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The Tate Museum

The Hidden Gem of the University of Adelaide:

The Tate Museum

Words by Tayla McKay

Tucked away inside the University of Adelaide’s Mawson Laboratories is what can be considered the ‘hidden gem’ of the University, the Tate Museum. The Museum has a reputation for being the biggest and greatest geological museum in Adelaide. The Museum is home to many fascinating specimens including fossils, minerals and, most notably, artefacts from Sir Douglas Mawson’s expeditions. In recent years, the Museum has fallen into the hands of Tony Milnes from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University, who has been working on transforming the Tate Museum and regenerating public interest.

The Museum originally began in the year 1881 when Professor Ralph Tate brought together the mineral, fossil and plant collections from the Natural Sciences Faculty at the University of Adelaide. “It was subsequently and progressively enlarged by succeeding Professors of Geology and Mineralogy – Howchin, Mawson, Alderman, Rudd – and academic staff for teaching and research,” Tony explained. The Tate Museum’s main purpose was, and still is, to educate and assist in teaching the geological sciences. As it is within the Mawson Laboratories, The Tate Museum is of great use to students of Science at the University. Tony has told us, “When I was a student in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Museum was a focal point for teaching Mineralogy and Stratigraphy. In fact, it occupies the main entrance to the Mawson lecture theatre where most lectures in geoscience were given and was, and still is, the gathering place for students to attend lectures.”

Tony has done extensive research within the fields of Science and Geology, as can be seen in his previous works such as his PhD on ‘The Encounter Bay Granites & their environment’ in 1973, and his postdoctoral research on phosphate ore mineralogy and beneficiation. Tony has also worked as an experimental scientist for CSIRO and as General Manager for Environmental R&D consultancy (EWL Sciences) before taking on a position as visiting Research Fellow within the University of Adelaide.

When I first met Tony at the Tate Museum, it was clear that he was extremely dedicated and passionate about the Museum and the field of Geology. Currently, Tony’s greatest challenge within the Museum has been to fully document and digitise the collections. He plans to hopefully one day create a digital element to the Museum, particularly so people remote to Adelaide can view the samples and information from their location – however, Tony mentions that this may require 3D imagery and VR techniques which unfortunately is outside of the limited budget of the Tate.

There are also an incredible number of specimens within the Museum, however, the precise number is unknown. When asked about the number of specimens, Tony said, “well, I don’t know. The numbering system is hovering above 29,000 now, but I don’t know whether all of these samples still exist. There have been occasional ‘clean-outs’ in past decades. Some cabinets with specimens In 2012 Tony wanted to use the collections in the Tate for research but this proved to be difficult. “There was practically no information or knowledge in the Department about which samples were in the collections.” Prior to this, there had been no official curator at the Museum, “Support Staff such as [curators] have not been employed by the University for many years and the collections have been generally uncared for.” Which led to Tony taking on the role. “So I started to search out old hand-written catalogues, locate the recorded specimens, generate digital linkages between samples in the crypts and post-graduate research theses, and produce new digital catalogues of samples in the Tate Museum with particular reference to their provenance.” And thus, the creation of a new era for the Tate Museum began.

still intact have been stored offsite for a decade or more.”

However, Tony believes that the greatest attraction of the Tate Museum is the legacy inside the Museum. “For me, the main attraction is the legacy of suites of geological materials – minerals, rocks, fossils and meteorites – from all over the world that were collected by our eminent geologists – and most notable naturalists and businesspeople – in some cases more than a hundred years ago when geoscience was in its infancy. Often the labels on the specimens in the Museum space are quite something as well – coming into the room the corridor still gives me a sense of the long history of geoscience in the Mawson.”

To help achieve his goals Tony has a team of interns and volunteers assisting him. “The interns at present are tasked with working through the University archives to find information about the procurement of some of the more extensive suites of samples the Museum has acquired.

Once we have this information, it might be possible to delve more deeply into the history of these individuals to try and find out why they were collectors of geological materials.” The volunteers are currently working on the collections to locate and catalogue materials and begin the creation of its digital files. Currently, there are two interns (hopefully soon to be three) and four volunteers who either study or have an interest in geoscience.

Amy Sowinski interned at the Tate Museum at the beginning of 2021. Amy was originally drawn to the Tate Museum as she believed it was a good way to develop her research skills. “It’s also a combination of the things I love to study, geology and history,” Amy recalled.

“The internship so far has consisted of a lot of research; I have been going through old correspondence between individuals who are associated with the Museum to try to find information about who has donated specimens over the years. My ultimate goal is to write a paper that looks at those people who have donated, discussing their lives and their collections and their connection to the Museum.”

Amy has found her internship fulfilling and enjoyable, stating, “I have enjoyed connecting the dots. Since most of my research has been finding a connection, there has been a lot of trial and error in my approach to the data. When I have successfully put the puzzle pieces together is when I have felt the happiest. I have also enjoyed learning more about the geological faculty’s most notable geologists and digging into the Tony is also always looking for more students to help within the Museum, particularly from history, museum, journalism or similar backgrounds. Tony can be contacted through the Museum or his email.

According to the records since Tony’s takeover, about 20 groups per year have visited a year and there have been more than 50 visits from researchers to the Museum since 2015. However, there are hopes that further advertisement and interest of the Museum will gain further visitation.

The Tate Museum is open Monday to Friday between the hours of 9 am to 5 pm. The Museum can be found in the Mawson Laboratories at the University of Adelaide. There is no admission fee.

More information can be found through: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/unicollections/unimuseums/UC_Tate_ Museum_DL_brochure_PRINT_2018.pdf

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