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Victorian Bushfires Collection
Image: Motor Car - Bushfire Damaged Holden 48-215, FX, Churchill, 2009
Source: Museum Victoria
February 7, 2010 marks the first anniversary of Black Saturday, the greatest natural disaster in Australia's recorded history. In the weeks following the bushfires that ravaged many parts of Victoria in 2009, Museum Victoria set up the Victorian Bushfires Collection to preserve and document objects and stories from the fires. The collection includes bushfire-damaged objects, emergency services equipment, oral histories, artwork, images, and material from public education campaigns.
Museum Victoria hopes the collection will not only lead to greater public understanding of bushfires and their effect on communities but also assist in the healing process through commemoration and the sharing of stories.
The collection will continue to grow as it documents the reconstruction efforts, changing patterns of bushfire response and the effect of climate change on how we understand and engage with our beautiful but dangerous bush.
Significant items:
- A burnt-out 1950 FX Holden 48-215, part of a collection of vintage motor cars destroyed in the Churchill fire
- A chimney from Kinglake, all that remained of the nineteenth-century homestead 'The Uplands'
- Burned and melted domestic objects, from a Box Brownie camera to a child's bicycle
- 'Black Saturday', a painting of Marysville by Glenn Morgan
- Sam the Koala, a koala that became a public symbol of hope and resilience in the aftermath of the fires
- A 'Thank You' sculpture that was donated to the People of Victoria at the Thank You Melbourne and Victoria concert of 7 April 2010
Related Narratives:
Recurring History of Bushfires in Victoria
Healesville Primary School Bushfire Artworks Collection
Collecting & Rebuilding the Black Saturday Chimney
'The Uplands' Homestead, Kinglake, 1890s-2009
Stories Revealed Through Bricks & Mortar
The Making of the Thank You Gift
The Premier Speaks about the Thank You Gift
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 81 - 90) 162 items
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Program - 2nd Anniversary Memorial Service, 2009 Victorian Bushfires, Melbourne, 6 Feb 201 ...
Program for the 2nd Anniversary Memorial Service, 2009 Victorian Bushfires, held at Zinc Square, Federation Square, Melbourne, 6 Feb 2011. This was one of many commemorative events hel ...
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Program - 'Remember, Reflect, Hope', 2nd Anniversary Memorial Service, 2009 Victorian Bush ...
Program for the 2nd Anniversary Memorial Service, 2009 Victorian Bushfires, held at Zinc Square, Federation Square, Melbourne, 6 Feb 2011. This was one of many commemorative events hel ...
Images: 1 -
Program - 'Remember, Reflect, Hope', 2nd Anniversary Memorial Service, 2009 Victorian Bush ...
Program for the 2nd Anniversary Memorial Service, 2009 Victorian Bushfires, held at Zinc Square, Federation Square, Melbourne, 6 Feb 2011. This was one of many commemorative events hel ...
Images: 3 -
Accounts Book - John Lawrey, 'The Uplands', Kinglake, Dec 1908-Apr 1930
Accounts book used by John Lawrey from December 1908 to 3rd April 1930 which covers his various businesses including being a nurseryman, and an agent for Mt Lyell Mining & Railway Co Lt ...
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Gift - A. Barclay to The Alfred Hospital Burns Unit, Feb 2009
Gift for a patient in the Burns Unit of the The Alfred, a survivor of the February 2009 bushfires. In the aftermath of Black Saturday, the newspapers were full of stories of people cau ...
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Letter - A. Barclay to The Alfred Hospital Burns Unit, Feb 2009
Letter for a patient in the Burns Unit of the The Alfred, a survivor of the February 2009 bushfires. In the aftermath of Black Saturday, the newspapers were full of stories of people c ...
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Card & Envelope - A. Barclay to The Alfred Hospital Burns Unit, Feb 2009
Card with envelope for a patient in the Burns Unit of the The Alfred, a survivor of the February 2009 bushfires. In the aftermath of Black Saturday, the newspapers were full of stories ...
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Letter & Gifts - Langmeil Lutheran Church to The Alfred Hospital Burns Unit, Tanunda, Sout ...
Letter and paper hearts sent to the patients at The Alfred Burns Unit after the bushfires of February 2009. In the days after Black Saturday, during which 173 people died and thousands ...
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Poem - 'Gift of Hope', Rhonda Abotomey, 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires, Victoria, 2009
The 'Gift of Hope' poem was written by Rhonda Abotomey who lost family in the February 2009 bushfires. It was read by the Victorian Premier, John Brumby, at the first anniversary memori ...
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Greeting Card - Anonymous to The Alfred hospital Burns Unit, Toowong QLD, Feb 2009
This card was sent to the nursing staff of The Alfred hospital's Burns Unit after the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009. The Burns Unit, as one of the major hospital services re ...
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