1. 'Afghan' jacket

    The jacket was given to Mr Frederick Budge of Farina, South Australia, by a Muslim (‘Afghan’) trader he knew who went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, at some time in the 1890s. 

    Collection Item | Southwest corner | 1870s, 1880s, 1890s

  2. apron

    The apron was worn by Joan Mallen when she worked at the Cheer Up Hut on the banks of the Torrens, near the present Festival Theatre, during the Second World War. 

    Collection Item | Parklands | 1940s

  3. Belarusians in South Australia

    The first significant wave of Belarusians arrived in South Australia as Displaced Persons (DPs) when Belarus anti-communist fighters, members of Belarusian Youth Union, military Belarusian (anti-Russian) units, pro-German Belarusian government organizations and others were in conflict with the Soviet Red Army.

    Historical Subject | By Migration Museum | 1940s, mid twentieth century

  4. Bottle

    Bottle of herbal lotion sold by Mahomet Allum. 

    Collection Item | 1940s, 1950s

  5. Captain Charles Sturt Memorial

    Leaning forward and shielding his eyes from the sun, this bronze figure of Sturt looks over Victoria Square, not the land he explored

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | 1830s, 1840s, 1900-1910, 1910s

  6. Catherine Helen Spence statue

    The powerful sculpture of Catherine Helen Spence in Light Square, Adelaide celebrates the life and work of a formidable South Australian.

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Northwest corner | 1850s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1920s, 1980s

  7. Charles Cameron Kingston Memorial

    A remarkable and feisty South Australian attorney-general and premier, a father of federation and the first Australian Minster for Trade and Customs is commemorated by this statue

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | 1850s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s

  8. Christmas Card

    Hand-drawn Christmas card with the message 'Buon Natale'.

    Collection Item | 1940s

  9. Colonel Light statue

    Colonel William Light’s statue on Montefiore Hill pointing towards the centre of Adelaide has come to symbolise the city that Light laid out.

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | 1830s, 1840s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1930s, early twenty–first century

  10. Colonel William Light Grave and Monument

    Colonel William Light’s grave remains in Light Square, while Light's Monument there has been replaced and embellished over time

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Northwest corner | 1830s, 1840s, 1870s, 1890s, 1900-1910

  11. Dardanelles Memorial

    The first Anzac memorial was once an obelisk in a grove of wattles

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Parklands | 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1960s, 2000-2010, 2010s, First World War

  12. Elder Family

    Elder Family of Scots merchants and ship owners saw the infant South Australia as an opportunity to expand their business interests. Alexander Lang Elder (1815–1885), the pioneer, arrived in 1839 and established a trading business. 

    Historical Subject | By Carol Fort | North Terrace | 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s

  13. Film

    In October 1896, within one year of the Lumière brothers’ first public screening of film in Paris, the first public film screening in South Australia occurred at the Theatre Royal in Hindley Street

    Historical Subject | By Dylan Walker | 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000-2010, 2010s

  14. Floods

    Paradoxically, the only parts of South Australia to experience occasional serious disruption of by flooding are the far distant sparsely populated deserts around Lake Eyre

    Historical Subject | By CR Twidale, University of Adelaide | River Torrens | 1840s, 1860s, 1870s, 1890s, 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1970s, 2010s

  15. Improved sewerage system for Adelaide

    In 1881 Adelaide became the first Australian capital city to be connected to a water-borne sewerage system. 

    Historical Subject | By Corinne Ball, Migration Museum | 1870s, 1880s, 1890s

  16. John Jefferson Bray Memorial Fountain

    The John Jefferson Bray Memorial Fountain commemorates the life of a senior judge, scholar and poet

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Southeast corner | 1910s, 1930s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1990s

  17. Knot

    The shining steel and simple form of Knot typifies the work of sculptor Herbert (Bert) Flugelman.

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000-2010, 2010s

  18. Lavington Bonython fountain

    Affectionately known as the ‘Bonython bath’, this fountain stood outside the South Australian Museum from 1965 to 2005

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1870s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1920s, 1930s, 1960s

  19. Legal Profession

    The evolving profession in South Australia retained some centuries-old practices.

    Historical Subject | By Peter Moore | 1830s, 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1980s

  20. Light Horse Memorial

    Remembering South Australian Light Horsemen who served in Egypt and Palestine and at Gallipoli

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton & Bernard O'Neil, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, Boer War, early twenty–first century

  21. Lord Florey bust

    Adelaide-born Lord Florey won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945 for his part in making the infection-fighting penicillin available

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1890s, 1920s, 1940s, 1960s

  22. Mary Lee bust

    ‘My aim is to leave the world better for women’ – Mary Lee was an activist, suffragist and unionist

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1990s

  23. Poeppel's Corner Post

    Wooden post used to mark the point where the boundaries of South Australia the Northern Territory and Queensland meet.

    Collection Item | 1870s, 1880s

  24. Popeye

    'Popeye the Sailor' was a popular cartoon at the cinema in the 1930s when Gordon Watts introduced a tourist pleasure craft on the River Torrens

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | River Torrens | 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000-2010

  25. Queen Victoria Monument

    Since 1894 Queen Victoria has looked imperiously over the bustle of Victoria Square

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1950s, 1960s

  26. Radicalism

    Radicalism has been inherent in South Australian history from its founding as a free settlement.  Based upon the English radical liberal thought of its founders, the State's reputation grew as a progressive colony and the first to entirely separate church from state.

    Historical Subject | By Brendan Moran | 1830s, 1840s, 1850s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1930s, 1940s, 1960s, 1970s

  27. Robert Burns Memorial

    One of many around the world, this statue of Scottish poet Robert Burns was unveiled in 1894

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1880s, 1890s, 1930s, 1940s, 1990s

  28. Serbians in South Australia

    Serbians migrated to South Australia from the 1940s - 1990s to escape various forms of prosecution and have since established a wide community. 

    Historical Subject | By Migration Museum | 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1990s, early twentieth century, Second World War

  29. Sir Douglas Mawson bust

    The spirit of Antarctic explorer and professor of geology, Sir Douglas Mawson, is captured in the bust by John Dowie

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1880s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1980s

  30. Sir Lawrence Bragg bust

    The bust of Sir Lawrence Bragg commemorates a South Australian Nobel Laureate

    Historical Thing | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | North Terrace | 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1970s, 2000-2010, 2010s

Pages