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| Welcome
to the October edition |
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This month's edition features tales of secrets, spies
and espionage, an online exhibition to mark the Snowy
Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme's 60th anniversary, an
opportunity to share any letters or objects connected to
Ethel Bruce, and the finding of a long-lost
digger.. |
| Desperately seeking
Ethel |
Help us find letters or objects connected to Ethel
Bruce (1879 – 1967), the wife of the nation’s
eighth Prime Minister Stanley
Melbourne Bruce. Their story features in an
exhibition opening at the National Archives in
Canberra in December.
Ethel
Bruce played an important part in supporting
her husband’s political career, but little
original material about her appears to have
survived in Australian collections.
If a
special item is uncovered, the National
Archives will consider putting in on display
during the exhibition Stanley Melbourne Bruce:
Prime Minister & Statesman opening 11
December. Email us if you
have something connected to Ethel
Bruce.
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| Archives marks Snowy
anniversary |
Power
for the People, a display in Canberra that
celebrates 60 years of the Snowy Mountains
Hydro-Electric Scheme, is now online as
well.
An engineering wonder of the modern world, the
scheme was designed to turn the rivers of the
Snowy Mountains westward to irrigate the dry
inland plains and to generate electrical power for
Australia.
The display uses original documents and photographs
from the Archives’ collection to tell the story of
this extraordinary project. Listen
to a public lecture, Power for the
People, by author Siobhan McHugh.
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| Heads up! |
Snowy Mountains construction workers were
renowned for working
– and playing
– hard. Gambling, a favourite pastime, caused
heartache for both workers and the law.
The unwritten rules of play were that local
workers controlled the games, gambling was limited
to pay nights and men had to save money to send to
their wives.
But not everyone loved the games. A group
of 'disgusted miners' sent this letter
to Sir William Hudson, Commissioner of the Snowy
Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority, in January
1967. They are critical of the local police
for turning a blind eye to gambling.
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| Counter-espionage, spies
and secrets |
This film
clip on our Vrroom
website highlights the role of the Australian
Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in
counter-espionage operations, intelligence
gathering and security in Australia during the
Cold War.
It shows espionage techniques used by Ivan
Fedorovich Skripov, a Soviet diplomat in
Canberra.
The Royal Commission on Espionage (1954–55)
found that the embassy was used ‘for many years’
as a centre for controlling espionage in
Australia.
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| Found at the
Archives |
Decades after New Zealander Frederick
Edward (Timothy) Jones went missing, part of
his story has been traced through World War I
records at the National Archives.
Using the National Archives' website Mapping
our Anzacs, Pat Churchill of Melbourne was
able to piece together bits of the puzzle of her
missing great-uncle.
She discovered he had enlisted in Brisbane and
served in the 5th Light Horse Regiment as well as
the 2nd Field Ambulance in Egypt and France. You
can read her account in the Mapping
our Anzacs scrapbook. According to Pat,
Fred never re-established contact with his family
in New Zealand.
Can you help Pat piece more of the
puzzle together? If you can, please email us.
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| Women were considered
'battleaxes' |
'A spinster lady can, and often does, turn
into something of a battleaxe with the passing
years.’
Written by an officer of the Trade Commissioner
Service to his director in March 1963, this was
given as one of the reasons why women should not
be appointed trade commissioners.
Documents such as this in our collection
illustrate the path trodden by women seeking
equality, particularly in the workplace. And, what
did the author think of ageing male trade
commissioners? His comment was, ‘A man usually
mellows…’
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| Keeping the
knowledge |
All Australian Government employees are again
being urged to ‘keep the knowledge’ in an
initiative to ensure their records management
responsibilities are understood.
The Keep
the Knowledge – make a
record! training package, including
a slideshow and presenter’s guide, online
eLearning module, reference card and promotional
posters, has been made available to government
agencies. It emphasises emails and other types of
digital records, and includes practical
information and tips.
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| Tip of the month:
backing up |
One of the most important steps in managing
your folders of digital photos is to back them
up. You could write the files onto CDs or DVDs,
copy them onto a new hard drive, then keep the
disks you’ve made as a secondary back-up.
If you choose to use home-produced CDs and DVDs
as one of your back-up methods, you must look
after the disks in the same way you would look
after photos or documents.
Keep them away from strong light, high
temperature and humidity levels, and polluting
gases. Store them in a rigid case for physical
protection and only write on the disk with a
disk-safe pen.
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| Quirky quiz |
Congratulations to last month's winners,
Margaret McIntosh and Geoff Huntington,
both from NSW, who correctly answered
'Strine'. They have each received a set of two
beautifully illustrated lighthouse drawings.
The lighthouses, at Green Cape and Montague
Island on the NSW south coast, date back to the
1880s.
The 8th and 15th correct entries received for
this month's quirky quiz will each win a copy of
the National Archives' publication Memory
of a Nation.
Around I twirl as sheets and clothing
unfurl. Uniquely Aussie, I will
dehydrate your cozzie. What am I?
Search here
for a hint. Email us
with your answer in the subject line and your
postal address in the body of the email. View terms
and conditions.
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