Collections

8 December, 10.30am

Webinar: Public Works photographs: an unsung treasure

The amazing quality and variety of the photographs taken by the Public Works Department is a testament to the photographers. This webinar will explore these images in depth

Newly digitised archives – married women teachers' applications

The Married Women (Lecturers and Teachers) Act of 1932 restricted employment of married women in the Department of Public Instruction. We hold 693 declarations for exemption by married women teachers for the years 1932–35

Wallpaper in the spotlight

Work has begun on documenting this valuable collection to ensure each design is preserved against the effects of time for future generations to enjoy

UNE Heritage Centre re-opens

We were delighted to attend a ceremony to mark the re-opening of the University of New England (UNE) and Regional Archives

Digitising the Rose Seidler House Collection

Over the past week, our Collection Digitisation Team has been facilitating an in-situ photoshoot at Rose Seidler House

The Astor, 1923–2023

Upon completion in 1923, The Astor in Sydney's Macquarie Stree twas the largest reinforced concrete building in Australia, the tallest residential block, and this country’s first company title residences

City of Gods, my early experience and toy boat

Inspired by a watercolour of the ruins of the temple of Vishnu, refugee curator in residence Jagath Dheerasekara writes about Devinuvara as a site of pilgrimage, colonisation and uprising

Watch pockets

Watch pockets hung on the head cloth of a four-post bedstead and originally served in place of bedside tables, which were uncommon in the 19th century

Wall to wall: a marvellous wallpaper collection

A remarkable donation of over 3000 wallpaper samples by John and Phyllis Murphy adds to our existing collection to form Australia’s largest repository of historic wallpapers

The myth of a non-invitation

Jørn Utzon and the Sydney Opera House opening

The Sydney Opera House Books

Significant publications and reports on the Sydney Opera House project, including the rules for the design competition, plans, drawings and photographs at various stages of the construction

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