ANMM launches History@Home A lockdown talk series

The museum’s expert curators and their guests dive into topics they are most passionate about.

History@Home promises to be intriguing, instructive and entertaining. You’ll learn new stories, consider new research and hear unexpected voices. Stories from previous pandemics and quarantine periods, vintage fashion, shipwreck hunting, pirates, smugglers to looking at our world’s current ocean heath– the museum has you covered for the liveliest maritime tales for lockdown.

Each 45 minute session features a 30 minute presentation followed by 15 minutes of questions.

Hosted by a moderator, each talk will be supported by a series of visuals including photos, imagery and short video.

Shore of the Past? Surprising Short Stories from our Maritime Collections

Tuesday 7 September 4pm – 4:45pm
As part of History Week 2021 (4 – 12 Sept)

A Lifelong Voyage: Tales of Children Named after Ships (10 mins)

This presentation explores the common Nineteenth-century practice of naming children born at sea after the vessel that brought them to the colonies. Blending maritime, family and local history, this presentation also introduces a cast of characters who spent their lifelong voyages named after a famous vessel.

Current Fashions: the Daring Swimsuit Designs of Annette Kellermann (10 mins)

This is the story of one of Australia’s first celebrity fashion labels. In the early 1920s, as conflict flared on North American beaches over what constituted socially acceptable swimwear for women, an Australian entrepreneur was promoting her personal brand through a type of bathing suit that sought to free women in their athletic and recreational endeavours. The Annette Kellermann label became a phenomena: the swimmers who adopted this style of functional one-piece suit became known generically as ‘Annette Kellermanns’.

Speaking of History: Accounts of East Timorese Independence (10 mins)

Buried within the catalogue of the Australian National Maritime Museum’s Vaughan Evans Library lies an intriguing set of stories on minority nationalism in East Timor. These oral history recordings focus on periods of Portuguese colonisation, Indonesian occupation and the eventual liberation of Timor-Leste in 1999. They examine the role of underground radio transmission between Australia and East Timor during the independence movement, and profile the migration stories of key figures such as Natalina Ramos Horta.