Featured Research



The Bonegilla Story

Albury LibraryMuseum

The NSW Migration Heritage Centre has been working with the Albury LibraryMuseum to document the Bonegilla collection, record oral histories and encourage tourists to visit the Bonegilla Heritage Park and its associated collections at the Albury LibraryMuseum. This is to develop regional tourism.

An Albury LibraryMuseum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Windsor market gardens and farming

Hawkesbury Regional Museum

An exhibition to research and interpret the history of migration in the evolution of farming and market gardens in Windsor from 1790 to present. Coming in 2012-13.

A Hawkesbury Regional Museum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Orange Migration Trail

Orange City Council

A migration and settlement trail for Orange in the form of a brochure, a series of interpretative signs and an online brochure to interpret heritage places and develop regional cultural tourism. Coming in 2012.

An Orange City Council and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Hastings Valley Migration

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council

A project to commission a community history to research all waves of migration and settlement to the mid-north coast with an interest in labour and family history. The history will record the distinctive histories and ethnic profiles of towns including Port Macquarie, Taree, Kempsey, South West Rocks, Wingham, Wauchope and Laurieton over time. The history will research first European settlement to the present. It will encompass Anglo migrations (with reference to particular diaspora) and contact history with Aboriginal Australians, including the shared labour histories on farms and in local industries.

A Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Maitland Jewish Cemetery

Maitland Regional Art Gallery

Winner 2011 National Trust Heritage Award. ‘Maitland Jewish Cemetery: A Monument to Dreams and Deeds’ explores the Maitland Jewish Cemetery’s history and the stories of the people buried there.

A Maitland Regional Art Gallery project with the NSW Migration Heritage Centre.

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Sweet Harvests

Tweed River Regional Museum

Explore the tenacity, camaraderie, humour and hard-work of the local South Sea Islander and Indian communities who worked the banana farms and cane fields of the Tweed.

A Tweed River Regional Museum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre video.

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Prisoners In Arcady

Berrima District Museum

Winner 2009 Museums And Galleries NSW IMAGinE Award – Education and Public Engagement. Discover the story of captured German mariners and their internment at Berrima in New South Wales during World War One and the artefacts that survive in Berrima District Museum.

A Berrima District Museum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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From All Four Corners

Museum of the Riverina

Winner 2008 Local Government Cultural Award. This project explored personal stories of Wagga Wagga’s migrants through videos, a Museum of the Riverina exhibition attracting over 7000 visitors, web exhibition and a highly successful series of public programs with local communities.

A Museum of the Riverina and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Moving

Various Partners

Now living in Western Sydney, survivors of the Khmer Rouge Pol Pot regime from Cambodia have been interviewed for the first pilot project of ‘Moving’. Participants reminisce vividly about family loss and separation, freedom and safety through keepsakes and family photos in compelling video histories.

A NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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My Own Boss

Lightning Ridge Historical Society

Lightning Ridge, 75 km north of Walgett, is the only place in the world where the exquisite black opal is mined in quantity and sold in the rough. People have come from around the world to find their fortunes in this outback town.

A Lightning Ridge Historical Society and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Griffith Italian Heritage Trail

Griffith City Council

Explore places associated with the history of Italian migration, settlement and horticulture in Griffith, the regional centre of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area – famous for its wine, citrus and stone fruit industries.

A Griffith City Council and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Families Of Fortune

Tweed River Regional Museum, Chinese-Australian Historical Society

Highly Commended 2010 National Trust Heritage Awards. A wave of Chinese migration to the Tweed began in the late 19th century and the newcomers quickly established themselves as market gardeners, banana growers, cooks, herbalists and shopkeepers. All these are recorded through personal stories, photos and historical information in ‘Families of Fortune – Chinese People In The Tweed’.

A Tweed River Regional Museum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project supported by the Chinese-Australian Historical Society.

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Liverpool Migration History Project

Casula Powerhouse

From First Fleet Colonial Europeans to the end of the infamous ‘White Australia’ policy, this project explores all waves of settlement in the Liverpool City local government area.

A Liverpool City Council, Casula Powerhouse and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Different Sights

University Of New England

A thematic history of the presence and contributions of Australians from non-English-speaking backgrounds in the New England Tablelands region.

A University of New England and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project with the NSW Heritage Office.

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Fairfield – Evolution Of A Migrant City

Fairfield City Museum And Gallery

A heritage study documenting how waves of migration have formed a diverse community in Fairfield with a shared identity and a sense of place. It is not well known that over 130 nationalities live in the Fairfield Local Government Area and over three quarters of all residents have overseas ancestry. Fairfield is one of the most culturally diverse areas in Australia.

A Fairfield City Museum And Gallery and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Half A World Away

Orange City Council

Highly Commended 2008 National Trust Heritage Awards. Following the Second World War, migrants from Europe made their home in Orange. Many worked in the Email whitegoods factory and some were housed in the ‘tent city’ next door.

