Day 252: ...fast-forward to today...
One of those days where several of my personal and professional interests come together, further blurring that distinction between work and play that can be the lot of the modern academic.
If last Tuesday's event in Parliament House was about my work passions ('civics education for all'), today was, how to best describe it...women's suffrage, historical documents and ready accessibility thanks to modern technology.
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| Database launch |
Today we celebrated the 120th Anniversary of the presentation of three petitions from the 1890s calling for the right for women to vote in elections. The actual petitions, tabled documents from the day, were there for all to see although the main purpose of today's event was the launch of the electronic database of all those signatories. Yes, now, via the Queensland Parliamentary website, you can search for names--well known Queensland women--Lilley, Miller, Patterson--and so on; or you can search the name of a possible relative who might have put her name (as did some men) to the petitions.
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| The Suffragette colours: purple, green and white |
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| Three petitions 1 |
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| Rolled up, as tabled |
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| Two of the rolled petitions, side-by-side |
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| Rolled and folded |
The hard work was due to several people, a late colleague Dr John McCulloch, Dr Mary Crawford, Dr Deborah Jordan and Ms Rosemary Kopittke representing the Queensland Family History Society who did all the hard slog of reading, deciphering and transcribing the signatures...it is truly a masterpiece. Some of the basic details offered by Ms Kopitte included:
*378 images digitised across the three petitions
*15,442 names recorded (from the handwritten materials)
*A total of seven people involved with the transcription and checking of the names
*Over 500 hours work
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| Rosemary Kopittke, Deborah Jordan, Mary Crawford |
Of course, the project's crossover with my own work in the 1890s added an extra element. We sometimes fall into a smallish trap of thinking history is a linear focussed element of the moment. Fascinating to think that while my Japanese fellow Watanabe was meandering around Queensland, in othe parts at the same time, women were agitating for the right to vote. I wonder when, how and if the two planes intersected...? More work for the historian.
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| Petition, detail |
So much terrific work behind the scenes bringing our history to the present. Bravo everyone involved.
[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 12.49pm-2.27pm]
