Stories from the archives

Susan Ryan at a microphone.

Women in action

Celebrating Women's History Month 2023 with stories of remarkable women.

The Holocaust Memorial dedicated in Melbourne in 1963.

Sponsoring the survivors

Volunteers are making records relating to Holocaust survivors who migrated to Australia more accessible.

People waving from a train carriage on a dock beside a ship.

From the Baltic to the Pacific

In November 1947 the first ‘displaced persons’ from Europe arrived in Australia.

Workmen preparing concrete foundations for a building.

No 'quiet quitting' for Christmas Island workers

In 1956 labourers working at the phosphate mine on Christmas Island called for better wages.

2 men and a bicycle at the door of a lighthouse

Shining a light

Lighthouse logbooks provide a unique snapshot of a completely different time in history.

Gough Whitlam speaking on stage at Telopea Park School.

Whitlam the weather watcher

Gough Whitlam 21st Prime Minister of Australia and volunteer weather watcher.

Ruins of a town in a desert.

An ale with your mail?

For a short time in 1896, the post office in the gold town of Niagara was also a pub.

Front page of the Cue-Big Bell Chronicle and Reedy Recorder

The only newspaper printed in Cue

A chronicle of a small-town newspaper in the goldmining towns of Cue, Big Bell and Reedy in Western Australia's midwest.

6 people and a dog seated on rock beside a cave entrance.

Christmas Day in Eucla, 1898

A forecast of 47 degrees, a tennis match and an evening of entertainment. An account of Christmas Day 1898 in the close-knit community of Eucla.

Sime Barisa's registration of change of address.

Miners and millers: Yugoslavs and Italians at Gwalia

Southern European migrants arrived in large numbers to work in goldmining towns such as Gwalia. The work was often difficult and dangerous.

Newspaper advertisement for 'Frankenstein.'

Exit the ghouls

When was the last time you saw a horror movie? For 20 years, the only on-screen horror Australian audiences faced was ... censorship. Spooky!

2 women with 2 dogs standing beside a Ford Cortina

Selling the Wittenoom dream

The town of Wittenoom was built on the dream of a natural resource worth more than gold: blue asbestos.