Recent Stories
These stories come from the items in our collection.
Rare Women of the West
Podcasts
Rare Stories from the West
Rare Stories from the West - Part 2. A podcast exploring the lives of Mary Ann Friend and Fanny Balbuk, who had very different experiences of colonisation. Their stories describe life along the Swan River.
Queer Disclosure
Podcasts
Rare Stories from the West
Rare Stories from the West - Part 3. Podcast exposes how LGBTQ history has not been well recorded, preserved, nor exhibited by the State’s cultural institutions in the past.
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.
Stop Violence Against Women
Podcasts
WA history
A courageous collection of audio stories presented in solidarity with survivors of domestic violence, recorded by the Centre for Stories in 2019 for 16 Days in WA – Stop Violence Against Women campaign.
'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’.
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.
Mapping historical photos from the State Library collection
SLWA on ABC Radio
Dr Kate talks to Associate Professor Andrew Woods about Old Perth which maps historical photos from the State Library's collection.
"As game as Ned Kelly"
WA history
Vivacious 22-year-old Winifred Wells "had two characteristics uncommon amongst her sex". She liked to be alone and she loved to ride motorcycles.
Stories of the colonial frontier
SLWA on ABC Radio
Dr Kate and Professor Alistair Paterson discuss the colonial northwest and confront the difficult histories in our collections of the colonial frontier.
WA Reflections 2021 project
SLWA on ABC Radio
A discussion about how this mini-documentary took Sir Frederick Samson's personal film collection and transposed it over 21st century Fremantle as explored by a skater.
Aboriginal stories
SLWA on ABC Radio
Senior Subject Specialist John Hughes, delves into the newly acquired Graham "Polly" Farmer collection and the history of this extraordinary footballer.
A map in four states plus one
Stories
Maps and charts
The State Library has five editions of a hemispherical map centred on the South Pole. These show southern parts of South America and South Africa and the west and south coasts of Australia.