Archives
The Archives at Ravenswood have been established since 1989. During that time, many wonderful items recording our history and heritage have been accumulated, in many formats.
We currently hold paper records dating back the foundation of the school by Miss Mabel Fidler and over 9,000 photographs from 1904 onwards. This is supplemented by a complete collection of School Magazines, which provide an overview of the activities of our girls, every year from 1925, the date of first publication. We also hold examples of every uniform that Ravenswood girls have worn, including hats, badges, and sports gear.
The focus of our research over recent years has been the lives and achievements of as many of our Old Girls as possible, with particular emphasis on our ‘oldest’ girls, some of whom were at Ravenswood with Miss Fidler. Many Ravenswood girls went on to University, obtaining degrees in Medicine, Science and Arts at a time when female graduates were quite rare.
Allied to this project is the Oral History Programme, where the memories of our old girls are captured in their own voices. They speak to us of ‘their’ Ravenswood, when lessons took place in temporary huts, when girls wore silk stockings with gloves and hats, when the tuckshop was open one day per week on a volunteer basis and when there were only two Houses – Stuart and Tudor!
Ravenswood Archives holds Prize Certificates which were issued in 1917 during World War One. Rather than receive books as prizes that year, the girls decided to donate the money instead to the War Effort. This is just one small example of Ravenswood girls ‘doing their bit’. We are establishing a ‘Service Display’ which will detail the activities through which our girls contributed to the War efforts of Australia in the major conflicts of the 20th Century. Did you (or do you know of anyone who) served either in the Armed Forces or one of the many Auxiliary or related services during WWI, WWII, Malaya or in Vietnam? If so, we’d love to hear from you!
We also have wonderful volunteers who regularly come to Brown House for a few hours to help with on-going activities, such as cataloguing our photograph collection.
Ravenswood Archives is located in Brown House, and is open each Wednesday of term. We are open between 9.00am and 4.00pm. We welcome visitors and would gladly hear from you if you’d like to participate in the Oral History Program or could spare a few hours to help with any of our on-going projects. You may contact the Archivist by telephone on (02) 9498 9827 or by email
archives@ravenswood.nsw.edu.au .