From the Archives

New Ron Horan Museum

It is a very exciting time at the Fort Street Archives! 2019 sees the beginning of a few new projects including the development of the new Ron Horan Museum and the Heritage Tour app.

We have been fortunate over the past year to receive a number of grants from the Royal Australian Historical Society’s Heritage Grants Program, Sydney Motorway Corporation’s Community Grant Scheme, and last month the Inner West Council Heritage Grant. These contributions, and the donations from past Fortians, has given the Fort Street Archives great scope to establish a heritage tour app and a new museum to showcase the school’s nationally significant history in a more accessible and engaging space.

As most of you already know, Fort Street is one of the first public schools in NSW to be founded under the provisions of the National Education Board Act 1848. Established in 1849 our school is one of the oldest public schools in Australia with a number of significant alumni in Australia’s history – including prime ministers, NSW premiers, artists, musicians and high court justices. With this historical context, the establishment of the new Ron Horan Museum and a new Heritage Tour app creates the key elements to celebrate public school history in our local area.

The dedicated museum space in the adaptive reuse of the heritage Wilkins Building (1916) plans to house permanent and temporary historic archival items that can be used as a research centre and a teachers’ resource to support the Stage 6 Modern History syllabus expected to cover mandatory units of ‘History and Memory’ and ‘The Investigation of Historical Sites and Sources’.