This issue of National Library of Australia News features three articles by this year’s Norman McCann Summer Scholars. Sarah Irving, Ruth Nicholls and Joanne Archer each spent six weeks at the Library during January and February, studying respectively the spirit of nineteenth-century republicanism, issues of Indigenous leadership, and E.G. Wakefield’s emigration scheme in nineteenth-century South Australia. The three were the second group to be welcomed by the Library, following the inaugural awards last year. The scholarships are designed to enable outstanding young Australian scholars, under the age of 30, to undertake research in Australian History and Literature, based on the Library’s collections. The scholars receive assistance with living expenses, return airfares, and accommodation at the Australian National University. At the same time they are also able to forge relations with other national institutions running similar programs in CanberraŅthe Australian War Memorial, and the National Archives of Australia. Sarah Irving explored the lost tradition of Australian republicanism in the 1890s. Her research argues that, in contrast to the way in which we understand republicanism today, in the 1890s republicanism was a rich tradition of political lifeŅan ideal of active citizenship and a public sphere of critical debate. She used the Library’s collection of radical newspapers, political pamphlets, poetry, literature and cartoons. Sarah completed her honours degree in History at the University of Sydney, and has accepted a Commonwealth Scholarship to undertake a PhD in History at Cambridge University. Ruth Nicholls researched an oral history collection titled ‘Seven Years On: Interviews with Emerging and Emerged Aboriginal Leaders’. She was interested in the connection between leadership and effective community development. Ruth has an honours degree in Australian Studies at the Australian National University, and intends to undertake a Masters degree in Development Studies in the near future. The third summer scholar, Joanne Archer, studied the immigrant experience in South Australia under the Wakefield Immigration Scheme, between 1830 and 1850. She used a variety of sources in her research, including emigrant tracts and pamphlets, diaries and letters, parliamentary papers, and shipping lists and records. Joanne is currently pursuing dual masters degrees in History and Library Science at the University of Maryland in the United States of America, and hopes to pursue a career within a library or archives. |
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