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Letter - Hope Macpherson to Her Parents, News from Whyalla Expedition, 22 Feb 1956
Reg. No: HT 30042
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- Summary:
- Letter from Hope Macpherson to her parents after having arrived in Whyalla on a collecting expedition to South Australia, providing an update on meeting up with various people. Hope Macpherson was the first female curator at National Museum of Victoria (now Museum Victoria).
- Description:
- Stationery provided by post office for correspondence to be sent by air mail.
- Statement Of Significance:
- The Hope (Macpherson) Black Collection is a significant addition to Museum Victoria's working lives collection, it reveals the journey of a woman from depression era Melbourne and illustrates the power of education. It also reveals the often discriminatory policies in place in Victoria before the equal opportunity developments of the late 20th century. In balance though it also exposes the somewhat free expression possible for empowered women in this period. Hope Macpherson clearly states that in her day to day work she never felt discrimination and believes she was given great opportunity to pursue her career and aspirations. However, on analysis her role was often shaped by her gender and its perceived strengths and weaknesses; she was dissuaded from applying to become a taxidermist as it was 'an unsuitable job for a woman', although part of the first group of female scientists allowed to travel to Macquarie Island they were not permitted to camp on land with the male crew for fear of inciting passions. And finally after a distinguished career she was forced to resign her tenure as Australia's first female Curator when she married late in life, as a consequence of the Marriage bar.
- Acquisition Information:
- Donation from Mrs Hope Black (nee Macpherson), 2011
| Discipline: | History |
| Dimensions: | 128 mm (Width), 160 mm (Length) |
More information
| Tagged with: | museum history, education |
| Themes this item is part of: | Hope Black nee Macpherson, Curator of Molluscs (1919 - ), Public Life & Institutions Collection, Working Life & Trades Collection |
| Primary Classification: | MUSEUM HISTORY |
| Secondary Classification: | Working Life |
| Tertiary Classification: | staff |
| Inscriptions: | One page letter handwritten in black ink. |
| Sender: | Miss Hope Macpherson - National Museum of Victoria, Whyalla, South Australia, Australia, 22 Feb 1956 |
| Addressed To: | Cluny Macpherson, Glen Iris, Victoria, Australia, 22 Feb 1956 |
| Addressed To: | Jessie Macpherson, Glen Iris, Victoria, Australia, 22 Feb 1956 |
Themes
This item is part of the following themes:
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