Recent Stories
These stories come from the items in our collection.
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.
Small towns & regional cities
Wongan Hills is located 185km from Perth in the Shire of Wongan – Balidu in the Wheatbelt region. The shire falls within the traditional lands of the Ballardong Noongar and Yued Noongar people.
Stories
To celebrate the Harmony Week theme 'Everybody Belongs', we are sharing the stories of the people that bring the Library's spaces to life.
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.
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.
An in-depth look at his photography
WA history
Izzy was one of WA’s most significant photographers, an Avant-Garde innovator in photographic style who captured moments of urban life. Born in Ukraine in 1891, he migrated to Fremantle in 1910.
SLWA on ABC Radio
How a flight attendant's colour photos introduced National Geographic to remote WA in the 1960s.
Defying Trans and Sex Worker Stereotypes
Death and Dying
Lena is a sex worker activist and trans woman, and in this interview she breaks down the misinformation around violence and death for sex workers, why (and when) suicide is actually prevalent among trans people, and how deaths from the HIV pandemic affect everyone today.
Sorry Business
Death and Dying
Karijarri and Yawuru woman Judy Anne Edgar and her daughter, Japanese Yawuru woman, Maya Shioji, discuss how much is to be gained by doing death and dying the traditional way.
Choosing Life, Communication and Haka
Death and Dying
Lifeline WA and suicide prevention ambassadors Leon Ruri and Adrian Momber discuss men’s mental health, dance and haka as a medicine, suicide prevention and why our society is making people mentally unwell.
The Eternal Journey of Grief
Death and Dying
Leanne discusses how grief is made up of a million tiny moments, why our communities need to better support people in their mourning, and how our values and self-awareness are key to healing and moving forward after loss.
Dementia and Daily Rituals
Death and Dying
Sandy discusses losing her dad to dementia, her newborn baby to a heart defect and her mother to cancer – all in a small country town in southwest WA. She shares how people reacted to these different losses in different ways, and why community, ritual and celebration are so important in the healing process.