An Orange City Council and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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The Forgotten Children

Fairbridge Heritage Association

The Fairbridge organisation operated a Farm School for underprivileged British child migrants near Molong from 1938 until 1974. About 1000 boys and girls passed through and were trained as “farmers and farmers’ wives”.

A Fairbridge Heritage Association, NSW Heritage Office and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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From Estonia To Thirlmere

Wollondilly Heritage Centre

In the 1930s, a small group of Estonians set up poultry farms near Thirlmere which survive today and are now surrounded by some 60 farms. Many of the farmers and labourers are former post-Second World War migrants from Estonia.

A Wollondilly Heritage Centre and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Gold and Silver

NSW Department of Environment

Fishing practices and experiences enable people to recall the past of their homeland or childhood through the fishing skills they learned from older generations. These memories, and the adaptation of skills to a new land, mean that there is a strong heritage element to what we may sometimes consider a recreational pastime.

‘Gold and Silver’ is a NSW Migration Heritage Centre project with University of Technology, Sydney and the Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW).

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Lives Lost, Life Regained

Sydney Jewish Museum

Read the memoirs of ageing Holocaust survivors in ‘Lives Lost, Life Regained’ an anthology researched through the Sydney Jewish Museum’s ‘Community Stories’ program supporting the wishes of ageing Holocaust survivors who would like their life story to be written. For most of these Jewish migrants, English is not their first language.

A Sydney Jewish Museum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Macedonian Aprons – Hidden Treasure

Port Kembla Macedonian Welfare Association

Winner 2010 National Trust Heritage Award. This Illawarra research project culminated in the Powerhouse Museum’s Sydney Design Week exhibition ‘Ties With Tradition: Macedonian Apron Designs’.

A Port Kembla Macedonian Welfare Association and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Investigating Migration Heritage – Wollongong

Illawarra Migration Heritage Project

This richly illustrated new book will encourage people to record their migration history and experiences and to care for associated records, photos and family belongings.

A Illawarra Migration Heritage Project and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Migration To The Tweed

Tweed River Regional Museum

Winner 2009 National Trust Heritage Award and Winner 2008 Museums and Galleries NSW IMAGinE Award. This thematic study researched the book ‘The Other Side Of The World: International Migration To The Tweed 1940s to 1960s’.

A Tweed River Regional Museum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Objects Through Time

Various Partners

Winner 2009 National Trust Heritage Award. An online journey to explore important chapters, places and events in Australian migration history.

A NSW Migration Heritage Centre project assisted by various partners including Wollondilly Heritage Centre; Wing Hing Long and Co Store Museum, Tingha; Trial Bay Gaol; Tweed River Regional Museum; Museum of the Riverina; Broken Hill City Council; Fairfield City Museum and Gallery; Griffith Italian Museum; La Perouse Museum; Lambing Flat Museum, Young; and Liverpool Regional Museum.

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Pai Nai Ma

Parramatta Heritage Centre

Many Thai migrants hold strongly to their cultural traditions. Items brought from Thailand express the identity and essence of Thai culture. This exhibition explored the history of Thai migration to Australia and the experience of settlement in Sydney.

A Parramatta Heritage Centre and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project supported by the Thai Welfare Association.

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Belongings – Post-WW2 Migration Memories

Various Partners

Winner 2010 National Trust Heritage Award. The post-World War Two migration wave is an important era in Australia’s history. Former migrants share their memories through personal mementos and photographs.

A NSW Migration Heritage Centre project with various partners including AlburyCity, City of Botany Bay Council Co.As.It Italian Heritage, Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Leeton Italian Heritage Group, Orange City Council, Sydney Jewish Museum and Tweed River Regional Museum.

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Exploring Lebanese Heritage In NSW

Australian Lebanese Historical Society

The Lebanese are one of the largest and oldest migrant communities in NSW. An Australian Lebanese Historical Society thematic study has highlighted the migration story and the contribution of Lebanese communities to our heritage.

An Australian Lebanese Historical Society and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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From The Back Blocks To The Front Lines

Co.As.It.

This touring exhibition features photographs and memories of early Italian settlers and their families through active participation with the local Italian community.

A Co.As.It. and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Fruits Of Our Labour

Griffith City Council, Griffith Italian Museum

Highly Commended 2008 National Trust Heritage Awards. After WW2, Griffith’s Italian business interests helped create the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area as a nationally important place for growing and processing rice, grapes and citrus and stone fruits.

A Griffith City Council, Griffith Italian Museum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Germantowns, Germanstories

Museum Of The Riverina

The Riverina’s German communities grew and prospered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries via the local wool and agricultural industries – before enduring wartime persecution.

A Museum of the Riverina and NSW Migration Heritage Centre project.

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Community Relations Commision Powerhouse Museum