Mrs Chan Harr, Marjorie Wong Yee, Annie Kwok, Norma Wong Yee, Ida Kwok, and Patty Wong Yee on their arrival in Sydney from Hong Kong on the SS Changte, 8 March 1938.
ACP Magazines Ltd Photographic Archive, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales (ON 388/Box 043/Item 035)
In 1901, there were almost 30,000 Chinese men in Australia but fewer than 500 women. Despite their small numbers, emerging research reveals surprising stories of Chinese Australian women's lives.
What happens when the distant frontier takes up residence in the family home? How are we to remember our flawed ancestors? A new book grapples with these questions.
A mug shot of Neville McQuade (aged 18) and Lewis Stanley Keith (aged 19), taken at North Sydney Police Station in June 1942.
Sydney Living Museums
It would be 'aggressively Australian', holding a mirror up to contemporary society. The creation of the first Macquarie Dictionary, while not without controversies, was a cultural milestone.
A new book, about the suburban women who poisoned their husbands in post-war Sydney, explores their cold-blooded modus operandi and the hot dinners they prepared.
A Chinese community dinner in Sydney, some time in the 1930s.
City of Sydney Archives
From Cantonese sausage on the goldfields, to mid-century sweet and sour pork, to today's delicate xiao long bao, Chinese food in Australia has come a long way.
Rosaleen Norton works in crayon in a converted stable in Kings Cross in Sydney, 1946.
News Ltd/Black Jelly Films
An artist and self-proclaimed witch, Rosaleen Norton defied cultural norms in Menzies-era Australia. Reviled by the media, she was a powerfully unconventional woman.
Discrimination against trans women at Sydney's McIver's Ladies Baths is, sadly, just the latest in a long history of some Australians being excluded from the water.
The main chamber of Cloggs Cave. Monash University archaeologist Joe Crouch is standing in the 1970s excavation pit, digging a new area in the wall of the old excavation.
Bruno David
Two starkly different research projects at East Gippsland's Cloggs Cave, 50 years apart, show the importance of Indigenous perspectives in archaeology.
When British colonials came to Australia, they stuck to their winter Christmas traditions of roast meats and plum puddings. But over the centuries, Australians found their own ways to celebrate.
Far from mere underwear, singlets have many cultural meanings. Once worn chiefly by shearers, laborers and soldiers, they have been embraced on dance floors and in the gym.
Clipping from Woman’s World, January, 1927. Bryant Scrapbook. Courtesy of John R. H. Bryant.
Millicent Bryant made her first solo flight at the age of 49 in 1927. The life of this bold, unconventional woman was tragically cut short in a ferry disaster that same year.
Kath and Kim (aka Jane Turner and Gina Riley): the suburban hornbags used swearing in clever ways in their 2002-2007 TV series.
Riley Turner Productions
Long regarded as guardians of morality, women who swore were often policed and punished. But whether protesting or parodying, they have used bad language in creative ways.
Launched in Brisbane in 1985, the final 9 stores will close this Sunday. Australia's tastes have changed.
Universities Australia chair Deborah Terry’s job description includes openly lobbying government, an approach that has its origins in the sector’s post-war financial crisis.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
A post-war funding crisis forced universities to take the initiative in making their case to the public. A new history explores how universities did it and the changes they brought about.
Possible names for the new federal electorate in Victoria? (From left) Joan Kirner, Susan Ryan and Zelda D'Aprano.
AAP
The Australian Electoral Commission is taking public submissions on the name for a new federal electorate in Victoria. Prominent women like Susan Ryan and Margaret Tucker deserve consideration.
ARC Laureate Fellow, Monash University, and Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Monash University