Commemorating World War II at Museum Victoria: Stories From the Collections

Presented by Deborah Tout-Smith, Liz Bramley & Nina Buchan, Museum VictoriaNext year marks the centenary of the outbreak of World War I, an event that profoundly influenced the development of our national identity and impacted on the lives of everyone living in Australia at the time. As part of a range of programs and activities to mark the centenary, Museum Victoria is planning an exhibition at Melbourne Museum that will provide unique insights into the experience of war and the cost of the conflict on soldiers, their families and the community. Drawing primarily on the Museum’s collection of World War I memorabilia, the exhibition will focus on injury, mourning and the remarkable fortitude shown by so many Australians during the war and over following decades.
In preparation for the centenary, a curatorial research project has been underway since 2007 to document the Museum’s significant military history collections and make them more widely available through Collections Online. Deborah Tout-Smith and two of her volunteer researchers will talk about some of the unique stories and previously unknown images and first-hand accounts that have been discovered. Several stories will be profiled: Corporal S.W. Siddeley, Australian Army Medical Corps; Captain Edward Albert McKenna, 7th Battalion; Driver Cyril Rose, 1st Australian Auxiliary Mechanical Transport Company; and Corporal Alan Horner, 6th Battalion.

Deborah Tout-Smith is Senior Curator, Home & Community Life, at Museum Victoria, and is jointly responsible for military history collections with Dr Charlotte Smith. She is lead curator for Museum Victoria’s new exhibition on World War I, opening in 2014.

Liz Bramley and Nina Buchan are alumni of Deakin University’s Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies and are voluntary curators at Museum Victoria. Liz is also extending her collection management experience, while Nina is preparing to undertake a Masters of Cultural Heritage at Deakin University.

Free entry. Please book to reserve a seat

For email bookings reply to: rsvphumanities@museum.vic.gov.au

For phone bookings, inquiries or other information contact:

Matthew Churchward, Senior Curator, Humanities Department

Phone: 8341 7253 or 0407 096 586