10 September 2024

State Library of Western Australia

Specimens, archives and landscapes: the role of women in the conservation of Western Australia
 Dr Kate Gregory, Battye Historian, State Library of Western Australia

The State Library is rich with the records of women who contributed to various aspects of the conservation of Western Australia. This talk will start to track a history that charts connections between collecting, the writing of WA history, conservation of place and historical commemorations, and establishes the central role of women throughout this history. Using the State Library’s private archive collections, this talk will highlight women who played a vital role in valuing, preserving and creating Western Australia. This story has special relevance for considering how the State Library approaches commemorations of 200 years of colonisation in Kinjarling/Albany in 2026 and Boorloo/Perth in 2029. By looking back on these past collectors and conservers of WA I hope to chart an alternative history that makes transparent the contribution of women in shaping understanding of WA.
 This talk will look at the archives held in the State Library of figures such as Georgiana Molloy, Alice Mayes, Lucy Serventy, Mollie Lukis, Margaret Feilman and Rica Erickson, amongst others.
 

Dr Kate Gregory is Battye Historian at the State Library of Western Australia, where since 2013 she has been in the fortunate position of exploring, developing, and sharing the rich collections of the J.S. Battye Library of West Australian History. She worked previously as an Historian with the National Trust of Australia (WA), as well as Curator and Museum Manager at Claremont Museum. Kate has a PhD in Art History from the University of Melbourne and has served as a Trustee of the Western Australian Museum from 2012 - 2018. Her book From the Barracks to the Burrup: the National Trust in Western Australia(University of New South Wales Press, 2010) co-authored with Andrea Witcomb, was shortlisted for the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards.
 

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Members and guests are warmly invited to join us before the meeting for drinks and nibbles and stay on after our meeting and join us for a dinner at a local restaurant.