Local and social history

Our Albury LibraryMuseum collection of 30,000+ items is now better preserved and more accessible online, thanks to recent refurbishments and a dedicated digitisation hub.

In 1914, a group of Albury men went to war while their friend Frank Brown stayed behind. Although Frank was refused service on medical grounds he kept in contact with several of his friends. In particular, he regularly wrote to Arthur Leslie Hewish, his mate Les. Although he did not go to war, Frank Brown experienced it deeply through the letters of good friends. He kept all of Hewish’s letters and a few from other friends. They were passed on to his family who donated them to AlburyCity where they form an important and very personal part to our World War One collection.

AlburyCity Libraries and Museum is proud to partner with the State Library of NSW to bring our local history to life through Amplify. While this innovative crowdsourcing platform opens our digital audio archives to the world, it’s the ears and expertise of our local community that will truly bring these stories to life and ensure their accuracy.

This collection celebrates Albury's own version of the 1950s beauty myth. Stylised 1950s women promote toiletries, women's garments even vacuum cleaners! This stunning marketing material demonstrates the context of the 1950s woman and the society they lived in.

The collection includes historic documents, nurses uniforms, photographs, publications, memories captured on film, medical instruments and an iron lung.

The collection also includes over 50 books from the library of early curator J E R Fellowes, which he used as a guide to plant identification and garden design.

For over 40 years, AlburyCity has been collecting objects owned by former residents of the migrant reception centre; things that people brought from their homeland that gave them comfort, photographs, domestic appliances, children's toys, books and clothing. AlburyCity also actively collects written memories from those who passed through Bonegilla.

The DSI Collection consists of a broad range of material relating to the former gearbox factory, covering its history as Borg-Warner, BTR Automotive, ION Ltd, DSI and Geely Automotive Holdings. It includes the last gearbox made at the factory as well as photographs, uniforms, equipment, memorabilia, company records, promotional videos, DVDs and ephemera.

The Dunstan Collection consists of equipment and archives relating to the operation of the Federal Bakery in Howlong from 1914 to the 1970s. It contains over 200 items, including a bakery cart (currently on display in Crossing Place), flour bags and bakery equipment such as cake tins, pie moulds, cutters, rolling pins, a bun prover, and mixing bowls.

In 1940, Albury’s 2AY radio station produced a recipe book of “very excellent recipes” sent in by members of the Harmony in the Home Club. The years of World War II had been challenging, but Jean Cleary, Helen Burnett and others from the club hoped that proceeds from the sale of the book would “bring Christmas cheer to many folk, young and old, in hospitals and orphanages” and that the year ahead would bring unexpected joys, fulfilled wishes and peace to all.

In 1824, the explorers Hamilton Hume & William Hovell arrived in the area now known as Albury. This display of images and memorabilia from the 1924 centenary highlights the history of European arrival in the area whilst acknowledging the implications on Wiradjuri people.

For centuries, the Albury-Wodonga area was known as Bungambrawatha, or 'Homeland', by the Wiradjuri people. It wasn't until 1838, when the Assistant Surveyor General decided that 'Albury' sounded more familiar to the British settlers' ears, that the name was changed. Wodonga, meaning 'bulrushes', still retains its Aboriginal name.

Albury's McPherson's Studios specialised in weddings, portraiture, child studies and commercial photography. Established by Duncan McPherson (1884-1952) in the 1930s, the studios operated in Anzac House, 611 Dean Street, Albury.

This collection documents the history and development of the Murray River Performing Group (MRPG) and its associated activities (including the early Flying Fruit Fly Circus) between 1979 and 1996.

The Albury-Wodonga National Growth Centre project was a big, bold and brave decentralisation initiative that focused the nation's attention on Albury-Wodonga like never before. In many ways the Growth Centre was Albury-Wodonga's 'moment of fame'. It was marketed nationally, and while it flourished it attracted extensive metropolitan media scrutiny.

The podcast is part of the "Nurture: It takes a village" exhibition at the Albury LibraryMuseum. Interviews and podcast production by A Lasting Tale, www.alastingtale.com. All interviews form part of the AlburyCity Oral History Collection.

Unique sports memorabilia such as Margaret Court's Wimbledon tennis racket and Jack Crawford's Australian Open trophy are among this collection. Lauren Jackson's Olympic medals from every commonwealth games she participated in are exhibited beside her uniform and basketball trainers. This collection also includes a wealth of everyday sports memorabilia and club information that relate to Albury and the surrounding region.

Military items that helped to define Albury’s links to the rest of the world in the dark days of World War One will be permanently held by the city as recognition of young local men who served their country in the ‘war to end all wars’. The LibraryMuseum has agreed to acquire a collection of items from the 13th Battery, 5th Field Artillery Brigade – remembered as the ‘Albury Battery’ – which served with distinction on the Western Front.

The Hawksview Collection is a vital part of AlburyCity's costume collection. Donations were made to the collection by sisters Daintry Heywood, Eveline Gillett and Beatrice Webb. The Hawksview Collection consists of clothes and accessories from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with some items belonging to the sisters' mother and grandmother.

Albury achieved world attention during the running of the London to Melbourne MacRobertson International Centenary Air Race. The story of the Dutch DC-2 airliner 'Uiver' and the role Albury residents played in its rescue in 1934, is a fascinating and important event in the city's history. Built in August 1934, the Uiver was the first of 18 DC-2 aircraft acquired by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for passenger transport. It was one of the few aircraft with retractable landing gear.