News

Reflections of Fitzroy

[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 3, No. 5  14 July - 10 August 2008 ]

By Genevieve Costigan

At one point in the 1920s, when the six o’clock swill marked the closing of pubs, two undoubtedly formidable women stood guard at the intersection of Brunswick and Moor Streets in Fitzroy, reigning over their aptly named hotels Labour in Vain and The Perseverance.

Such snippets of history fill the pages of Reflections of Fitzroy – a book written and published by 10 fourth year Honours and Masters students in the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne – which explores the social and cultural history of Fitzroy.

Among the topics the book examines is the civic spirit of the Fitzroy Football Club during the Great Depression, prostitution in 19th century Fitzroy, poor women’s experience of St Vincent’s Hospital in the early 20th century, slum reclamation in the 1950s and 1960s, and the final years of the Fitzroy council before its amalgamation into the City of Yarra in 1994.

The book coincides with the 150th anniversary of Fitzroy’s formation as a municipality.

The students were given a broad topic within which to find an original research area to pursue. Their deadlines were tight with the book having to be researched, written, designed and published in three months.

Professional historian and lecturer Mary Sheehan believes the project gives her students invaluable tools and experience in what it is like to work as an historian and focuses them away from academic essays to writing for the general public.

“There are enormous benefits in terms of the students becoming aware of the opportunities available to them as practising historians and it really provides a bridge between the University and the general public,” Ms Sheehan said.

Each student conducted extensive primary research and also undertook a range of publication roles from editing, indexing, budgeting, cover design and production management. Professional production managers, researchers and writers were guest lecturers and students were given tours of the State Library and the Public Records Office.

“There are several objectives in putting together this book: to give the students a chance to undertake original research outside the University, to learn to write for the general public and to learn about the publication process,” Ms Sheehan said.

“It is wonderful to watch the students as they discover the chase and the joy of research, the hunger and the hunt. I love to see them develop that hunger as they begin to really understand the pleasure to be gained from research,’ Ms Sheehan said.

Lucy Bracey, who wrote the chapter Fitzroy and the ‘social evil’: A study in prostitution in the late nineteenth century found the book provided an opportunity to learn how to conduct original research and make contacts with professional organisations.

“Another interesting aspect to this project was how it challenged my assumptions – for example in my chapter on prostitution I discovered it was much more complicated than I had thought. There was a real sense of community for those prostitutes living and working in the suburbs, while prostitutes from the city found life much more isolating,” Ms Bracey said.

“Importantly, meeting working historians has given me a sense of what my life as an historian could be like,” Ms Bracey said.

The students’ research included searching through old patient and doctor records at St Vincent’s Hospital, talking to the current owner of one of the oldest hotels in Fitzroy who had a huge array of archival material, and receiving the entire service record of a policeman from the Police Archives.

Organisations such as the State Library, the Fitzroy History Society, the Professional Historians Association (Vic), the Public Records Office and the University of Melbourne’s Archives assisted the students with their research and also provided the funds for the publication.

For copies of Reflections of Fitzroy contact history-enquiries@unimelb.edu.au after 29 July