This year I have been combing through the Institutes Association Journal which was issued three times a year from 1901 to May 1964. It included short reports from individual institutes, book recommendations, ideas from interstate institutes and libraries, information about popular authors
Last week Ken and I travelled around Yorke Peninsula to spread the word about the website. Three years ago, we were there in the initial stages of locating and photographing Institutes. This time we showed the website to Information Centre volunteers at
Readers are responding to the short articles in the Adelaide East Herald and the Adelaide Hills Herald. Carolyn Spooner, the Community Engagement Librarian at the State Library read the piece about Stirling in the Hills Herald and checked out the website. She
A new section, Publications, has been added to the website. Joelie has been providing articles on the Institutes to various publications to publicise the history and significance of South Australia’s Institutes. Some articles are carefully referenced, such as the two on the
The 1950s were a time for Debutante Balls, including Mock and Miniature Deb Balls. Both Pat Scholefield (nee Cundy) and Terry O’Dea have fond memories, as well as photos, of their chance to shine in the Williamstown and the Wasleys Institutes. Les
Last month, on October 15, I joined the Zoom Conference for the Edinburgh Mechanics Institutes Conference. I was most interested the papers that focused on the early years of individual Institutes – in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, London, Launceston and Sydney. I share some of
Wirrabara Institute was well established when Heather Whitford’s father arrived as the policeman in the town. Heather was very young and her contact with the Institute brief – but memorable. Colonel Light Gardens Institute was relatively new in the 1950s when Peter
We are delighted that Elizabeth Ho, the Chair of the History Trust of South Australia, has shared a post on her public Facebook page about the Institutes of South Australia website. You can read her post here.
On the 15th of October, our website will be launched along with a video presentation at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. It will be part of a day-long program that includes the following papers: Foundation of the World’s First Mechanics’ Institute: Edinburgh