Showing papers in "Australian Historical Studies in 1999"
TL;DR: The article suggests the need for more complex narratives than those of nostalgic returns to secure suburban pasts or of thankful culinary escapes towards multiculturalism and cosmopolitan identity.
Abstract: This article traces examples of remembered food cultures of the 1950s and 1960s in Australia, as starting points for addressing their mythic re-inscription in the 1990s. Analysing iconic images from cookbooks, positioned against fragments of women's remembering, the article suggests the need for more complex narratives than those of nostalgic returns to secure suburban pasts or of thankful culinary escapes towards multiculturalism and cosmopolitan identity.
54 citations
TL;DR: This article argues that the attempt of a group of influential reform eugenicists in Victoria in the interwar years to institute legislation aimed at denying a significant proportion of the population the most basic rights of citizenship (including the right to reproduce) redresses the imbalance in the authors' understanding of reform eugenics in theinterwar years.
Abstract: In the period since Carol Bacchi introduced eugenics into Australian historiography in 1980, much has been written that has increased our understanding of the role eugenics played in the development of Australian society in the first half of this century. It is now generally recognised that eugenics developed after the first world war from a relatively simplistic scientific justification of racist and class‐biased social Darwinism into a movement concerned with using environmental reforms to help a wide range of Australians reach their full potential. In the interwar years the reform eugenicists (as they have been named) were active in a wide range of environmental movements including health reforms, slum clearance and educational improvements. The corollary of reform eugenics was based on the belief that heredity was an impassable obstacle for some: mental deficients were not considered to be racially ‘fit’ or ‘efficient’ enough to benefit from the reforms. Whilst this side of reform eugenics is well kno...
18 citations
TL;DR: The meaning of marriage for women was a hotly disputed issue in Australia during the first half of the twentieth century and beyond and feminists campaigned for the economic independence of married women, demanding legislation that would give wives legal ownership of household savings as well as a legal entitlement to a share in their husbands' wages.
Abstract: The meaning of marriage for women was a hotly disputed issue in Australia during the first half of the twentieth century and beyond. Conscious of their status as citizens, interwar feminists became preoccupied with the anomalous condition of wives in a modern democracy. The provision of personal service in exchange for keep, the condition of wives was defined as an anachronism, a political relic, a form of feudal bondage. Feminists campaigned for the economic independence of married women, demanding legislation that would give wives legal ownership of household savings as well as a legal entitlement to a share in their husbands' wages.
12 citations
TL;DR: Almost from surf life-saving's commencement in 1906, many women refused to be confined to these roles; they participated in their own competitions, were proficient in rescue techniques and were proud to belong to the movement, thus contradicting the widely shared belief that their active involvement began only in 1980.
Abstract: The history and mythology of Australia's surf life-saving movement portray the surf life-saver as an inter and postwar national symbol, an image of manhood often regarded as the successor to that of the bushman and the digger. According to this viewpoint, women had no place on the beaches, being supportive fundraisers and social organisers. In fact, almost from surf life-saving's commencement in 1906, many women refused to be confined to these roles; they participated in their own competitions, were proficient in rescue techniques and were proud to belong to the movement, thus contradicting the widely shared belief that their active involvement began only in 1980 when they were granted full membership.
8 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that unless the assumptions embedded in the primary sources are clearly identified, the discourse on Aboriginal womanhood continues to be a colonising project.
Abstract: Much information on traditional indigenous society in Australian historiography and anthropology stems from the vast store of eyewitness accounts left by missionaries, settlers and government officials. How cautious does one need to be in using such material? After all that it reveals about the moral and legal universe of its writers, can it speak reliably about traditional society? This article traces the production of knowledge about indigenous gender relations at Cape York Peninsula through a lineage of sources from the 1890s to the 1990s and concludes that unless the assumptions embedded in the primary sources are clearly identified, the discourse on Aboriginal womanhood continues to be a colonising project.
