The Changing Face of Australia: A Century of Immigration 1901-2000 [Paperback]

Kate Walsh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001

A photographic history of the influence of immigrants on all aspects of Australian life, this book tells the stories of the millions of settlers from all over the world who have made their home there. The 500 images include the journey to Australia, learning English, building homes and clubs, enjoying family and community celebrations, playing sports and sharing their skills, The book highlights the contributions made by immigrants to the working life of the nation, on its cane fields and construction sites, on farms and pearling luggers, and in factories, cafes and businesses. The photograhs also explore the changing attitudes, policies and practices of the Australian community and its governments. They reveal the emergence of the cultural diversity that had become part of Australian society and national identity by the end of the 20th century. There are difficulties, triumphs, racism and acceptance, the tragedy of war, the trauma faced by refugees and the joy of family reunion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'It's distinctiveness lies in the comprehensive account...of a subject about which so much has been written and so much is waiting to be told' - Newcastle Herald

About the Author

Kate Walsh has been a curator at Adelaide's Migration Museum since 1987, where she has been involved in the planning, research and installation of a number of major exhibitions on aspects of immigration and cultural diversity. She is a co-editor of From Many Places: The history and cultural traditions of South Australian People. The book was designed by award-winning graphic designer Peter Tonkin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1865084085
• ISBN-13: 978-1865084084
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,886,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A visual history of social transformation in Australia, August 1, 2003

By 

Govindan Nair (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Changing Face of Australia: A Century of Immigration 1901-2000 (Paperback)

Kate Walsh, curator of the Migration Musuem in Adelaide, South Australia, has assembled a remarkable photgraphic record of Australian migration history over the last hundred years. Over five hundred photographs are accompanied by very informative narratives which convey the rich and varied history of migration to this land where four in ten persons today are either born overseas or from foreign born parents.

The highlights of an often chequered history of Australian immigration are vividly brought home by some very personal stories drawn from family albums, community organizations,and library archives. A group of Italian settlers from the Aeolian islands pose for the first annual picnic for Melbourne frutierrs in 1906. In another photo, six young Australians of German ancestry are photographed in a detention camp in Germany where they were held during the First World War together with British prsioners. There is the snapshot of one Australian solider from Darwin's Chinese commnity who was shot several times in New Guinea by fellow Australian soldiers during World War Two who mistook him for a Japanese. A photo from the 1960s shows the generational differences between adult members of a Spanish commnity in Whyalla singing and dancing to flamenco music and the younger Spanish girls who were kept in pants and never owned a flamenco dress. Photos of Malays and of Greeks show the diverse specialist skills which were attracted into Australia's pearling industry. The chronicle of the 1970s and 1980s reveal the changing composition of immigrants, with Asian and African faces increasingly showing up in the photos.

This book is a remarkable and informative piece of historical research judiciously combined with a rich portfolio of images of a nation which has become vastly transformed in a hundred years.