Five Minutes with ... Rosemary Kerr

From the Professional Historians Association NSW website, an interview with one of our regulars!

Five minutes with ... Rosemary Kerr

Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia

This new resource on the history of the Solomon Islands might be worth a look!

This online encyclopedia 'has 280,000 words and 703 entries, some small and others covering five thousand words. The 312 general entries cover the years from the declaration of the British Protectorate until independence in 1978. There are also 391 biographical entries, mainly centred on the Protectorate years, although some entries, particularly those on current political and religious leaders, extend to the present.'

http://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/index.html

Who Am I?

Here is an interesting use of data from the Australian Dictionary of Biography website.

Wragge Labs have created a game called Who Am I?

An Australian from the ADB is selected at random, and you have to guess who it is based on a set of clues.

It's very basic, but a lot of fun and even a bit addictive.

Enjoy!

Egon Pollack and the Palestine Football Team of 1939

Palestine Soccer Team, 10 July 1939.
Back row: G.Arazi (manager), S.Ginzburg, L.Fuks, A.Schneider, F.Neufeld, S.Viner, G.Machlis, E.Pollak (coach).
2nd row: A.Alembik, A.Resnik (captain), M.Mirimovitz, L.Werner, A.Greenberg, J.Lieberman.
Front row: J.Sidi, B.Mizrahi
PXE 789, vol. 45, no. 65.

I have been trying to find out more about this photo of a Palestine football (soccer) team that played in Australia in 1939. The photo is part of our incredible Sam Hood collection. It's an awesome collection, but often the details are very sketchy.

Seems this team was detained in Australia at the outbreak of World War II. The coach, Egon Pollak, had played in the legendary Hakoah team from Vienna, and later played for the New York Giants soccer team in the American Soccer League. Egon is in the back row, far right in this photo.

Using Trove Newspapers, I found a terrific article about Egon’s enforced stay in Australia (http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78976051). He was an esteemed singer, and he refused to sing any songs in German after the war broke out. Later he became coach of the first Israeli national team. 

Definitely worthy of more research!

Copying from the Marie Byles Papers

Just thought I would put this one down before it escapes my memory.

You may occasionally receive requests for copying from the various collections of Marie Byles papers in the Library. In Marie's will (a copy of which is on the correspondence file), she made the National Trust (NSW) her residual beneficiary. This means that any requests for copying material in which Marie owns copyright - along with any requests for permission to reproduce - need to go to the National Trust (NSW).

The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka

News from the Professional Historians Association NSW blog:

Professional historian Claire Wright has won the 2014 Stella Prize for her book, The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka. Focusing on the women of the Victorian goldfields, this book provides a very different perspective on the Eureka Stockade. Sounds like a fascinating read!

We have a copy at H 2013/5713.

Welcome aboard!

Thanks for visiting.

This blog will share information of interest to staff in the Australasian Team.

Please feel free to contribute!

John Arrowsmith, Map of Australia, 1839.
Dixson Library: Ce 83/1
http://library.sl.nsw.gov.au/record=b2939826