8 citations
TL;DR: When did Australia become independent? Popular opinion assumes that Australia had achieved its independence from Great Britain well before the 1950s, but when a historical analysis is made of Australia's relations with Great Britain, and particularly of how those relations affected Australian judicial sovereignty, it becomes apparent that Australia did not achieve its independence until the passing of the Australia Acts in 1986.
Abstract: When did Australia become independent? Popular opinion assumes that Australia had achieved its independence from Great Britain well before the 1950s. The debate surrounding Australian independence has been left largely in the domain of the legal profession. Only historians W.J. Hudson and M.P. Sharp have participated seriously in the discussion, suggesting that Australia won full autonomy in 1931. Yet when a historical analysis is made of Australia's relations with Great Britain, and particularly of how those relations affected Australian judicial sovereignty, it becomes apparent that Australia did not achieve its independence until the passing of the Australia Acts in 1986.
7 citations
TL;DR: The representation of women in Australian cinematic war dramas made between 1914 and 1918 is examined, showing how the representations were shaped by political, industrial and ideological influences and identifying the range of representations present in the films.
Abstract: This paper examines the representation of women in Australian cinematic war dramas made between 1914 and 1918, showing how the representations were shaped by political, industrial and ideological influences and identifying the range of representations present in the films. It observes that while there was considerable overlap with other media in the representation of women, there were images ignored by films, while others were unique to the cinema.
6 citations
6 citations
TL;DR: Examination of a group of female convicts assigned on the Hunter River from the Newcastle Female Factory over a ten-year period reveals one aspect of the diverse story that was the female convict experience.
Abstract: Assignment has been viewed as an instrument of oppression and exploitation of female convicts. This local study examines a group of female convicts assigned on the Hunter River from the Newcastle Female Factory over a ten-year period. It reveals one aspect of the diverse story that was the female convict experience. The strategies employed by some of these women demonstrates that they had a degree of autonomy not usually conceded.
4 citations
TL;DR: This article explores the objectives, composition, ideology, modus operandi and record of the fledgeling preservation movement against the backdrop of modernisation.
Abstract: Modernity has been antithetical to heritage conservation in the twentieth century. The value of inherited buildings was not widely acknowledged by government officials, politicians, architects, planners and the broader community until the' 1970s. From the turn of the century, a coalition of pioneering preservationists in Sydney confronted a formidable growth mentality, which linked preservation with economic and cultural stasis. This article explores the objectives, composition, ideology, modus operandi and record of the fledgeling preservation movement against the backdrop of modernisation.
4 citations
TL;DR: The shipboard structures, particularly spatial arrangements, that were designed both to protect emigrant women in transit to the colonies and to protect the colonial investment are discussed.
Abstract: In the latter half of the nineteenth century, all emigrants travelling out to the Australian colonies experienced a range of measures designed for their protection. As well as physical protection, the future roles of single emigrant women, as paid domestic labour or, ultimately, as unpaid wives and mothers, required that the care accorded to them also took on social and moral concerns. This paper discusses the shipboard structures, particularly spatial arrangements, that were designed both to protect emigrant women in transit to the colonies and to protect the colonial investment.
TL;DR: The article seeks to locate the source of the RTOA's ethos in the workplace relationships and the career and cultural aspirations of the salaried officers.
Abstract: This article explores the ethos of the Railway and Tramway Officers Association of New South Wales (RTOA). It also analyses the role played within the authority structure of the New South Wales Railways and Tramways Department in the period 1913–39 by the RTOA's members, the white‐collar salaried officers who were the administrative and managerial staff employed by the Railway and Tramway Commissioners. The article seeks to locate the source of the RTOA's ethos in the workplace relationships and the career and cultural aspirations of the salaried officers. Finally, the article argues that the salaried officers’ ethos is an important expression of Australian labourism, albeit in its most conservative form.
