Research the history of activism, protests, rallies and campaigners in Victoria using pamphlets, posters, badges, images, articles, interviews and books.
The Library's Riley & Ephemera Collection and Pictures Collection include significant collections of posters. These collections are listed in several separate sources. To search comprehensively you will need to check each source:
The Library's Pictures Collection includes a significant collection of photographs, drawings and engravings relating to Victorian protest movements and grassroots campaigns.
Items in this collection can be found using our online catalogue. Search by topic, name of organisation, or name of campaigner.
Many images have been digitised and can be viewed immediately online, others may need to be pre-ordered for viewing.
A significant collection of images of Vietnam war-era anti-conscription protests can be found in the Library's Dalton Collection.
Many other images can be found on pamphlets in the Riley & Ephemera Collection. We are digitising copies of early illustrated handbills, ephemera and posters from this collection. Search the catalogue for the phrase "Riley and ephemera collection" to find these items (this search will exclude materials from the Pictures Collection). Most of the digitised material relates to World War I and conscription.
Illustrations published in books, journals and magazines may be referenced in our Illustrations card index. This index is stored back of house, but you can ask staff to check for references on a deferred basis. References are gradually being transferred to our online Australiana Index.
Digitised copies of images in many other Australian archives and libraries can be found using the Trove search engine. The University of Melbourne Archives (incorporating the Victorian Women's Liberation and Lesbian Feminist Archives and peace movement archives), Australian Queer Archives (formerly Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives) and the website Melbourne Protests also include significant collections of photographs.
Pro abortion march May 1979, H2012.7/9
International Women's Day March Melbourne April 1979, H2012.7/3
Demonstration by the United Women's Movement against the gas strike, Melbourne, Vic, H2005.2
Crowd with banners, The Age, H2017.199/14
Street Protest And Demonstration Against Uranium Mining, Corner Of Flinders And Swanston Streets, Melbourne, H2009.52/180
The Library's Ron Tandberg, Michael Leunig, John Spooner, Peter Nicholson and Les Tanner cartoon collections contain many original works produced by these popular editorial cartoonists. Use the catalogue to find items of interest (search by name of political figure or topic, and name of cartoonist), and then telephone 03 8664 7002 for advice about access.
Newspapers are another rich source of cartoons including political commentary. Use newspaper indexes and sources like the Australiana Index to discover when an issue became a hot topic in the media, and then check newspapers around this date for cartoons. In modern newspapers, these accompany the editorial and letters pages. Small cartoons may also be included in major articles.
Many significant Australian cartoonists have collections of their work published in book format, for example, I am woman, hear me draw: cartoons from the pen of Judy Horacek and 19-foughty-3: a 5th volume of war cartoons by Armstrong, who worked for Melbourne's Argus newspaper. Search the catalogue by cartoonist's name to find more of these types of books.
White Australia has a black history - don't celebrate 1988, ECPO Australian Bicentenary
Capitalism also depends on domestic labour, ECPO Capitalism
Nuclear war - not a teddy bears picnic, H90.95/1
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) website includes an archive of digitised NAIDOC posters (1967 to current).
The University of Melbourne Archives also hold many posters relating to peace and feminist movements.
The Australian Queer Archives (formerly Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives) includes a significant collection of posters relating to gay rights and sexual health awareness.
Records and digitised copies of posters in other Australian libraries can be found on Trove.
Melbourne Protests (archived copy of website) includes digitised copies of many posters.
The Centre for Australian Art Australian Prints + Printmaking database gives free online access to over 22,000 images from the Australian print collection at the National Gallery of Australia. The databases can be searched by artist, subject or print techniques such as etching, woodcut, wood-engraving, linocut, lithograph, screenprint, monotype and other print related processes such as posters and artists books. Index to online information on printmakers, print workshops, print publishers, print galleries and public and private collections.
The University of Rochester (USA) has digitised a number of Australian AIDS education posters.
The Center for the Study of Political Graphics (USA) collects Australian posters.
