The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

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With a splish and a splash...

Man in overcoat and souwester, possibly at South Head Fort, October 1933 by Thomas Lennon, Powerhouse Museum 94/63/166/3 Windswept and bedraggled as we are, we thought we'd have a look at some other soggy Sydneysiders: Dreary city scene in pouring rain c1932,…

Inside History and the Dictionary of Sydney

We're thrilled to see the new issue of Inside History, just out, which includes an article from the Dictionary of Sydney. 'The decorated footpath' by Megan Hicks has been in the Dictionary for some time, focussing on the ground beneath our…

Playing hard

Upgrading the Pitt Street footpath for the Olympics, July 1999, City of Sydney Archives 017/017625 When we think of Sydney and sport, the 2000 Olympic Games tends to crowd out older events, because it was such a remarkable experience for those…

Dancing the City of Sydney Polka

Kick up your heels! We certainly are. The City of Sydney Council voted on Monday to support the Dictionary for four more years, continuing their generous support in both cash and kind. The City has been our major government sponsor since…

Drumroll...

The new Dictionary of Sydney is now live! There are 28 new articles, totalling over 65,000 words, and the team has uploaded and captioned 238 pictures, created and researched new 417 entities, added 1676 factoids, written 948 entity descriptions, and created…

The wearing of the green

Dictionary staff had a most interesting lunchtime on Tuesday last, listening to Jack Mundey at the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts giving a talk marking 40 years since the start of Sydney's famous Green Bans. Jack Mundey, Builders Labourers Federation, 1973,…

Tick, tick, tick

Waiting for our new site to be regenerated every three months feels to the team like the ad break before they open the envelope at the Oscars. We know that there is great stuff in the new build, 28 new…

City of villages IV

What about Sydney's coastal villages? While Aboriginal people ranged their lands along the shores of Sydney's waterways, the country was called by diverse names, some of which were appropriated by the Europeans, whether they understood them or not. Coogee, Maroubra,…

City of villages III

Western Sydney is a vast area, diverse in people, landscape and built environment. Its many communities sometimes feel that the city turns its back on them, but not the Dictionary of Sydney. From Parramatta to the Blue Mountains, read about…

City of villages II

Some of Sydney's regions were separated out by geographical features, and the biggest was Sydney Harbour itself. The Lower North Shore was Cammeraygal country bef0re the arrival of the Europeans and their diseases, and its scenic beauty was much admired by…