Australian National Museum of Education
Building 5, Level A, Room 5A4
麻豆村 of Canberra
anme@canberra.edu.au
+61 02 6201 2473
ANME is always seeking historical schooling stories, photographs, and memorabilia to add to our collection.
Each submission to ANME will be assessed for appropriateness before it is added to our collection or shared on this website. ANME will acknowledge sources.
Learn about the different ways you can contribute to ANME's collection below.
Books & memorabilia
Have you discovered an education-related item in the attic that deserves a better resting place? It is helpful if the historical significance of items is considered before offering donations. An item is regarded as significant if it meets four criteria:
Association: The artefact has a strong association with people, practices, sites, or events related to a school or its district.
Rarity: The object, though common in a certain period of schooling, is now rarely encountered. Age or condition is not a consideration.
Aesthetic value: The item is distinctive, attractive and shows skilled workmanship.
Context: The artefact completes a set or series, or highlights some unusual aspect of a school's history or its social context.
If you have historical books or artefacts relating to education that you would like to donate to the ANME, please use the form at the foot of this page to contact us with a list of items for donation. We are particularly interested in expanding our collections of:
19th and early 20th century school and university textbooks (pre-1940)
including school readers produced by colonial and/or State/Territory Departments of Education, especially from Tasmania, WA, NT and SA, as well as Catholic and Irish Readers
Teacher training/Teacher's College texts, syllabuses and/or student teacher notes/assessments to the end of the 20th century
especially relating to the practical side of teaching e.g. classroom management/organization, classroom control strategies, blackboard skills, organising an art class without a disaster
documents relating to the Commonwealth Teaching Service and the establishment of the ACT Schools Authority
published histories of schools, colleges & universities
school magazines & school papers
school ephemera, such as Speech Day and concert programmes, school enrolment guides 1800s to 1950s
We also collect samples of school student workbooks and small items of students' manual work such as arts and crafts, along with school memorabilia such as uniform items, badges, pennants and spoons. We are particularly interested in materials dating from before 1940.
Our curator will assess items offered for donation against our collection guidelines and contact you if we are able to accept them.
School photos
Do you have historical images of early schooling in your family archive?
If you have a valuable historical image you can upload a digital copy on this page. If your image is found to be of significant historical importance, ANME will be in contact.
Conditions for digital photo contributions
Please consider these requirements before uploading.
- The image should have some historical significance.
This mainly determined by age and rarity. We give highest priority to collecting images dated before 1920, then images prior to 1945. - Ensure that the image is of good quality.
Scan original photographs in colour with a high resolution of 300dpi or 450dpi at original size. File type should be saved as JPG, GIF, PNG or TIFF. Files should have be a minimum of 250KB and a maximum of 15MB. - Provide descriptive file names
Give the image a file name that identifies first a location if known, or a family name if location cannot be stated. - Include a description of the image
Please describe what is known about it such as the date, the name of the school depicted, a person who can be identified, the name of the family archive holding the photograph, and any other information regarding its origin and context.
Stories
Almost everyone has a story of their days at school. ANME is particularly interested to receive stories that tell of historical events, significant people, and practices that capture the essence of what it is and was to go to school in Australia.
And of course, it is not only students that have stories of school. We will gladly consider contributions from teachers, parents, administrators, school leaders and members of a community.
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a story lets you choose the words you share.
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