Powerhouse Museum Archives

Powerhouse Museum Archives

E-mail: archive@phm.gov.au
Fax: (02) 9217 0158
PO Box K346
Haymarket NSW 1238
Australia

 

The Museum has two types of archives:

Institutional archives
The Museum’s institutional archives are the corporate memory of the Museum. They are the records created and received by the Museum from its establishment in 1880 to the present day. We preserve these records because they have continuing value to the Museum and to the community. They assist the Museum in its current business and decision-making and are an important resource for historical research for both Museum staff and the public.

You can now search our Institutional Archives on-line.

Collected archives
The Museum’s collected archives are the papers of individuals and the records of organisations and businesses which the Museum acquires for its collection. These may relate to any of the Museum’s collecting fields - science, technology, industry, design, decorative arts and history. These archives are used by staff for the Museum’s research, exhibition and publication programmes and are also available to public researchers.

The Museum's economic geology display, c.1890
The Museum's economic geology display, c.1890

RESOURCES


Institutional archives

You can find information in the institutional archives on such topics as:

  • the establishment of the Museum and the development of its collections and programs
  • the provenance of individual objects in the Museum’s collection
  • Museum exhibitions
  • the Museum’s early research into the state’s natural products, especially essential oils, timbers, fish, wool and building stones
  • the Museum’s role in supporting public education in New South Wales
  • the Museum’s early promotion of Australian flora designs in the decorative arts
  • the Museum’s encouragement of Australian industry through applied research and the display of new technologies and products
  • the work of former Museum Curators and Directors (J.H. Maiden, R.T. Baker, F.R. Morrison, A.R. Penfold, J.L. Willis)
  • the work of former staff scientists and collectors (H.G. Smith, William Bäuerlen, Charles Laseron, T.C. Roughley, Howard McKern, Marcus Welch)
  • the history and conservation of the Museum’s present and former sites – the Agricultural Hall (in the Domain), the Technological Museum, the Ultimo Power House and tram sheds, the Hyde Park Barracks, the Mint and Sydney Observatory
  • our early branch museums at Albury, Bathurst, Broken Hill, Goulburn, Newcastle and West Maitland

  • museological practice and arts administration.

The records held in the Archives are in many different formats – correspondence and subject files, reports, minute books, photographs, videos, audio-recordings, plans and drawings, newspaper cuttings and Museum publications (books, serials, guides, exhibition catalogues, posters, educational leaflets and articles written by staff).

You can now search our Institutional Archives on-line.



Collected archives

The particular strengths of the Museum’s holdings of collected archives are:

  • papers of contemporary Australian designers - Gordon Andrews, Douglas Annand, Richard Beck, Dahl & Geoffrey Collings, Max Forbes, Gerard Herbst, Linda Jackson, Richard Haughton James, Jenny Kee, Margaret Lord, Mercedes Australian Fashion Week, Marc Newson, Dorothy & Rhoda Wager, Fred Ward, Mary White and Derek Wrigley
  • records of manufacturing industry - Berlei Ltd (underwear), Buzacott & Co (engineering), Liebentritt (Cumberland Pottery), Martin Boyd Pottery, Tooth & Co (brewing), Victa (lawnmowers), F.T. Wimble & Co (inks) and Wunderlich Ltd (architectural hardware)
  • papers relating to aeronautics and aviation - Lores Bonney, Arthur Butler, Lawrence Hargrave and Nancy Bird Walton
  • papers relating to Australian innovation – Charles Beauvais (automobile design), George Brooks (SILLIAC computer), Evelyn Owen (machine gun), Henry Setright (totalisators) and Roy Wells (totalisators)
  • commercial photography – David Mist and Henry Talbot.

Other collections include the records of the Bombala Times (newspaper company), Pettit and Sevitt (project home builders) and Waddell’s Ashfield Garage.

While collections are largely of Australian origin, some significant overseas collections are also held – Charles Babbage (computing pioneer), Joseph Box Ltd (court shoemaker), Belleek Pottery, Henry Husbands (surveying instrument maker) and the Chinnery Family (social and musical life of 18th century London).

Brief descriptions of each collection will be found in the Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts on the National Library of Australia’s website and on Collections Australia Network (CAN). Printed copies of the full documentation ("guides") are available for consultation at the Archives.

ACCESS
Public access to the Museum’s Archives is by appointment. Look through the descriptions of our resources to see if we are an appropriate resource for you, then contact the archivists for further advice or an appointment.

The material in the Archives is for reference only and is not for loan. Researchers are required to complete an application form when accessing the archives.

The Institutional Archives are available according to the public access provisions of the State Records Act 1998. Most Museum records are available to the public when they are 30 years old. Requests for information less than 30 years old may be referred to the Museum’s Freedom of Information Officer.

The collected archives are available subject to any restrictions the donor or the Museum may have imposed to protect individual privacy.

SERVICES AND FACILITIES

Reference service
The archivists are available to help you make full use of the archives. We answer phone, mail, fax and e-mail requests about our holdings and answer quick reference questions. We are also able to refer you to other Museum or external resources. Unfortunately, we cannot do detailed research on your behalf. In most cases you will need to come in and use the archives yourself. We will assist you to locate and use the relevant material. Archives research can be very time-consuming – please allow yourself sufficient time.

Photocopying
Photocopying is not normally permitted because of the unique and fragile nature of archival material. Microfiche prints (where material has been microfiched) and photographic copies are available, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Where a copy request is for purposes other than private research and study, the request will be referred to the Museum’s Rights and Permissions Officer.

WHERE ARE WE?
In the Museum’s Harwood Building, Macarthur Street East, Ultimo (down the hill from the Harris Street corner).

To gain admittance go to the Museum’s gatehouse in Macarthur Street. The security officers there will ring an archivist to come and fetch you.

link iconhow to get to the Powerhouse Museum

OPENING HOURS
By appointment Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm (except public holidays).

CONTACTS
Helen Yoxall
Archives Manager
Tel: (02) 9217 0458

Jill Chapman
Archivist
Tel: (02) 9217 0318
archive@phm.gov.au