AustLit

'On 27 June 1934 a massive marble monument to William Barak (c. 1824–1903) was unveiled in Healesville, 50 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, by the chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Sir John MacFarland, with prayers read by Reverend Donald Cameron, former moderator of the Presbyterian Church. Barak had been the Ngurungaeta, or Elder, of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, and an influential leader for his people. The site, in the main street of Healesville, had been chosen by MacFarland with members of the Australian Natives’ Association, a mutual society with membership restricted to white men born in Australia. The donor of the stone and instigator of the memorial, 96-year-old Anne Fraser Bon, was also present, sheltering at a distance from the persistent rain. Newspaper accounts recorded only one Indigenous witness: ‘an aged Aboriginal, who exhibited a pair of boomerangs held in a pose’.' (Introduction)

'The beat of clap sticks and possum-skin drums fills the air as rows of warriors dance and sing in time to the percussion. Two bright fires glow in the centre of this gathering; nearby the director of ceremonies takes centre stage, wrapped in his possum-skin cloak. This is the scene of celebration presented in a painting by Aboriginal Australian artist William Barak (c. 1824–1903). The artwork in State Library Victoria’s care has been executed in blue pigment, red ochre and black charcoal on a canvas of thick cardboard. Barak applied the paint so thickly that it stands out in three dimensions, like that of an Impressionist work. Another painting, which uses the same thick card as a canvas, also depicts a scene of grouped figures wearing cloaks. Instead of dancing, they stand tall, holding jagged spears and other weapons. A kangaroo and an emu are present; the figures wear lyre bird feathers in their hair: to this observer the painting shows hunting and social arrangements within the community. (Introduction)

'Europeans set foot onto Naarm in the first decades of the 19th century. The colony known as Port Phillip District had for millennia been home to the Kulin nation, comprising Wathaurong, Boon Wurrung, Woiwurrung, Taunguerong and Dja Dja Wurrung language groups. They had witnessed the sea level rise, the coast recede; they had seen hills become islands and had witnessed climatic change as the ice age of the Pleistocene epoch ended. Early European settlers failed to recognise the complexity and sophistication of these groups, which lived sustainably on and with their Country. Naarm, which later came to be known as Melbourne, sits on the meeting point of the Birrarung (Yarra River) and its tributaries in the resource-rich lands and waterways of southeast Australia.' (Introduction)

'Fifty-two years after Joan Lindsay’s novel Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967) was released, it continues to spark the public imagination, functioning as a locus of creative and scholarly engagement. The book’s central event, the disappearance in 1900 of three schoolgirls and their teacher, creates a ripple pattern that continues to affect those involved.2 Similarly, the story has had a rich and varied afterlife, manifesting in the intervening decades in unexpected and intriguing ways.' (Introduction)

'When Frances Taylor began a monthly journal, Woman’s World, in December 1921 in Melbourne, which she edited, produced and managed herself, sceptics forecast ‘a speedy death’.1 Two years was regarded as the most a periodical not backed by an established publisher or media interests could expect to survive.2 Against the odds, Woman’s World flourished and within four years had 12,000 readers.3 Several factors contributed to its success, particularly the unique way in which Taylor combined traditional women’s magazine topics of homemaking, mothercraft and fashion with promotion of female independence at a time when a new world of freedom was opening for women. She promoted her vision of independence through articles on women in new fields – for example, building weekenders, travelling to exotic destinations and taking up motoring – and by publicising women in unusual occupations. To this she added her pioneering exploitation of radio broadcasts to publicise her publication and attract readers.' (Introduction)

'Mary Ursula O’Connor was born on 21 April 1910, one of five children of civil servant James O’Connor and his wife, Mary Alice (née Walsh). The family lived in Tooronga Road, East Malvern, a suburb of Melbourne.1 Ursula attended Catholic Ladies’ College in East Melbourne, gaining her Leaving Certificate with honours. She and school friend Freda McGlade were appointed as assistants at the Public Library of Victoria on 14 June 1927.2 They were among the Library’s earliest female employees. O’Connor studied part time for a bachelor of arts at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1933.3 After three years in the Lending Library, she transferred to the Cataloguing Department. During the 1930s she moved to the Reference Library, maintaining the Inquiry Room’s service during the difficulties of the war years. She was appointed head cataloguer at the end of 1946.4 She was a foundation member of the Australian Institute of Librarians and an associate of its successor, the Library Association of Australia, and of the Library Association in the United Kingdom. She served on the council of the Victorian branch of the Library Association of Australia, including a period as secretary.' (Introduction)