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Understanding Museums - Australian Museums and Museology: Edited by Des Griffin and Leon Paroissien

Close up of a metal strap with the words 'Ludwig Leichhardt 1848' engraved on the surface.

Museums and history

In the years following World War II, history in Australian schools, universities and museums generally continued a long-standing focus on the country’s British heritage and on Australia’s involvement in war. However, by the 1970s Australia’s history and cultural development had begun to take a more important place in literature, in school curricula, and in universities, where specialised courses were providing training for future historians and museum curators.

The essays in this section recount the way museums in Australia have dealt with crucial issues of the formation of national memory and identity.

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Cite as: Des Griffin and Leon Paroissien (eds), 2011, Understanding Museums: Australian Museums and Museology, National Museum of Australia, published online at nma.gov.au/research/understanding-museums/museums_history.html
ISBN 978-1-876944-92-6