Connections UnitingCare: 80 years of historic images now online
The community services organisation Connections UnitingCare, with the assistance of a Victoria 175 History Grant, has made 80 years of historic images available on the web through the photo-sharing website, flickr.
Connections UnitingCare’s predecessor organisations include the Methodist Babies’ Home and the Presbyterian Babies’ Home. Many of these images come from slides used by the ‘slum abolition’ campaigner F. Oswald Barnett in his presentations to raise funds for the babies’ homes.
The photo set from the Methodist Babies’ Home includes photographs of mothercraft nurses and of babies and children from the Home. Unfortunately the people in these images are not identified.
The images in the photo set from the Presbyterian Babies’ Home are mainly shots of the exterior and interior of the building, a Camberwell mansion known as “Linda”.
We think this project by Connections UnitingCare is a fantastic use of social media to make significant historical material widely accessible. These images can tell us a lot about the social history of Melbourne and its inner suburbs, as well as the history of institutional ‘care’ in Victoria.
The contextual information in photographs complements the information that can be found on the personal files which many ‘care’ leavers are looking for to understand their past. If you, or a member of your family, were a resident at one of these institutions, you can contact Connections UnitingCare’s Adoption Information Service to request access to records by calling 03 9521 5666 or email foreverfamily@connections.org.au.