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From the Archives
Milestone years provide school archivists with the perfect opportunity to showcase and reflect upon treasured items and stories. For MLC’s archivist, Stacey Coenders, MLC’s 140th birthday is an opportunity to highlight the work that goes into protecting our College history for future generations.
The MLC Archives were established in 1960 by Edna Cornell (1924). The Archives ensured that MLC’s heritage and memories were safely stored, organised, and available for interested students, staff, Old Collegians and social historians. Which meant, for MLC’s 140th Founders’ Day, we were able to put years of careful preservation and curation to good use. To commemorate our anniversary celebrations, we published a history book titled “All things are possible: 140 years of MLC”. The book follows the MLC timeline and highlights the rich tapestry of events that have occurred at MLC from its foundation until today. It also includes pages on the background of the College motto, Houses, principals, and changes to the uniform. If you would like to enjoy insights into MLC’s impressive heritage, this book will be made available for purchase at reunions later this year and online at trybooking.com/BVXGS For Founders’ Day, the College utilised some of the photos from the book to create an exhibition in the Common Ground exhibition space. Our staff and students were able to view the different school uniforms and read about some of the events that have shaped the College. Stacey was delighted to see how, “students marvelled at the old uniforms and compared the badges, photographs and memorabilia of the past to the school they know today”. The exhibition was 3D scanned and is available to view online at mlc.vic.edu.au/140years.
Student librarians, 1950. An original laptop computer from 1990, as part of Archives’ collection
Digitisation Campaign
The archival collections are an invaluable resource for the College as they document the progress of MLC and women’s education in Australia. One of the most significant collections is the audio-visual materials. These items preserve a vast range of College events from speech nights to sports days, to musicals and more, and provides us with a real sense of the times in which they were recorded. Perhaps more than any other medium, moving image and sound recordings bring memories to life. The ‘Deadline 2025’ Report by the National Film and Sound Archive declares that audio-visual material is in urgent need of digitisation due to the obsolescence of technology and the deterioration of the mediums on which film and sound recordings are kept. The report states that unless these mediums are digitised by 2025, they are at risk of being lost forever. Due to this deadline and the importance of our audio-visual materials, MLC will be launching a fundraising campaign in August. The funds raised from this campaign will enable the College to commence a mass digitisation project of the audio-visual collection to secure our important history and memories for future generations. We hope, in the spirit of celebrating 140 years of MLC, that the College community will give generously. Stacey notes: “The MLC archive continues to be a source of inspiration for the entire College community. Our College archive contains a myriad of inspirational resources that give us direct insights into the College, its staff and students, over the years. I particularly enjoy finding speeches and quotes from past Principals, as well as seeing how the College has continually innovated, particularly in its approach to education.”
Edna Cornell (1924), the first Convener of the Archives Committee.
In the words of our Principals
Rev Dr William Henry Fitchett
1882 – 1928 “All over the world the education of girls has been revolutionized. They are entering freely into every realm of science and every walk of practical life with the happiest results for themselves and the other half of the world.” (Australasian Sketcher, 5 November, 1897)
Rev John Grove
1929 – 1938 “In days when the world is being more closely drawn together it is necessary that a woman, no less than a man, should recognise her citizenship.” (Silver and Green, 1930)
Rev Dr Harold Wood
1939 – 1966 “Surely, the only sound reason for saying that MLC is a good school could be the quality of the girls themselves.” (Silver and Green, 1962)
Rev Ronald A W Woodgate
1967 – 1978 “I would like to think that each girl who becomes part of the MLC community will become aware of the importance of the contribution she can make.” (Silver and Green, 1978)
David Loader
1979 – 1996 “MLC is a school where all students are encouraged to develop their own talents and to view their lives as adults with confidence and optimism... [our programs show] that when people are strongly committed to a new project, their own hard work and enthusiasm can make their dreams a reality.” (Silver and Green, 1990)
Rosa Storelli
1997 – 2012 “Explore the curriculum, see the faces, hear the languages, witness the pace, feel the excitement. At a single glance, the diversity within our College is evident.” (Silver and Green, 1997)
Debbie Dunwoody
2012 – 2013 “Through their MLC education, our students will develop skills, attributes and the confidence to pursue areas of passion in their learning. Should they choose, our students have the opportunity to be catalysts for global change.” (The Star, 2013)
Diana Vernon
Current Principal “By honouring tradition while embracing innovation, MLC provides our students with the confidence and the tools to manage life’s challenges and to build their aspirations for the future.”
