Caroline Simpson Collection
Home and garden design, history and life
Museums of History New South Wales
Help us preserve the past - the 2023 Annual Appeal will assist to digitise significant historical items in our care
Celebrate NAIDOC Week
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Paving the way ... Harold Blair: The first Aboriginal opera singer
A short documentary that offers a glimpse into the life of Harold Blair, a world-renowned tenor, family man and political campaigner who sought social justice and human rights for Australia’s First Nations people
5 July, 6pm
Talk
First Nations Speaker Series
Join MHNSW Head of First Nations Cultural Engagement and Gamilaroi Murri, Peter White in an intimate conversation with renowned Widjabul, Bundjalung artistic director, Rhoda Roberts AO
3-7 July, various times
Workshop
Garuwanga Gurad (Stories from Country) - the Great Emu in the Sky
Look up into the night sky! See the constellations and listen to a First Nations Lore Story shared by Shannon Foster
Preserving our Past
2023 Annual Appeal
Help us preserve our past. All funds raised will allow us to accelerate our work to digitise the significant collections in our care.
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Explore the collections
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Making history every day
Museum Collections
Place-based collections at our historic houses and museums
Featured stories
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Purging Pestilence – Plague!
The Bubonic Plague hit Sydney in January 1900. Spreading from the waterfront, the rats carried the plague throughout the city. Within eight months 303 cases were reported and 103 people were dead
Glass-plate photography
The collection of glass-plate negatives held in the State Archives and Justice & Police Museum are endlessly fascinating and revealing
A world of designs
Trade catalogues, published to illustrate the products for sale from a manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer, reveal the surprising wealth of choice available to Australian consumers in the 19th century
A new way of living
Once word spread about the newly built Rose Seidler House in 1950, it was the ‘most talked about house in Sydney’. Seventy years on, it's impossible to deny the strength and daring of Seidler's vision
Museum
Make yourself at home
Meroogal became home to four generations of resilient and resourceful women, whose house was their livelihood as well as their home
The finest house
In 1835 colonial secretary Alexander Macleay set about building the ultimate trophy house, a shimmering, classical styled jewel box, perched in rugged bushland on the northern side of present day Potts Point, high above Elizabeth Bay with majestic views across Sydney harbour and beyond
Dodgy, dangerous, disturbing
3D models: a fascinating exploration of some seemingly innocent objects modified for nefarious purposes from the Justice & Police Museum collection
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Latest News
Conservation in action: Elizabeth Bay House external joinery work
Museums of History NSW is undertaking external joinery conservation works to the front facade thanks to the funds generously donated by our supporters during the 2022 Annual Appeal
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Sydney Open 2023: call-out for buildings
Sydney Open unlocks the doors of the city’s most important and architecturally inspiring buildings and spaces
Latest News
Conservation in action: Meroogal exterior painting
We're working with specialist painters to restore damage and prevent further deterioration to the building
