SLWA on ABC Radio

Mavis Phillips (nee Walley 1921–1982) is one of Australia’s earliest known Indigenous photographers. Through her box brownie camera Mavis captured the everyday moments of her family and community in Goomalling, Western Australia from the 1930s.

When William Bold was appointed Town Clerk of the City Perth in September 1901, he was the youngest in any Australian capital city. When he resigned in 1944, he was the longest serving.

Snap Shot: WA Music Photography from the Archives is a digital display produced in partnership with WA Music that had its second iteration in March and April 2021 in the State Library’s Nook.

This week, Dr Kate talks about the vast collection of photographs included in the archives of notable Fremantle photographer and much loved community figure Abraham “Izzy” Orloff, who captured Perth throughout the interwar years as a professional photographer working in a range of styles and across many different subjects.

This week we highlight one of the key elements of the Creating Perth exhibition, running in the State Library exhibition space until March 19 – an 1892 cyclorama of Perth city measuring 2.7 metres in length, created by architect and artist John Stewart Jackson. 

This week Dr Kate discusses a recent and very significant acquisition of the State Library – a collection of 270 posters relating to Connections Nightclub – the longest running LGBT nightclub in the Southern Hemisphere.

This week Dr Kate discusses the landmark Westralian Aborigine newspaper – the first Aboriginal newspaper in Western Australia, which ran from early December 1953 until July 1957.

“Lungeous lauthanum Russian innermost sanctitude islander…” *

In March 1885, the Colonial Secretary of WA received a coded, top-secret telegram warning of impending war with Russia. This week, Damien Hassan, Senior Archivist at the State Records Office, looks into the matter and how Russian spies had been sent to WA in preparation for war.

“I thought the ground was going to open up and that I would fall into it … it was horrifying” (resident of Meckering, reporting his experience of the earthquake to The West Australian, 15 October 1968).

This week Damien Hassan, Senior Archivist at the State Records Office, discusses steps taken by the State government in 1962 to ensure the Empire Games held in Perth in that year were a “no-fly” zone.

This week Damien Hassan, Senior Archivist at the State Records Office, talks about a secret language used by convicts that allowed them to converse without authorities understanding what they were saying. Convict slang – or 'flash' language, as it was known – was imported by convicts arriving into Western Australia during the mid-1800s.

This week Damien Hassan, Senior Archivist at the State Records Office, discusses something a bit unexpected in the State archives collection: banned bumper stickers. These stickers used to be vetted by the WA Censorship Office.

This week Damien Hassan, Senior Archivist at the State Records Office, talks about the Secession Movement and how in 1933, we almost split from the rest of Australia to become our own independent dominion. The idea of secessionism has never really gone away and remains topical and a media-worthy debate to this day (these days, secession is known as #Waxit).

The Police Department records held by the State Records Office cover a lot of territory, both in geography and in subject matter. As well as investigating and reporting on criminal activities, the records can also document more unusual matters.

Almost 100 years after the event, the murder that took place at Government House Ballroom in the early hours of 27 August 1925 continues to intrigue and fascinate. This week Damien Hassan, Senior Archivist at the State Records Office of WA, delves into the State archives collection to talk about the case.

Today, Dr Kate is talking about some promotional wedding magazines published by three prominent Perth photographic studios in the 1930s and ‘40s.

This week, Dr Kate talks about the Stevenson, Kinder & Scott Corporate Photography collection – a collection of over 25,000 corporate and advertising images, ranging from 1965 – 2008.

This week, Dr Kate talks about a more recent piece of Western Australian social history: a scrapbook containing mementos of a Perth café that was around from the 1950s to the early 1980s. The Coffee Pot was a popular hangout for many, offering style, sophistication, and a welcoming atmosphere.

Dr Kate discusses the recently digitised watercolour paintings and ink sketches produced by Rica Erickson for her 1958 book Triggerplants. 

This week Dr Kate discusses the manuscript book of poetry by John Boyle O’Reilly, famous Irish-American author and Fenian.