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Listed under:  History  >  Social history
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Cornish family at Dromana beach with parasols, 1927

This is a black-and-white photograph featuring the Cornish family at the beach in Dromana in 1927. The nine adults and nine children in this group are dressed in bathing costumes, and many wear bathing caps. Three large parasols (light sun umbrellas) are being held by women at the back of the group. A long pier is visible ...

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Archives ACT: find of the month

This topic-based collection of primary source material provides a rich and varied source of official documents, guides and background information on the civic history of Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory. Produced monthly, this eclectic collection covers topics including the history of monuments, architecture, ...

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Life on the land

This is a resource about life on the land in Australia in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. It includes details about land grants allocation, the establishment of Australia's first farms, the condition of the land, the processes used to farm the land, and case studies about the early farming families in Australia. The ...

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Migrants Enriching Australia

This is a rich collection of stories that focuses on the life experiences of two individuals, one of Greek heritage and one of Polish heritage, who immigrated and settled in Victoria post World War II. The resource explores how these people shared their cultural heritage and how this enriched Australian life at this time. ...

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Landmarks: people and places across Australia

This resource features the Landmarks gallery, which traces a broad history of Australia since British colonisation in the late 18th century. The exhibition explores ten big themes in the country's past through the stories of Australian places and the people who have lived there. It examines how people have engaged with ...

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Looking after the land

This is a resource about the environmental, climatic, natural disaster and pest challenges faced during settlement in Australia. It includes details about land management techniques; extreme and unique weather conditions, including floods and droughts; bushfires; animal and plant pests; and water management. Text, images, ...

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Cartoon about women's suffrage, 1900

This black-and-white cartoon from the 17 November 1900 edition of the Queensland federated unions' newspaper The Worker features a caricature of an older woman leaning over a desk, harassing a cowering man seated on the other side. Demanding her promised vote and wielding an umbrella, the woman probably represents Emma ...

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Australian gold diggings, c1855

This is an oil painting measuring 70.5 cm x 90.3 cm, painted about 1855 by Edwin Stocqueler (1829-1895), showing men working on the Bendigo gold field in Victoria. The men are panning, puddling and cradling for gold on both sides of a stream in a tent-dotted valley. The valley is stark, with only a few trees remaining. ...

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'Arrival of the mail, Myers Flat diggings', probably 1850s

This is a black-and-white print, measuring 17.7 cm x 21.6 cm, created from a wood engraving. It shows two men seated on a horse-drawn, two-wheeled buggy. Nine miners are gathered by the buggy, awaiting the delivery of letters, reading letters or newspapers and exchanging news. Although not visible on this image, the title ...

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Suffragette cartoon based in a butcher shop, 1900

This cartoon, captioned 'MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB', features the Queensland premier Robert Philp (1851-1922) as a butcher of the 'Democratic Butchering Co'. As he sharpens his knife a small girl approaches bearing the initials WEFA (Women's Equal Franchise Association) on her coat. She leads a lamb with 'A VOTE FOR WOMEN' ...

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ABC National TV Service: Opening night, 1956

Can you imagine life before television? How different would it have been? This clip is taken from the opening moments of the first ABC television broadcast in 1956. As you watch it, see how the presenter describes the event and try to imagine the impact such first broadcasts would have had on Australians more than half ...

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Journey into Japan: Japan's shoguns keep everyone in their places

What was the status of each social class in shogunate Japan? During the period from around 1600 to 1868, Japan was a feudal society. As in medieval Europe, each group had its place in a strict social order. Watch this clip to discover the roles of each group during the age when the Tokugawa shoguns ruled the country. This ...

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Current affairs

'Four Corners' is an excerpt from the TV current affairs program 'Four Corners 40th Anniversary' episode produced in 2004. 'Four Corners' is produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and this excerpt is used with the permission of ABC Content Sales. This video clip is included in the website From Wireless to ...

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Why Australia wanted a White Australia policy

The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was designed to limit non-British immigration to Australia. It came to be known as the White Australia policy. In some quarters, people of non-British (and especially non-European) heritage were regarded as being inferior, greedy or unable to fit in with dominant Australian society. ...

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Designing the Sydney Opera House

What does it take to create a building that is famous the world over? In 1956, NSW Premier Joseph Cahill announced a competition for the design of an opera house for Sydney. The winner was architect Jorn Utzon with 'design 218'. In this 1950s clip, learn about Utzon's aims in designing the building, the challenges in realising ...

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Building the Sydney Opera House

Construction of the Sydney Opera House began in 1959. The Opera House was intended to be more than a building; it was meant to be a landmark that would put Sydney on the world map as a centre of culture. In this short, silent clip, discover some of the work that went into constructing this huge, unique and very complex building.

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Impact of European settlement on Aboriginal Tasmanians video

Aboriginal Tasmanians had inhabited Tasmania for over 40,000 years before the arrival of European settlers. What do you think life was like for Aboriginal Tasmanians before then? Why might have they embarked on a war, called the 'Black War', once settlers began arriving in Tasmania, despite existing relatively peacefully ...

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The historical legacy of John Glover

English artist John Glover emigrated to Van Diemen's Land in 1831. He settled on a generous land grant called "Patterdale", near Deddington in northern Tasmania. Many of Glover’s artworks provide historical records of the people, plants and animals who lived in the area, as well as the changes wrought by European settlement.

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Landline: Spinifex research

What does spinifex grass contain that might prove useful in modern buildings? Watch this clip and discover how Aboriginal knowledge, combined with Western science, is unlocking the potential of spinifex. Find out about this natural resource and how it could become a new, sustainable material for the building industry.

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Journey into Japan: Shoguns rule Japan with iron fists

Who were the shoguns and how did they rule Japan? In Japanese history, the time from about 1600 to 1868 is called the Edo period. In 1600, after centuries of wars, Japan came under the control of shoguns from the Tokugawa clan. They continued to rule until 1868, when they were overthrown. View this clip to discover how ...