Cheryl Griffin’s latest article for CBD News gives the low-down on the Red Cross in the CBD during WWII and shines a light on Vera Deakin’s work for the Red Cross – check it out here (scroll down to page 21)
Ashley Smith’s latest article for Docklands News can be read here . A terrifying look at the Yarra in Flood.
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The RHSV is thrilled to announce that we are recruiting for a new position, Collections Officer (Images), which will be responsible to Jillian Hiscock, our Collections Manager. The new recruit will work on our Images Collection which has 50,000+ items in it. We hope to concentrate on getting the catalogue records onto eHive where they will be discoverable by the public through Trove. Also, the new Collections Officer will be managing the digitisation process for our images collection.
read more...Apologies to all those enthusiasts who love our secondhand history book fair – we’ve had to delay it by a week.
The new dates are:
Members’ Preview Thu 25th Feb 5pm – 8pm (you must be an RHSV member to attend)
Open to the public:
Friday 26th Feb 9am – 5pm
Saturday 27th Feb 10am – 4pm
Monday 1st March 9am –
read more...During the current lockdown the RHSV staff will be working from home where we can still be contacted by telephone or email. The bookshop will be open for online sales and these will be posted out on 18th Feb. The Drill Hall will be closed until Thursday 18th Feb. Our event, In the Name of the Theatre, with Cheryl Threadgold has become a free Zoom event and we have had to delay our Book Fair by a week.
read more...All staff, volunteers, contractors & visitors should read the RHSV COVIDSAFE PLAN attached here
read more...In the Name of Theatre. The History, Culture and Voices of Amateur Theatre in Victoria
Cheryl Threadgold
The Author, Melbourne, 2020
In his introduction to this book, Frank Van Straten, doyen of Melbourne’s theatre history, writes that amateur theatre with its infectious enthusiasm and ‘homely, intimate venues’ creates a ‘special form of magic’. It’s this magic that Cheryl Threadgold captures in her book. The colourful cover invites the reader to explore successive periods of amateur theatre in Victoria and reflect on the many people involved in a single production.
read more...Blood, Toil, Tears & Sweat. Remembering the Pakenham District’s WW2 Service Personnel, 1939‒1945
Patrick Ferry with Wally Nye
Berwick‒Pakenham Historical Society & Pakenham RSL, Pakenham, 2020
The title of this book is taken from words used by Winston Churchill to pledge total commitment to victory in the Second World War. Similarly, the Pakenham community was ‘all in’; some sustained their largely rural district, others served overseas,
read more...Maldon. A New History 1853‒1928
Brian Rhule
Exploring History Australia, Bendigo, 2019
This new history of Maldon is a window into the minutiae of life in a gold-mining town and makes a valuable contribution to the ever-expanding body of work on the Victorian goldfields. The book covers a rich spectrum of material, shining a light on many elements of everyday life in this early mining town,
read more...Annie’s War. The Story of One Boroondara Family’s Wartime Experience
Lucy Bracey, illustrated by Gregory Mackay
City of Boroondara, Melbourne, 2019
In 1916 Edward Slade enlisted in the First World War, and set off for the front, leaving behind his wife and three young children. His story is told from the viewpoint of his daughter Annie, who makes sense of the tumultuous events of wartime through her own experience of the homefront in suburban Melbourne.
read more...Gariwerd: an Environmental History of the Grampians
Benjamin Wilkie
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 2020
The author of this well-presented work seeks to answer the question: ‘what is the nature of Gariwerd?’ This mountain range in Victoria’s western district, formerly known as the Grampians, has been a significant presence in the lives of people of the region since the earliest human settlement, tens of thousands of years ago.
read more...The Boîte. History Through Music, Song and Story
Jen Rose, Well Chosen Words in partnership with The Boîte
https://theboitehistory.org/about/
The Boîte—literally, the Cabaret—has been a significant part of Victoria’s cultural scene since 1979. In a variety of venues across Melbourne, and in rural settings, The Boîte has staged concerts, created choirs, and organised musical workshops and other projects. The central aim of the organisation’s multi-faceted program has always been to increase awareness within the Victorian community of the music of our migrants from non-English speaking countries.
read more...Joint Winners
La Mama. The Biggest Little Theatre in Australia
Rachel Fensham and Andrew Fuhrmann for the Digital Studio at University of Melbourne and Digital Heritage Australia
https://digitalheritageaustralia.com/lm08/
Carlton’s La Mama theatre holds an iconic place in Victoria’s cultural landscape, and this web project provides an interactive tour exploring the history and significance of the theatre by inhabiting its archive as a material and virtual space.
read more...Woman’s Sphere Remodelled. A Spatial History of the Victorian Woman’s Christian Temperance Union 1887‒1914
Ruby Ekkel
Victorian Historical Journal, vol. 91, no.1, June 2020
This is a thoroughly and deeply researched article presented with a verve and pace that makes it both conceptually strong and persuasive. By undertaking a spatial analysis of the activities of the WCTU in Victoria between 1887 and 1914 the author demonstrates the ways in which these women negotiated the ideological framework of ‘separate spheres’ to expand the definition of the ‘private sphere’ women were allowed to occupy.
read more...Printed on Stone. The Lithographs of Charles Troedel
Amanda Scardamaglia
Melbourne Books, Melbourne, 2020
Born in Hamburg in 1835, Charles Troedel became an apprentice lithographer to his father before being recruited to Melbourne by a Norwegian printer. Troedel founded his own business in 1863 and attracted praise for The Melbourne Album, which is reproduced here. A master of lithography, the technique of printing on stone, which transformed the production of graphic arts,
read more...The judges can award a special prize for any outstanding entry outside of established categories.
Visions of Victoria. The Magic of Kodachrome Film, 1950‒1975
Nick Anchen
Sierra Publishing, Melbourne, 2019
Visions of Victoria provides a window on Victoria’s past in the third quarter of the 20th century. Most of the photographs it presents were taken in Melbourne, but Bendigo, Ballarat and a range of smaller rural towns also feature.
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