TL;DR: Early in this century, adolescence began to emerge as a discrete, biologically based and, therefore, "natural" subject category as well as a discursive production of the adolescent through the identification, classification and use of the psychiatric illness of adolescent insanity.
Abstract: Early in this century, adolescence began to emerge as a discrete, biologically based and, therefore, "natural" subject category. The psychiatric profession engaged in the discursive production of the adolescent through the identification, classification and use of the psychiatric illness of adolescent insanity. The mental disease of youth, dementia praecox, drew young men into a tutelary relationship with psychiatrists, who were eager to delineate the appropriate strategies for avoidance of the age-specific mental disease.
TL;DR: Using the notion of Protestant stewardship, it is suggested that Brookes' life offers one way into the dynamics of liberalism before the Great War and of loyalism after it.
Abstract: Herbert Brookes was a wealthy businessman, a distinguished patron of high culture in Melbourne society, an anti-Labor eminence who moved comfortably in the highest of imperial circles The richness of his papers in the National Library provides the opportunity to examine the life of a leading British-Australian, to analyse issues of conscience and purpose that do not figure much in current historiography and perhaps to throw new light on the concerns of the generation that saw its world disrupted after 1914 Using the notion of Protestant stewardship, I have suggested that Brookes' life offers one way into the dynamics of liberalism before the Great War and of loyalism after it
TL;DR: The study traces how the landmarks and relics of the former prisoner-of-war camp at Changi in Singapore have been re-created and, in some cases, relocated for the public since the end of World War II.
Abstract: This article investigates the meaning that the Changi historical site has had for its visitors. The study traces how the landmarks and relics of the former prisoner‐of‐war camp at Changi in Singapore have been re‐created and, in some cases, relocated for the public since the end of World War II. Changi's meaning as a place is derived not only from the significance that it has for the ex‐prisoners of war and their relatives, who frequently revisit the site: many visitors for whom Changi represents a major historical event in their own national history also attach considerable importance to the site.
TL;DR: The authors examines the involvement of Australia in the emergence and successful passage of the United Nations General Assembly resolution for the partition of Palestine and seeks to ascertain the motives and character of Australia's involvement, through its Minister for External Affairs, Dr H.V. Evatt.
Abstract: This article examines the involvement of Australia in the emergence and successful passage of the United Nations General Assembly resolution for the partition of Palestine. It seeks to ascertain the motives and character of Australia's involvement, through its Minister for External Affairs, Dr H.V. Evatt, in the drama that unfolded at the United Nations from the point in February 1947, when the question of Palestine was referred by Great Britain to the United Nations for determination, until the passage of the partition resolution on 29 November 1947.
TL;DR: The world of Sideshow Alley is explored, which emerged from the ancient fair culture of Britain and took root in the agricultural show movement of Australia by the 1880s and flourished until the 1950s, when modernity and respectability caused its demise.
Abstract: This article explores the world of Sideshow Alley, which emerged from the ancient fair culture of Britain and took root in the agricultural show movement of Australia by the 1880s. There it flourished until the 1950s, when modernity and respectability caused its demise. The article also argues that Sideshow Alley was a place of power that helped to shape the identities of many Australians through the display of difference and that it also provided a site of agency for those displaying themselves.
TL;DR: It was on my watch as chair of the board, and by my invitation, that Paul Bourke took up the editorship of Historical Studies as discussed by the authors, and we were co-conspirators, successful (we told one another) in breaking the hold of Melbourne over the journal; less successful in broadening the concerns of the journal towards historical writing in Australia away from writing Australian history.
Abstract: IT WAS ON MY WATCH as chair of the board, and by my invitation, that Paul Bourke took up the editorship of Historical Studies. We were co‐conspirators, successful (we told one another) in breaking the hold of Melbourne over the journal; less successful (we also told one another) in broadening the concerns of the journal towards historical writing in Australia away from writing Australian history. This eulogy is more epitaph to a personal friendship than monument to Paul's achievements. Let it be. The monuments will come. My tears are still damp.