Australian War Memorial Museum, Sydney Exhibition registry files

The idea of a national war museum was first conceived by C. E. W. Bean, the official war correspondent (and later official historian) after his experiences at Gallipoli and his visits to the battlefields in France during the First World War. Bean put forward the view that there should be a museum to serve as a memorial to commemorate Australian military heroism. Following representations from Bean and others the Australian government, in April 1918, formally announced the establishment of an Australian National War Museum. It also established an Australian War Museum Committee to coordinate its development. However, over the following years Bean was unsuccessful in gaining any undertaking from the government for a permanent museum and it was not until October 1923 that it finally announced the establishment of a national memorial in Canberra which we know today as the Australian War Memorial.

At a meeting in July 1919 the War Museum Committee approved a proposal by

Bean for the collection, on its return to Australia, to be housed in temporary accommodation in Sydney and Melbourne and for it to be shown to members of the public. The governments of New South Wales and Victoria were approached and asked for assistance in providing a venue for an exhibition.

Negotiations with the Victorian Government were more successful than in New South Wales and they agreed to assist with the rental and renovations of the Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens, Melbourne. Around 5,000 people attended the opening of the Melbourne exhibition on Anzac Day in 1922. It closed on 26 January 1925, after a period of nearly three years, during which time 780,000 visitors had inspected the displays. While in Melbourne the exhibition was known as the 'Australian War Museum' exhibition.

The success of the museum in Melbourne increased the pressure on the Committee to resolve the problems they were experiencing with the New South Wales Government in locating a site for an exhibition. The campaign restarted in October 1923 when it looked like the Melbourne building would have to close, because the Victorian fire commissioner had advised that the Exhibition Building was a fire hazard and the collection housed there was at risk. Despite the commissioner¿s report the Committee decided not to close the Melbourne exhibition immediately as there was no alternative space available even for storage. In 1924 Senator George Pearce, the Minister for Home and Territories, was successful in negotiating a lease with the Sydney Council for the Exhibition Building at Prince Alfred Park.

The Sydney exhibition opened on 3 April 1925. From its first days it attracted high attendances and it finally closed on 31 January 1935 with a final attendance figure of 2,519,205. While in Sydney the exhibition was known as the 'Australian War Museum Memorial' to reflect the official name change from 'Australian War Museum' to 'Australian War Memorial' which occurred in October 1923.

Following its closure, staff began packing the collection ready for transfer to Canberra as part of the new building was nearing completion and storage space was now available for the collection. The transfer began in December 1935 and was completed in early March 1936. File information indicates that the Sydney exhibition registry files were also transferred to Canberra but they were not amalgamated with the main run of files which had been maintained in the Melbourne office.

The series became known as AWM265 in the mid 1980s when the Memorial adopted its new numbering system for Official Records.

Content:

The files in this series relate to the administration and activities of the Sydney office of the Australian War Memorial. The topics covered include acquisitions, building and accommodation, communications, donations, exhibitions, finance, general correspondence, library, loan of films, models, photographs, sales, staffing and trophies distribution.

System of arrangement and control:

The bulk of the files in this series were created in the Sydney office of the Australian War Memorial. In some cases the files were created in Melbourne prior to the move to Sydney, e.g., the negotiations with the New South Wales Government for accommodation.

While they have used the same three number filing system as the Memorial office located in Melbourne (Series AWM 93), they have not used the same subject headings, e.g., in AWM 93 the classification number 2/-/- is 'building and accommodation' while in Sydney 7/-/- was used for this subject heading. A number of the files from the Sydney office fall within classification numbers 30/-/- and 50/-/- which were not used by the Melbourne office.

Incoming correspondence placed on files in the Sydney office was usually stamped 'Australian War Museum Memorial Registry' while incoming correspondence placed on the files in the Melbourne office was stamped 'Australian War Museum Registry'.

A small number of files in this series were not assigned an original classification number. In these cases Memorial staff have imposed a single number system.

• AWM265 56/1 - Trophies
• AWM265 21/4 - Exhibits
• AWM265 49/4 - AIF Publications