Interior of Hall's house, Belmont, 21 October 1903. From The Ralph Snowball/Norm Barney Collection, University of Newcastle, Cultural Collections
PEOPLE AND PLACE | COAL AND COMMUNITY
Exhibition, book and website launch
Exhibition dates: 24 July to 24 August
Opening: Friday 2 August at 5pm - free entry, all welcome
The PEOPLE AND PLACE | COAL AND COMMUNITY project will be opened by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Caroline McMillen, and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Andrew Parfitt, at the University of Newcastle Gallery on Friday 2nd August at 5pm.
Many of the towns and cities within the greater Hunter region owe their foundations and their economies to the coal industry. From the discovery of coal in Newcastle in 1797, the industry has helped to shape the towns, landscape and economy of the Hunter. The PEOPLE AND PLACE | COAL AND COMMUNITY project charts the history of the influence of coal via early photographs, official and personal records and other evidence.
PEOPLE AND PLACE | COAL AND COMMUNITY assembles historical images from the University's Cultural Collections along with several other important collections of archives and private material, on the coal community, its people and their place. With thousands of early photographs and records, images from this living archive present photographs, maps and artefacts that describe in detail the way in which people have lived and worked in the Hunter since its beginnings.
The project had its beginning in the coal communities. It sprang from a visit the Library's Cultural Collections Librarian, Lyn Keily, made in 2010 with her father, Jack, to the site of Northern (Rhondda) Colliery where Jack had been the Electrical Engineer, and the family had lived for 12 years.
Lyn wrote to Rio Tinto to get permission to visit the site and Stephen Sneddon, then Principal Community Investment, recognised the surname of his former colleague, Jack Keily. Stephen had seen and been impressed by the Snowball Collection on the University's Flickr site, and following the visit suggested the Library apply for a Coal & Allied Community Development Fund Grant to be used to present some of the vast community material available. The Library was awarded a grant in April 2012, and the University also made a large in-kind contribution to the project.
The project represents a collaboration between a number of individuals, community groups, the University Gallery and the University Cultural Collections, and has been made possible thanks to a grant from the Coal and & Allied Community Development Fund. Coal and & Allied has been making a significant contribution to the Hunter Valley since its origins in the Hunter in 1843 and J&A Brown's Four Mile Creek mine near Maitland. Working alongside the University of Newcastle and the community, Coal and & Allied is committed to preserving the history of mining in the region.
The project has resulted in a touring exhibition, and an illustrated book of the exhibition will be available for purchase. A comprehensive website has been developed by the University of Newcastle's Library through its Cultural Collections, to which the public are invited to add information. This rich and diverse archive of material also provides educational resources for teachers and students. Please visit www.coalandcommunity.com
For more information on PEOPLE AND PLACE I COAL AND COMMUNITY PROJECT,
its Gallery and Library touring schedule, educational resources or archive, go to www.coalandcommunity.com
Contact: Lyn Keily on + 61 2 49217013 or Gillean Shaw on +61 2 49215255
