RAHS Upcoming Events
The Royal Australian Historical Society has an established tradition of delivering a diverse Calendar of Events throughout the year, helping make history accessible to all. This program includes lectures, skills-based workshops, regional seminars, tours and book launches.
The annual RAHS Conference is a highlight of the Society’s activities. It provides an opportunity for the RAHS and its Affiliated Societies to network at a conference dedicated to promoting local and community history, showcasing the research of individuals and societies.
November 2025
RAHS Day Lecture – Records and Reveries: Alice Haigh’s photographs of Sydney in the 1920s
Event Date & Time: Wednesday, 5 November 2025 @ 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm
Event Location: History House, 133 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
Cost: Free
Event Description:
The beautifully-crafted photo albums created in the 1920s by RAHS member Alice Maud Haigh (1878–1934) deserve recognition both for what they tell us about the rapidly-changing urban and architectural environment in Sydney, and for their implicit invitation to see more of our urban setting by walking the streets and understanding the context. This talk introduces the photographer and her work.
About the speaker:
Dr Catherine De Lorenzo brings cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary perspectives to her research on Australian art, photography, exhibitions, and public art. Having co-authored Australian Art Exhibitions: Opening our eyes (2018), her current project, with Bandgalung curator/writer Djon Mundine, examines selected Australian art exhibitions in Europe since 1937. She has served as an associate editor on several international journals, and is an Adjunct A/Professor at Monash University.
RAHS Hybrid Seminar – Collections and Community: Trove and NSW Historical Societies
Event Date & Time: Tuesday, 11 November 2025 @ 10.30 am – 3.30 pm
Event Location: History House, 133 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000 AND Online (This will be a hybrid event for remote participants)
Event Description:
The Royal Australian Historical Society invites you to Collections and Community: Trove and NSW Historical Societies, presented in partnership with the National Library of Australia.
This special one-day event explores how community history organisations can use Trove’s tools, resources and partnerships to connect collections and strengthen the local history network.
Session A: Connecting Collections: Using Trove to Promote Local and Community History
This session will introduce the Trove Content Contributor Package and explore how historical societies can participate in the Trove network. Presenters will outline practical ways to share catalogued collections through Trove, highlight funding opportunities, and provide guidance on the latest Trove tools and resources.
Session B: Connecting Community: Supporting and Sustaining Historical Societies
In this session we will celebrate the achievements of volunteers from affiliated societies and provide a practical forum for discussing how historical societies can collaborate, adopt new tools, and sustain their work for future generations. Together, we’ll share knowledge, recognise contributions, and look at ways to keep NSW community history strong and connected.
RAHS Special Lecture – Horizontal Noticeboards: Chalk writing during the Great Depression
The Mirror, Perth, September 1930.
Event Date & Time: Wednesday, 19 November 2025 @ 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm
Event Location: History House, 133 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
Cost: Free
Event Description:
Mr Eternity was not the only person chalking on footpaths in the 1930s. Writing on pavements is a form of graffiti that is seldom discussed but, despite its ephemerality, there is ample evidence for its existence during the last century or more. Megan Hicks investigated one short era, the tumultuous Great Depression years of the early 1930s, and found many examples of chalk and whitewash pavement writing. It was prolific, conspicuous, newsworthy and integral to the story of public life and politics in Australia during those turbulent times.
About the speaker:
Megan Hicks was a curator at the Powerhouse Museum for many years before turning to freelance work as a museum and heritage advisor, particularly for organisations with health and medicine collections. Megan also completed a PhD on ‘Pavement graffiti’ at Macquarie University and went on to become an Adjunct Researcher in urban studies with Western Sydney University. Currently, as an independent researcher, Megan’s particular interest is informal writing in public spaces, including graffiti and flyposters.
December 2025
RAHS Day Lecture – Sydney Brutalism
Event Date & Time: Wednesday, 3 December 2025 @ 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm
Event Location: History House, 133 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
Cost: Free
Event Description:
Brutalist architecture hit Sydney in the late 1950s when local architects and their international peers experimented with raw concrete and brick and kicked off a revolution. These brave new buildings were ambitious, optimistic — often divisive — and predominantly made onsite by hand, not machine. For the next 30 years Sydney produced some of the world’s best examples of brutalist architecture. Sirius. The Sydney Masonic Centre. UTS Tower. The ribbed concrete shells of the Sydney Opera House. Design writer Heidi Dokulil explores Sydney’s brutalist architecture, its international influences, its architects, builders and residents, and the public buildings, university campuses and homes that changed the face of the city.
About the speaker:
Heidi Dokulil is the co-founder of Good Habitat and the Australian Design Unit. Heidi writes for T Australia: The New York Times Style Magazine, ArchitectureAU and Design Anthology. She co-curated the exhibitions Conversations of Things New and PechaKucha Night Sydney and is the author of BKH on Sydney design firm Burley Katon Halliday.