Hidden in plain sight
Images courtesy of Jesse Marlow
Learning and inspiration at the Heritage Centre
Engagement, Learning and Programs Developer, Dr Allison O’Sullivan
The Heritage Centre opened in Potts Point in June 2019, with high hopes for its future as a centre of learning and inspiration. The Sisters commissioned a beautiful exhibition space within their vacant convent for contemplation and for transformation: a place to learn about history and heritage, and a space to inspire others to go out into the world and enact positive changes in their community. I came on board in December with a brief to find new ways to engage with our audience: students, the public, and staff of the extensive network of organisations founded by the Sisters since their arrival in 1838.
In a short space of time I’ve gone from knowing relatively little about the Sisters of Charity to realising just how deep and how wide their influence has been on the development of health and education services across the Eastern states of Australia. Largely unknown to much of the wider community, the Sisters’ achievements – their active involvement in education at more than seventy schools, foundation of the network of St Vincent’s Healthcare facilities, their many community outreach and social justice initiatives – are hidden in plain sight.
Being responsible for learning and engagement development, I first had a lot of learning to do myself, and I quickly found that their connections to Australian history are everywhere. I was very fortunate to be able to join the pilgrimage to Hobart with Sr Maria Wheeler just before the first lockdown and learned many wonderful things about the history of the Sisters’ Tasmanian mission. There are also so many associations with well-known history and public figures: The wonderful story of the sketchbook by notorious bushranger Captain Starlight, given to the Sisters who ministered to him in Darlinghurst Gaol alongside countless other prisoners in need of pastoral care; or their involvement with colonial women’s advocate Caroline Chisholm , immigrant women, and Hyde Park Barracks; and the list goes on.
Although periodically interrupted by the pandemic we have continued to welcome students when possible. We’ve found that students revel in the idea of being able to touch history, to be physically close to it. The opportunity to handle relic cards relating to Mother Mary Aikenhead earlier this year was a special delight for some students from St Vincent’s College. Perhaps the most rewarding surprise has been to find that not only are the students learning from the collections and exhibitions spaces, but that we are learning from the students as well.
So many things we take for granted – being able to read a paper map, knowing how to mend clothes – are conceptually alien to many of our younger visitors. Indeed, a school group who visited us this year before lockdown didn’t even know what ‘to patch’ clothing meant! The simple, economical act of mending clothes to extend their usefulness made quite the impression and served as a perfect, impromptu lesson in the quiet and unassuming dedication with which the Sisters have worked to fulfil their Fourth Vow.
The impact the Sisters have had on Australia’s history and community has truly been extraordinary, and yet most Australians have yet to hear their story. It is my job and my pleasure to try to change that, and I look forward to being able to welcome visitors to the centre once more.