Queensland memory webcasts

Death at the beach

The iconic Queensland beach, loved for its sun, surf and sand, can turn deadly without warning.

Join Dr Jonathan Richards as he delves into the darker side of our coastline, discussing fatalities on Queensland beaches and coastal waterways as recorded by coronial inquests held between 1890 and 1960.

From the common drowning and shark attacks, to crocodile and stinger attacks, learn about the murky underbelly of our much loved beach.

Dr Richards, a lecturer in Australian history at the School of Humanities, Griffith University, specialises in archival research into violence and death in Queensland. He is the author of The Secret War: A True History of Queensland's Native Police, short-listed twice for the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.

Speaker: Dr Jonathan Richards
When: Wed 18 May, 2011. 12.30pm
Where: slq Auditorium 2, level 2, State Library of Queensland
Duration: 01:00:29 hours

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Beneath the veneer: furnishing Queensland interiors in the late 19th century

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Is Queensland different?

We take a light-hearted look at ourselves in this lively debate with a panel including The Courier-Mail’s QWeekend editor and author Matt Condon, historian and ABC Radio National producer Dr Kate Evans, and prize-winning author and historian Dr Raymond Evans.

Part of the John Oxley Library Open Day on 4 Jun 2011

When: Sat 4 June 2011
Where: slq Auditorium 1, level 2
Duration: 59:04

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Brisbane Floods

Join Queensland historian Helen Gregory for an intriguing conversation about floods in Brisbane and learn more about why history matters.  Hear about the frequency of floods, the warnings, heroes, scandals, generosity, despair, hope and renewal.  How have the significant floods of 1893 and 1974 been remembered and what has been forgotten? What legacy will 2011 leave?

Part of the Out of the Port lecture series.

Presented in partnership with the Department of Environment and Resource Management Heritage branch.

 

When               Sat 19 Feb, 2011. 2pm
Where              slq Auditorium 1, level 2
Duration: 1:23:11 mins

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Wrecked! A survey of shipwreck sites on the Queensland coast

Throughout history, Queensland’s treacherous coastline has claimed nearly 1,400 vessels. The maritime industry is at the heart of Queensland’s and Australia’s historic development and shipping was the principal mode of transport for goods and people until well into the 20th Century.

The high volume of sea trade coupled with the treacherous nature of our coastline resulted is a many vessels being lost or abandoned. Today, these shipwrecks continue to attract attention, both from a historical and a touristic viewpoint. Yet, despite its profile there is much we do not know about our maritime heritage. The Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) is conducting a five year survey of Queensland’s historic shipwrecks to draw together all the available information, establishing a more complete picture of where the wrecks are and what they can tell us.

Join Paddy Waterson, Queensland’s appointed Historical Shipwreck Practitioner, as she brings some of these stories to the surface.

Presented by State Library of Queensland and the Department of Environment and Resource Management.

Speaker: Paddy Waterson
When: Wed 20 Apr, 2011. 12.30pm
Where: slq Auditorium 2, level 2, State Library of Queensland
Duration: 1 hour

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Missing: German heritage of Queensland

German immigration from the 1840s to the present has had a significant influence on Queensland history and culture. Yet only traces of German heritage remain in our public collections and a comprehensive history is yet to be written. Anna Haebich and Mark Schuster discuss the reasons for this absence and describe some of the significant heritage that has survived. Notable is Mark’s private collection of German musical heritage and other items from the Toowomba region. Ways to preserve and promote Queensland’s German heritage are also addressed.

Anna Haebich
Anna Haebich is a Research Intensive Professor at Griffith University. Her family arrived in Queensland from Schleswig-Holstein in 1864. As historian-in residence at the State Library of Queensland for Q150, Anna made several discoveries of German items in its collections. She has written about searching for her ancestors in Germany and is now working on a book that will vividly depict the lives and heritage of German immigrants to Queensland.

Mark Schuster
Mark Schuster is a true German-Queensland character. For the last 25 years he has sought out the hidden folklore (music, songs, yarns and customs) of the German-Queensland farming community in southern Queensland. He has lived, researched and recorded this hidden heritage before it passes away. He has accessed the treasure troves of people’s memories and passions for the German diaspora in often isolated locations. Playing squeezebox, zither, reciting broken German-Australian poetry are just some of his passions. This ‘artsy’ scientist will enthrall you with the amazing stories of our pioneer Queenslanders. He is the custodian for the Queensland chapter of the German community in their multicultural journey to becoming Queenslanders.

When Wed 20 Oct, 2010.  12.30pm
Where slq Auditorium 2, level 2
Duration: 1 hour

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Robert Forster

Talented songwriters and consummate musicians Grant McLennan and Robert Forster have been compared to Lennon and McCartney and recognised as one of Queensland’s great cultural exports. Through the iconic Australian band The Go-Betweens and successful solo careers, McLennan and Forster’s music has shared a uniquely Queensland spirit with a global audience.  Listen to Robert Forster in conversation with Andrew Stafford (author of ‘Pig City’) as he ponders the man, the stories and the legacy of the late Grant McLennan.

Speakers:  Robert Forster and Andrew Stafford
Duration:  1:17:02 minutes
Date:  17 August 2008

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The changing face of wartime correspondence

From November 2010 till March 2011, the State Library of Queensland hosted a travelling exhibition from the Australian War Memorial. Of Love and War examined the impact of war and conflict on the relationships between servicemen, their sweethearts, children, parents and others they left behind. Visitors will be transported to a time where much of Australia’s population were without their loved ones. Despite this separation over vast distances, love still managed to flourish and survive, romances continued and relationships were cemented through letters, gifts and telegrams.

Moving forward to 2010, technology has opened up a whole new world of communication for servicemen and women and their loved ones. Email, Skype, mobile phones and the Internet have all contributed to the way in which we communicate not only on a daily basis, but also in times and areas of conflict and turmoil.

Letters, pictures, telegrams and much more tell us stories of times gone by. They are a snap shot into the past and a documented record of our history. Will this be the case in years to come? Will institutions such as libraries and museums still be able to collect this important information? How will we record conversations when we no longer use letters? Should we be making a concerted effort to find ways and means in which to document this history?

Join ex-military personnel and guests as they take you on a journey through the years, back to a time where it was simpler to preserve the physical evidence of wartime, love and relationships and examine the difficulties of doing the same in our 21st century, technology driven lives.

When: Wed 10 Nov, 2010. 6pm
Where: slq Auditorium 1, level 2

Duration: 1:09:14 hours

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Black Opium with Fiona Foley

After reading Rosalind Kidd’s book The Way We Civilise, which exposes the truths behind the Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897, Fiona was compelled to create a work that explored the history, personal stories and legacy associated with this controversial policy.

In honour of this important work, the Black Opium Symposium brought together a unique multi-disciplinary line-up of guest speakers who discussed, unravelled and shared a time past that still resonates strongly today.

Speakers:  Rosalind Kidd, Andrew Gillett and Anna Haebich (Griffith University) discuss the historical context of the artwork, and Fiona Foley and Louise Martin-Chew look at the artistic and aesthetic qualities of the piece.

Duration:  1:25:25 minutes
Date:  12 February 2010

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