Bliss’s book marks
Collection Development & Description:
Provenance research in rare book cataloguing by Derrick Moors
Canvas Town: ‘a floating city, devoured by the sun’
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
It was November, 1852, when almost overnight, a strange sight sprang up, near Princes Bridge, in Melbourne. Canvas Town, as it came to be known, was a large tent city, set up to accommodate people on their way to the goldfields…
An ‘ordinary great woman’: Anna Vroland
Upon her death in 1978, Victorian woman Anna Fellowes Vroland (1902-1978) was described by a colleague as being ‘one of the ordinary great women of our time’. Anna was a school teacher, writer, radio commentator, and political activist in the areas of Aboriginal rights, women’s rights and the peace movement. She held many views that seem entirely contemporary, but were not at all commonplace at the time she aired them.
The Lucas Girls: A match to remember Q&A
News:
We spoke to Belinda Ensor and Joel Checkley, the creators of The Lucas Girls: A match to remember, about the story behind their short film.
‘Put out that light!’ Brownout Melbourne during World War II
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
In 1942, amidst fears of aerial enemy attack, Melbourne’s homefront was in the grip of brownout. These were tumultuous times, and the city hummed with wartime preparations, and thousands of American service personnel. At the same time, a killer stalked in the shadows.
The Sunday question
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
For most of its history, the Library was closed on Sundays. The battle to open was a hotly contested issue, not just at the Library, but all over Melbourne.
Artist in conversation: Hayley Millar-Baker
News:
We speak to Hayley about her series I Will Survive, which is being displayed in an outdoor exhibition on the Library forecourt.
Dedicated to the ladies
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
In Melbourne’s early colonial days there were few places where women could go to seek knowledge. A dedicated section of the newly established Melbourne Public Library was one of them.
Country tennis in Victoria
The Australian Open came via courts in paddocks in rural towns and coastal getaways, built to attract tourists, inspire social events and to hold tournaments.
Sporting days – how to research your sporting ancestors
Family matters, Research tips & tricks:
Sport is a huge part of community life and sporting club records can provide another dimension to your family history. They can help to locate a person in a place,… Read More ›
Such was life
The sky is the limit: pioneering aviator Freda Thompson
In 1934, Australian aviator, Freda Thompson, made history as the first Australian woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Thompson was a pioneer who believed the sky was the limit – she wanted to reach that limit, to feel the adrenaline, to just fly.
Arts
Ailsa O’Connor: highlights of a life of socialist activism, feminism and art
Ailsa O’Connor (1921-1980) was a political activist, painter, sculptor, author and teacher. Throughout her art career she was a member of the Communist Party and associated with the Socialist Realist Group.
