The old tin shed
Buildings & streets, Such was life:
‘The Elizabeth Street blot’, ‘unsightly’, ‘deplorable’, ‘an ancient eyesore’. Few buildings in our city’s history excited as much controversy as ‘the old tin shed’.
Articles by: Sarah Matthews
Convict tattoos
What do the following things have in common: candlesticks, beehives, cock fights, drinking glasses, swans, flowerpots, crucifixes, stags, comets, and roses? Give up? They’re all convict tattoos.
The 1967 referendum
On 27 May 1967, Australians voted in record numbers to alter two sections of the Constitution so it no longer discriminated against Aboriginal people. The landslide ‘yes’ vote was seen as a watershed moment in Australian political history.
Federici’s ghost
Arts & literature, Such was life:
Melbourne’s Princess Theatre has been host to many fine performers over the years, but the most famous performance of all belongs to its ghost, Federici.
A cargo of fallen angels
People & professions, Such was life:
Children in detention. Stopping the boats. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was recent times but in fact, it was the 19th century.
Poetry of the pongo
‘Pongo’ was a term used by Australian troops in World War One to refer to the common foot soldier of the infantry battalions. The songs, stories, art and verses of the pongos tells us much about the Australian soldiers who fought in the Great War.
So, you want to be a librarian?
People & professions, Such was life:
From 1948 up until 1969, the Melbourne Public Library’s training school educated nearly 300 aspiring librarians. Many things have changed since then, but some things still remain the same…
Guide Alice
People & professions, Such was life:
Alice Manfield, or ‘Guide Alice’ as she came to be known, had a strange, romantic childhood on Mount Buffalo. She grew up to become a talented naturalist, photographer and writer, as well as an unlikely feminist figure.
The little blue building
Buildings & streets, Such was life:
There’s a little blue building outside Flinders Street Station. ‘When was it built?’, a curious library patron asked. The question led me to some interesting research involving milk cans, viaduct vaults and bananas.
Slums of Melbourne
Social life & customs, Such was life:
As far back as the 1850s, slums existed in inner city Melbourne. In the 1930s, Frederick Barnett began taking photos of the slums, using them in a push for social reform.
