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Letter - Sister Joan O'Toole, Sacred Heart College Shepparton, to Hope Black, Application Successful, 6 Dec 1976
Reg. No: HT 30154
- Summary:
- Letter from Sister Joan O'Toole, principal of Sacred Heart College, Shepparton to Hope Black dated 6 December 1976 advising that her application for a teaching position in 1977 had been successful, together with schedule for beginning of new school year and terms of employment.
Hope Macpherson was the first female curator at National Museum of Victoria (now Museum Victoria) and was forced to resign her position in accordance with the ruling that married women could not be employed in the public service.
Hope Macpherson along with Isobel Bennett, Susan Ingham and Mary Gillham were the first women to visit the Antarctic in their December 1959 expedition. - Description:
- One page letter typed on Sacred Heart College letterhead.
- 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: | 205 mm (Width), 265 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 |
| Addressed To: | Mrs Hope Black (nee Macpherson), Girgarre, Campaspe Shire, Victoria, Australia, 06 Dec 1976 |
| Sender: | Sacred Heart College, Shepparton, Victoria, Australia, 06 Dec 1976 From the Principal Sister Joan O'Toole |
Themes
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