Exhibition curator Dr Karen Schamberger with the red christening jacket, one of her favourite pieces in the new NLA exhibition, The Hopes and Fears: Australia’s Migration Stories. Photo: Sally Hopman.
It’s a tiny red coat, lying in a case of other National Library of Australia (NLA) treasures, that struck a chord with exhibition curator Karen Schamberger.
Looking to be in near-perfect form, the christening jacket was discovered in a donation of family papers in the NLA’s manuscripts collection. Today, it tells one of hundreds of stories in a new NLA exhibition, The Hopes and Fears: Australia’s Migration Stories.
There was something about the jacket, Dr Schamberger said, that drew her in.
It told the story of a Chinese family which came out to Australia during a gold rush, particularly that of daughter Kwong Mui Ying (May) who was born in 1901.
“In many ways, the jacket demonstrates the way people had to navigate the migration restrictions of the day – whether you were born here or migrated,” Dr Schamberger said, adding that the jacket ended up near tantamount to proof that May belonged here.
“I really like it because it is such a beautiful, evocative object that, even in 1901 at Federation, when they were trying to exclude the Chinese, they couldn’t exclude someone who was born here.”
Director of Exhibitions, Dr Guy Hansen said Hopes and Fears was some years in the making, with hundreds of items curated exclusively from the NLA collection ranging from posters encouraging migrants to move to Australia to a rare Van Diemen’s Land convict uniform, to history closer to home – like a model of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme.
The huge engineering project, a 25-year plan that started in 1949, brought 60,000 migrants from more than 30 countries to Australia, most from southern and eastern Europe. The Snowy Hydro came to be seen as one of the most successful integrations of migrant workers into Australian society.
Then there’s a report from the Braidwood Public School for one migrant daughter named Marie Bashir, dated 1930. Despite the fact she scored 688 marks out of a possible 800, and the comment that “Marie has been doing splendid work”, the headmaster also wrote that she “was far too talkative”. Yes, it was that Marie Bashir, the first woman to become governor of NSW.
Dr Hansen said it was important to present a balanced view of Australia’s migration story, despite the plethora of stories to be told.
Director of Exhibitions at the NLA Dr Guy Hansen, with one of the posters enticing migrants to Australia for just 37 pounds. Photo: Sally Hopman.
“Most, if not all of us, have a migration story in the family,’ he said. “The most recent Census, conducted in 2021, tells us that more than half of Australians have at least one parent born overseas or were, themselves, born overseas.
“To understand history, we need to interrogate the evidence that has survived from the past. The photographs, letters, books, posters and pamphlets in this exhibition are a reminder of these powerful histories. These stories are an integral part of our family histories and by extension, our identities.”
The exhibition also features a diverse range of NLA treasures, all connected to the migration story. They range from letters to loved ones back home to vintage posters promoting Australia to “10 pound Poms”.
The stories they tell, too, are remarkable. Like that of William “Billy” Blue, an African-American man transported to Sydney in 1801 for stealing sugar. He was later appointed as a police constable by Governor Lachlan Macquarie.
The exhibition marks the reopening of the NLA’s exhibition gallery after a five-month hiatus because of building works.
Visitors will also have access to a curated book-nook in the exhibition gallery, containing biographies, journals and recipe books.
The Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories exhibition is open at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, until 2 February 2025. Open daily, free entry, no bookings required.
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