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Canberra Today 13°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Keepsakes take us back to the Great War

WHAT’S in a photo? A new exhibition opening tomorrow at the National Library of Australia in Canberra, one of many shows devoted to memories of World War I, will go some way towards answering this question.

James C. Cruden Wedding portrait of Kate McLeod and George Searle of Coogee, Sydney 1915 silver gelatin print19.2 x 13.6 cm Pictures Collection,nla.pic - vn6540284 National Library of Australia
James C. Cruden
Wedding portrait of Kate McLeod and George Searle of Coogee, Sydney 1915
silver gelatin print19.2 x 13.6 cm Pictures Collection,nla.pic – vn6540284
National Library of Australia

In “Keepsakes: Australians and the Great War”, a sepia 1915 photograph of newly-married couple Kate McLeod and George Searle tells its own story. The husband is wearing the uniform of the First Australian Imperial Force, the wife a long lace wedding gown.

The photograph was uncovered in the 600,000-strong collection of images in the National Library whilst curators were undertaking research for “Keepsakes.”

“This photograph of a patriotic young man who married his love before he goes off to war is what our new exhibition is all about,” says Director-General of the National Library, Anne-Marie Schwirtlich. “When you look at the photo you can’t but help think what happened to this man. Did he survive the war? Did he come back a changed man? How did his new wife cope during his absence?”

Anne Donnell (d. 1956) Letters and photographs of Anne Donnell Manuscripts Collection, nla.cat vn2876157 National Library of Australia
Anne Donnell (d. 1956) Letters and photographs of Anne Donnell Manuscripts Collection, nla.cat vn2876157
National Library of Australia

Exhibition curator Guy Hansen explains that the word “keepsakes” can also mean letters, diaries, manuscripts and ephemera.

‘Today, there is no-one left who was there. No-one who can tell us what happened, what they saw or how they felt,’ Hansen says, “So to understand as best we can, we must turn to their archives.”

“Keepsakes: Australians and the Great War,” opens tomorrow, Wednesday November 26 and runs until July 19, 2015. Admission is free.

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Helen Musa

Helen Musa

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