The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
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International Women's Day
Three members of the Women's Emergency Signalling Corps, l-r Violet McKenzie, Pat McInnes, Esme Kura Murrell c1940, courtesy Australian War Memorial P02583.001 As it's International Women's Day this Friday, today I thought it would be good to highlight the lives and…
Shirley Beiger: ‘All that glittered was not gold’
Shirley Beiger on the cover of PIX 28 April 1951 The State Library of NSW have made an enormous amount of historical material available online in recent years. One such resource is the tabloid magazine, PIX , which was published between 1938…
Ah-chew! (Sniffle, Sniffle) - the pneumonic influenza pandemic of 1919
Today on 2SER Breakfast, Lisa and Tess talked about the pneumonic influenza pandemic of 1919 (aka the Spanish flu) - a world-wide pandemic that hit Sydney 100 years ago in February 1919. More people died from the flu around the…
Chinese New Year
Tuesday was the official day of Chinese New Year, a festival that has been celebrated for generations in Sydney, so today I thought we'd look at the long history of Chinese people in Sydney. Listen to the whole conversation with Lisa…
‘the flying fairy and empress of the air’
Kate Rickards in costume as Toots c1888 by Kerry & Co Courtesy Tyrrell Collection, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (85/1286-498) There are some fascinating women in the Dictionary of Sydney. Among those is one who went by many stage names…
Street Photography
Today on 2SER Breakfast, Lisa and Tess talked about a fabulous new exhibition at the Museum of Sydney called Street Photography, that looks at the popularity of commercial street photographers in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Listen to Lisa and Tess…
Decorating the city
Christmas tree in Hyde Park 7 December 1962, City of Sydney Archives (NSCA CRS 48/3060) It's getting very festive around the city as Christmas approaches so today we thought we'd look at one of the city's biggest Christmas traditions! Listen to…
Ocean baths
Wylie's Baths, Coogee c1915, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (PXE 1028, f56) Ocean baths are abundant in Sydney and along the New South Wales coast, reflecting our love of the ocean and, perhaps, an ambivalence towards the surf. These man-made…
Whaling in Sydney
'Shooting the harpoon at a whale' from book 'Field sports &c. &c. of the native inhabitants of New South Wales' by John Heaviside Clark, London 1813, National Library of Australia (nla.pic-an8936144) Over the weekend we heard that more than 140 whales…
Grab your partners for the Balmain Polka
Courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (M MUSIC FILE/SPA) November is AusMusic Month and so today I thought we should look back at some early Australian popular music and one of the early music composers in Sydney. Graeme Skinner at…