was nominated for the Nat Nakasa Award in 1994.

26 years later, the very same award is handed over to South Africa’s entire body of journalists for their reportage on Covid-19.

While the museum commemorates the evolution of print and community press, it also celebrates the historical figure of Mr Oscar Henry Frewin as its founder as well as the fact that both establishments still exist today.

• The OH Frewin Museum for Print and Community Press is located on 41 Meyer Street, Middelburg.

Tours can be arranged by bookings in advance, through contacting Senior Director of OH Frewin, Mr Dries Venter on 083 627 5222 or the Editor of the Middelburg Observer, Mr Tobie van den Bergh on 072 220 1568.