Page 19 - Luce 2013

fro m the A rchives

As with so many other
institutions, Dame Elisabeth
Murdoch was a gracious
correspondent with the
College over many years.
Among the archives are
hand-written and typed
letters thanking the College
for its hospitality at dinners
and events she attended, well
into her nineties.

Of course not all of our
Ms Joanne Oliver historical artifacts are
Art historian visits JCH handwritten. With the fireplace
discovered in the Betty Wilmot Room, now fully restored, College
In September 2013 the College welcomed a visit by Ms Joanne fireplaces continue to throw up archaeological interest. Having
Oliver, an historian and librarian from Sydney. Jo has been met with Australian Human Rights President Gillian Triggs in
awarded a Creative Fellowship from the State Library of Victoria November 2013, the Principal was a little surprised to find, while
for study entitled: ‘Etched with love and courage: the life and inspecting a student room the following week, an ember pan
work of Jessie Traill, Australian printmaker, 1881–1967’. As bearing the welded initials ‘G Triggs’ still in place from the 1960s.
remembered in the Traill Wing, Jessie’s remarkable family had
a strong association with the College through her sister Elsie It will stay in the room as a functional item for when fires are lit,
Margaret Traill, a resident student from 1895 to 1898 and later but also as a reminder of the rich history of the College and those
a generous benefactor to the College. Although Jessie was not who have lived within its walls. Human rights feature strongly in
herself a resident she had a lifelong friendship with Miss Joske the College story and our building: students relaxing in ‘the Bage’
and both retired near each other at Harkaway near Pakenham Common Room may not realise that it is named after alumna
– the likely backdrop in the magnificent triptych hanging in the Freda Bage, who was the first woman to represent Australia at
Senior Common Room.The College collection was established the League of Nations.
through the generosity of the Traill family, and in recent years
the College has added to it through the generous donations
of Mrs Phyllis Fry, Prof Robin Sharwood and Mrs Penny
Lewisohn (Weatherly, 1964), and by acquiring works at auction
ranging from oil paintings to etchings and watercolours.

Dr Yvonne Aitken

A collection of the art works of College Fellow Dr Yvonne
Aitken, whose close association with Janet Clarke Hall
deepened from the time of her admission as a student in 1930
until her death in 2004, have been framed and hung within the
Traill Wing, adding charm and life to our student spaces.

The collection was donated by Dr Aitken to the College as
part of a collection shared between JCH and the University’s Discovered - an ember pan bearing the welded initials ‘G Triggs’
Department of Agriculture, in which she pursued her
foundational scientific study on the effects of temperature and
climate on the flowering of crops, legumes and cereals across
several continents. The images held by the College reflect the The College was the grateful recipient of a new Traill etching
diverse range of subjects to capture Dr Aitken’s imagination, from Mrs Penny Lewisohn, who also donated funds to ensure
ranging from the Southern Alps in New Zealand to views from that the College’s collection of Yvonne Aitken paintings were
Janet Clarke conserved, framed and hung along student corridors.
Hall down
Royal Parade
towards the
Chapel.

Yvonne Aitken, Country view

J anet Clarke Hall 19