

A leap of faith
16 Dec 2020
In 2001, Mona Hussain (born 1969) left her family, friends and a successful career in London to begin a new life in Australia with her American-born husband Mark (Dexter) Duncan.
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Family and a fresh start
10 Dec 2020
When Japanese-born Ayumi Sumiyoshi and Italian-born Antonello Abonante celebrated their son’s first birthday this year, they figured it was the perfect opportunity to register their names on the museum’s Welcome Wall and honour their new life in Australia.
Read more![Henry Lippmann (centre, with hand on chin) during a lesson at the Jewish ORT school in Berlin, Germany, c 1939. ANMM Collection ANMS0219[007], gift from Henry Lippmann Henry Lippmann (centre, with hand on chin) during a lesson at the Jewish ORT school in Berlin, Germany, c 1939. ANMM Collection ANMS0219[007], gift from Henry Lippmann](/-/media/anmm/images/blog-content/2020/september-2020/anms0219007_2160x1080.jpg?h=1080&la=en&w=2155&hash=C7D1FC2C0CF96AE19FFF8DC95B76FDB69C19A20B)
Behind barbed wire: Remembering the Dunera boys
07 Sep 2020
Yesterday marked 80 years since the hired military transport Dunera sailed into Pyrmont, Sydney. To mark the 80th anniversary, we look at the story of the late Henry Lippmann OAM and his journey on this infamous voyage.
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Fruits of faith: Finding a place to call home
28 Aug 2020
Against the backdrop of the Communist Revolution in China, the Wilson family made a temporary migration from Northern Ireland that would lead to their permanent home in Australia.
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Las Balsas: The world's longest raft journey
16 Jul 2020
Twelve men, seven nationalities, three rafts, six months and one epic 14,000-kilometre trans-Pacific voyage. Curator Kim Tao interviews Luis Guevara from the 1973 Las Balsas expedition, which completed a record-breaking crossing of the Pacific Ocean from Ecuador to Australia on three balsa-wood rafts.
Read more![Photograph depicting two vessels underway in Suez Canal, ANMM Collection ANMS0024[064] Cruise ship in the Suez Canal](/-/media/anmm/images/blog-content/2019/december-2019/signals-129/anms0024064_2160x1080.jpg?h=916&la=en&w=1832&hash=81075034D13BC4155F49580C30F40914BD7C10E8)
Sydney via the Suez: The diary of Michael Walker
30 Dec 2019
To mark the Suez Canal’s 150th anniversary, curator Kim Tao shares an edited extract from the diary of Michael Walker, a 33-year-old chiropodist who emigrated from England in 1953 with his wife Mildred (aged 32), a teacher, and their children, Nicholas (five) and Elizabeth (three), on the P&O liner Maloja.
Read more![Workers place concrete reinforcement steel in the Tooma–Tumut Tunnel, part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, 1960. Photographer Don Edwards. ANMM Collection Gift from Barbara Alysen ANMS0215[016] Workers place concrete reinforcement steel in the Tooma–Tumut Tunnel, part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, 1960. Photographer Don Edwards. ANMM Collection Gift from Barbara Alysen ANMS0215[016]](/-/media/anmm/images/blog-content/2019/october-2019/anms0215016_2160x1080-copy.jpg?h=1080&la=en&w=2160&hash=6904705F9BEA5F74AE34BB023AA8B6368015E156)
Snowy stories
17 Oct 2019
Seventy years ago today, the first blast was fired in the town of Adaminaby in southern New South Wales, officially marking the start of construction on Australia’s largest engineering project – the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme.
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Love and sacrifice: From Madeira Island to the Snowy Mountains
28 Sep 2019
Seventy years ago this October, work began on Australia’s largest engineering project – the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. Curator Kim Tao shares the story of Portuguese newlyweds José and Maria Coelho, who swapped sunny Madeira Island for the isolation of the Snowy Mountains.
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A worker in tulle: The English lacemakers of Calais
27 Aug 2019
The 1848 Revolution in France led to the exodus of a unique group of refugee artisans now known as the lacemakers of Calais. Curator Kim Tao profiles the story of Edward Lander, chairman of a committee representing nearly 650 English laceworkers and their families, who sought a fresh start in the Australian colonies.
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Until we meet again: An Italian proxy bride's story
22 Aug 2019
Annarosa Coluccio (née Bova) was one of 12,000 young Italian women who arrived in Australia as proxy brides between 1945 and 1976. Confronted by vast cultural and linguistic barriers, she eventually settled in with the love of her husband and the friendship of their new Australian neighbours.
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