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NLA News - home July 2004 Volume XIV Number 10
Norman McCann Summer Scholars for 2004
Norman McCann Summer Scholars 2004:  (L-R) Rachel Sanderson, Meredith Lake and Sarah Olive

 

 

 


Norman McCann Summer Scholars 2004:
(L-R) Rachel Sanderson, Meredith Lake and Sarah Olive
Pictures Collection

This issue of the National Library of Australia News features three articles by the 2004 Norman McCann Summer Scholars. Sarah Olive, Rachel Sanderson and Meredith Lake spent six weeks at the Library during January and February, exploring respectively the emotional context of food in relation to menus, the Daintree road blockades of 1983–84 and Christian activism for Aboriginal land rights during the 1970s

The Norman McCann Summer Scholarship scheme was established in 2002 to enable outstanding young Australian scholars, under the age of 30, to undertake original research in Australian history and literature based upon the Library’s collections. Scholars benefit from privileged access to the Library’s materials and facilities, as well as from sustained interaction with many of its staff. They further receive assistance with living expenses, return airfares and accommodation at the Australian National University.

Sarah Olive considered the function of the menu in Australia, from the literal to the emotional. Using menus from the Manuscript, Pictures and Ephemera Collections, she explored the ability of menus to reflect and record elements of the life of the individual diner, as well as Australia’s growth as a nation. Sarah is currently working as the Project/Research Officer for the Flinders International Students’ Association.

Rachel Sanderson focused on the controversy that erupted in 1983 over the construction of a road through the Daintree rainforest at the Cape Tribulation National Park, North Queensland. Rachel listened to an oral history recorded by the National Parks and Wildlife officer responsible for the park, and examined the personal papers of one of the key blockaders and the records of the Australian Conservation Foundation. These sources revealed both the political and practical tensions involved in the passage of a conservation issue from the local to the national and international sphere. Rachel is a PhD candidate at James Cook University, Townsville, and her thesis focuses on the history of scientific visions of the North Queensland rainforest and the connections between science and environmentalism.

Meredith Lake explored the dynamics of Christian participation in Australia’s ‘first Aboriginal race riot’, staged in Brisbane, 1971. Upon delving into the manuscript records of the Australian Council of Churches, and the personal papers of its then president and general secretary, she found that the Christian people involved in the demonstration were substantially influenced by overseas events and organisations. Meredith is currently researching the history of Protestant ideas about land in Australia as a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney.

More information on the McCann Summer Scholarships can be found on the National Library’s website: www.nla.gov.au

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