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News of the day: open schoolhouses building the future of New South Wales, 1880-1896
Citation
Orr, K, News of the day: open schoolhouses building the future of New South Wales, 1880-1896, Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand, 02-05 July 2013, Gold Coast, Australia, pp. 499-514. ISBN 9780987605504 (2013) [Refereed Conference Paper]
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Abstract
It is claimed that "architectural history is the stepping
stone into various ways of interpreting and understanding
the past" because of its broad, inter-disciplinary nature. A
relationship exists between architecture, economics and the
social functioning of human society. Old buildings are relics
of an epoch, reflecting the ethos of the society that built and
used them. Thus the modest school buildings designed by
William Edmund Kemp, New South Wales Architect for
Public Schools between 1880-1896, represent the achievement
of the introduction of public education and are expressions
of the hopes and aspirations of the Colony of New South
Wales in the final decades of the Nineteenth Century. The
challenge for anyone attempting to construe the history and
significance of Kemp’s vast oeuvre of school buildings is
to overcome the very limited evidentiary field on which an
historical analysis might rest. This paper draws upon primary
material found in the newspaper reports of 72 schoolhouse
openings. It examines the discourse of the policy-makers—the
politicians, community leaders and newspaper editors of the
day—to reveal the intersections between public issues and
personal views and uncover the ideological function of Kemp’s
schools. The schoolhouse, around which the ceremony revolved,
provided a venue for civic engagement, symbolised progress,
generated pride and exposed people to the broader interests of
the state. The schoolrooms were to mould future citizens with
the moral virtues and literacy necessary to advance the nation-
Colony. Kemp’s school buildings were an outcome of societal
aspirations and, in turn, played an active role in shaping the
social and political progress of New South Wales.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Conference Paper |
---|---|
Keywords: | schoolhouse, New South Wales, architectural history, William Edmund Kemp |
Research Division: | Built Environment and Design |
Research Group: | Architecture |
Research Field: | Architectural history, theory and criticism |
Objective Division: | Culture and Society |
Objective Group: | Understanding past societies |
Objective Field: | Understanding Australia's past |
UTAS Author: | Orr, K (Professor Kirsten Orr) |
ID Code: | 107620 |
Year Published: | 2013 |
Deposited By: | Architecture |
Deposited On: | 2016-03-21 |
Last Modified: | 2018-03-15 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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