The history of Victoria is inextricably tied to the history of immigration. Every non-Indigenous Victorian, if not an immigrant directly, can trace his or her roots to another place. Victoria's population has always been a culturally diverse one.
Although public attitudes and government policy towards immigration have varied throughout history, the impact of many cultures upon the social fabric of Victoria has been ongoing and dramatic. The process and experience of immigration and settlement of all immigrants are an integral part of Victoria's past and present. This recognition and awareness are indispensable to our understanding of the development and contemporary reality of Victoria.
The Immigration and Cultural Diversity collection has been developed since 1990. It documents the immigration and settlement experience of Victorians since the 1830s and the longstanding cultural diversity of the Victorian population. It reflects the impact of many cultures on Victoria's history and development.
The collection represents the diverse histories of immigrant families from European colonisation to the present, as well as broader migration and settlement histories, such as postwar immigration, culturally specific settlement patterns, or cultural representation through art and craft. It has a strong oral history component, and has a good representation of artistic interpretations of migration and settlement.
Significant items
- Scrapbook owned and compiled by 19th-century immigration activist and philanthropist Caroline Chisholm.
- Weaving loom brought to Australia by a Latvian displaced couple in 1950.
- Immigration and Artistic Practice collection, including original artworks, working drawings, tools and equipment, and oral histories of immigrant artists from the 1950s to the present.
- Greek popular shadow puppet theatre and William Nicol shadow puppet collections.
- Domestic items, shop equipment, advertising signs, price tickets and commercial packaging from the Old Lolly Shop, run by Jewish migrants Elizabeth and Henry Cohen in Carlton (1939–75).
- National costumes (19th century to present day).
- Italian Historical Society (Co.As.It.) Collection, documenting Italian experiences of migration and settlement in Victoria.
- Gates national doll collection.
- Cambodian figurine collection.
- Immigration promotional, shipboard and processing documents (19th and 20th century).
- Migrant luggage from the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Postwar Hungarian community material (from people migrating to Australia after the 1956 Hungarian uprising).
- Broadmeadows Hostel Arrivals and Departures registers (1950–52).
- Standard (flag) of the Minyip Caledonian Society, 1906.
- Personal stories collections.