Writing the War: personal stories from World War I

Writing the War is a State Library of Victoria and Public Libraries Victoria Network touring exhibition on display in the All Nations Foyer at the Box Hill Town Hall from 3 October to 11 November 2015.

The exhibition consists of a series of panels tracing seven personal stories of the wartime accounts of a nurse, bank clerk, farmer, sports master, journalist, artist and activist. These are only a small selection of stories that can be located in the archive of material relating to World War I in the State Library collection.
Australians serving during WWI shared their experiences through letters, diaries and photographs sent to loved ones and this material has been used to tell the stories.

The exhibition will tour Victoria from 2015 until 1917 and will be hosted by twelve library services. Whitehorse Manningham Libraries is the current host of this exhibition and a number of activities have been arranged by the library in conjunction with the exhibition.

The exhibition can also be viewed in Palmer Hall at the State Library of Victoria until end of March 2016.
A series of videos have been made in conjunction with the display panels and can be located on the State Library of Victoria website as well as viewed at the exhibition.
The seven people highlighted in the exhibition are:
George Auchterlonie
Percival Langford
Sir Keith Murdoch
Vida Goldstein
Jessie Traill
Alice Kitchen
Eric Chinner

Australia Calls exhibition

The theme for Whitehorse Heritage Week for 2015 was Australia Calls, looking at the way World War I affected those living in the Shire of Nunawading.
An exhibition, Australia Calls, was held at the Box Hill Art Space from 14 September until 14 October. It was supported by the Federal Government through the office of Veterans Affairs under the ANZAC Centenary Local Grants Program. Whitehorse City Council received assistance to mount these initiatives through both Chisholm and Deakin electorates.

The exhibition included a collection of diaries, photographs, newspaper extracts, poetry, artefacts and memorabilia conveying accounts of those who fought abroad and those who contributed to the war effort back home in Australia.

Display boards recounted the stories of some of the soldiers from the area who fought overseas plus memories of the war of some of the current residents. There were also stories of how the local community participated in support of the war effort as well as debates about Australia's participation in the war.

According to Andrew Lemon, author of the book, Box Hill, - 
'About one in twelve of the population of the Shire of Nunawading enlisted for active service in the war of 1914-1918. Of these, one in six were killed.'
World War I therefore had a significant impact on the Shire of Nunawading (now the City of Whitehorse).

The exhibition panels were designed by Way Back When, consulting historians, with much of the initial preparation and general organisation undertaken by Julie Jones, Heritage Programs, Whitehorse Council.

Many local residents and organisations contributed to the exhibition.

A large scale photographic image of the Shire of Nunawading Honor Roll was on display in the exhibition space and also in the foyer of the City of Whitehorse council offices.

This project was a great contribution not only to Whitehorse Heritage Week but also to the national commemoration of the Anzac Centenary.