Tuesday November 11, 2008
Explore Sydney's history - where it happened
Electric trams, George Street, David Jones corner
Take a trip down George Street on top of a tram in 1906. Listen to an interview with Chow Hayes, once ‘king of the standover men’. Watch ABC News report the Green Bans in The Rocks in 1973. Hear Frank Coughlan’s Trocadero Orchestra.
It’s all at Sydney Sidetracks – a wonderful project by Sarah Barnes supported by ABC Innovation.
There’s currently over 50 stories about Sydney that you can explore on a map or out and about using your mobile phone.
At Mosman Library, we’ll soon be geocoding (adding latitude and longitude) to all the Mosman Memories of Your Street – with the intention that one day you’ll be able to access our collection while doing a heritage walk at Balmoral, for example.
Technology and network capability is still catching up with these ideas of location-aware services, but the day is not too far off!
Right now you can browse Sydney’s history on the Sydney Sidetracks website or download the stories to your phone, laptop or mobile device – and explore Sydney’s history where it happened.
Film, audio recordings and photos come from the archives of ABC TV and Radio, supplemented by contributions from the Powerhouse Museum, State Library of NSW, National Film & Sound Archives, Museum of Contemporary Art, the City of Sydney Archives, and the Dictionary of Sydney.
You can also upload your own stories, photos and videos.
Here’s a bit more about the project:
- On her blog, producer and researcher Sarah Barnes talks about her motivations and ambitions for Sydney Sidetracks and lists some of her favourite stories.
- Seb Chan of the Powerhouse Museum interviews Sarah Barnes.
