SLWA on ABC Radio

Tune in to ABC Radio Perth (720) from 2pm on Fridays for History Repeated.

Hear Battye Historian, Dr. Kate Gregory and Senior Archivist at the State Records Office of WA, Damien Hassan reveal fascinating stories from WA’s past with Christine Layton on the WA Afternoons program.

The interviews are regularly uploaded to this page, so don’t forget to check in now and then. You can also listen to the back catalogue of ABC interviews on our Soundcloud page, plus podcasts, lectures and public talk recordings. 

Photograph of Katherine Susannah Prichard
The Red Witch
SLWA on ABC Radio
Dr Kate explores the archives and writing of Katharine Susannah Prichard (1883-1969) with her biographer Dr Nathan Hobby. Katharine Susannah Prichard is one of Australia’s most beloved authors, who depicted a new vision of Australia within her writing.
Serventy family books
SLWA on ABC Radio
Join Dr Kate as she delves into the Serventy family archives held by the State Library.
Stevie at the Red House brothel Hay Street Kalgoorlie 1990
Joan a sex worker in the 1940s
SLWA on ABC Radio
WA history
ABC Perth radio interview with Jules Kim, the CEO of the Scarlett Alliance, about Joan who was a sex worker and ran brothels in Perth in the 1940s and 50s.
DSCF1765Julie Raffaele Battye Fellow
SLWA on ABC Radio
WA history
Dr Kate and Julie Raffaele, discuss her research into the Smelters' Camp (aka Robb Jetty Camp) - a transient person's campsite that existed for over half a century (1898 to 1960) among the dunes of Cockburn Sound and was originally an Aboriginal gathering place.
006758d May Holman 1920s
Australia’s first female Labor parliamentarian
SLWA on ABC Radio
WA history
Join Dr Kate as she explores the extraordinary life of May Holman, Australia’s first female Labor parliamentarian, a member of the WA Legislative Assembly from 1925 -1939.
Sadie Corner later Canning training at Bethesda Hospital Melbourne ca1950
Aboriginal stories
SLWA on ABC Radio
WA history
Sadie Canning (nee Corner) was Western Australia's first Aboriginal nurse. She was a member of the Stolen Generations and grew up at Mount Margaret Mission in the north eastern goldfields.
Don McLeod 1972
Rebel outsider chiselled from the Pilbara rock
SLWA on ABC Radio
WA history
Join John Hughes, Senior Subject Specialist, on ABC Radio discussing Don McLeod (1908 -1999) a miner, handyman and major activist for Aboriginal rights.
Bogged in the Leonard River on the way back to Derby Derek Green Ian Moore Robin Berry and Bob Deal May 1962
SLWA on ABC Radio
How a flight attendant's colour photos introduced National Geographic to remote WA in the 1960s.
Toodyay letters
Myra Sykes to convict William Sykes
SLWA on ABC Radio
ABC Radio Perth interview about a heartbreaking set of ten original letters written from the perspective of Myra Sykes to her husband, William, who was transported to the Swan River Colony as a convict in 1867.
078A6648Compactus cassette stack storage oral histories
Cassette tapes
SLWA on ABC Radio
Listen to Dr Adam Trainer as he delves into a collection of recently digitised cassette tapes – magnetic media which are highly vulnerable to deterioration – and reveals some special recordings by Josie Boyle, Nova Ensemble and Wild Palms.
Chart of the Swan River by Francois-Antoine Boniface Heirisson 1801
'Walking on Water' podcast
SLWA on ABC Radio
Dr Kate and producer Gina Pickering, on ABC Radio, discuss making the new State Library podcast series ‘Rare Stories from the West’.
Map of North Beach Estate ca 1905
SLWA on ABC Radio
Dr Kate and her mother, Emeritus Professor Jenny Gregory take a look at the factors that defined the development of Perth suburbs.
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