Investigating Heritage

How and why did Australia’s patterns of migration change?

Rose Seidler House and Rookwood Cemetery and Necropolis are linked to investigations focusing on immigration and multiculturalism in Australia following World War II.

• Examine the images and text information relating to Rose Seidler House and Rookwood Cemetery. What can the buildings, artefacts and landforms tell us about the past? Look for evidence of housing, death and cultural sites.
• Choose one of the following case studies:
  domestic technologies introduced to Australia in the 1950s and 1960s (using Rose Seidler House as a starting point); or
  burial customs in 1950s and 1960s’ Australia (using Rookwood Cemetery and Necroplis as a starting point).
  History M5.8
  
• Look at the materials associated with your case study. What responses to change come through in these materials? What can Rose Seidler House and/or Rookwood Cemetery tell us about the experience of immigration and multiculturalism in post World War II Australia?
• Reflect on innovation and tradition in domestic life and customs associated with death. How do we identify what is worth preserving in areas of technology and cultural practice?
  Values and Attitudes — develops respect for different viewpoints, ways of living, belief systems and languages

Investigating Heritage and Citizenship

• Examine maps showing the green corridors of Sydney and note the changes that have occurred from 1950 to the present day.
• Utilise maps from different stages in the history of your locality in examining local urban growth or decline. Can you identify any patterns in the physical development of your community?
• Undertake an inquiry-based investigation of either your family home (or that of a friend or member of your family) or the local cemetery.
• Utilise family photographs in a study of your home and surrounds; identify and represent different customs and denominational symbols in an investigation of the cemetery.
• Talk to family members and/or local church authorities, trustees of local cemetery. What factors have contributed to changes in the family home or cemetery? How have people responded to change? How would you describe early perceptions of the place – positive, negative, enthusiastic, hopeful? How do early peceptions compare with present day perspectives? Can you identify any links between present issues at the place and past events or issues?
  History M5.13
• Discuss the way old and new co-exist in domestic situations and burial grounds. Why is some of the past preserved and some lost?