Good reading: Uncommon Lives from Australian Archives

It’s so hot here in Florida. The heat index reaches the 90s (F) before 9 a.m.

In Australia, however, this is winter. So I’m going to think about a day with a high of 48F and look at some Australian lore.

The site called Uncommon Lives is a series of articles about interesting Australians as told in records held by the National Archives of Australia. Muslim Journeys, for example, traces the adventures of Afghan camel drivers who helped open the continent’s vast interior  and Turkish families who answered a call for willing workers in the 1970s.  Their surprising stories of adventure and adversity can be explored through the rich collections of the National Archives. You’ll find:

Other sections in Uncommon Lives cover some famous Australians, such as Human Rights activist Jessie Street, scientist Wolf Klaphake, and Dhakiyarr Wirrpandda, the first Aboriginal Australian whose case was heard in the High Court.

Reading these articles  will probably make you want to read more about Australia, fiction and non fiction. Try these:

• The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes
• Morgan’s Run by Colleen McCullough
• The Secret River by Kate Grenville
• Or just search for Australia History on Amazon!

This entry was posted on 25 July 2008 at 08:01 and is filed under Genealogy Sites, Genealogy, Genealogy Online. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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