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Click the icon to access resources
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Focus questions
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What do Sydney Trades Hall and Sydney Town Hall reveal about the influences on life in Australia after World War 2? |
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How do the influences revealed by these places contribute to our understanding of: meanings of citizenship in Australia; issues of civic participation; past and present attitudes of Australians to egalitarianism and diversity? |
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What is being preserved in these places; who decided what was important and should be kept; and how is it being done? |
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Click the icon to view maps of these heritage sites
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Sydney Trades Hall and Sydney Town Hall are places where community members meet: both can be viewed as venues for people to participate in community decision-making. While the focus here is on political activities associated with meeting places, the local hall is a regular part of social life: school speech nights, concerts, dances, visits from entertainers, citizenship ceremonies, religious celebrations, parades and parties, are just some of the events held in a town hall.
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| Click on the icon on the left to hear Shirley Fitzgerald's views on heritage. |
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Click the icon to view video of Sydney Town Hall lift
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| Sydney Town Hall was built between 1869 and 1889 – during a construction boom that expressed the wealth and confidence of the times. Several other major buildings were constructed in Sydney by governments, churches, hospitals and the private sector in this period. Over the 20th century, Town Hall functioned at the centre of Sydney’s political and cultural and life; City Council activities – and civic participation in events connected to Town Hall – reflected the attitudes and concerns of Sydney citizens. |
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Click the icon to view a Quicktime VR of Sydney Town Hall
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Sydney Trades Hall is one of the first and continuing headquarters of members of the New South Wales Trade Union Movement. The idea of a Trades Hall was conceived in 1882 when representatives of thirteen unions met at the original meeting place for the Union Movement – ‘The Swan with Two Necks’ Hotel, George Street, Sydney. From its opening on 26 January 1895, Trades Hall has provided office accommodation and meeting rooms for unions and, since World War II for other organisations and collectives. One room of Trades Hall is set aside to store Trade Union banners.
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Click the thumbnail to view Trade Union banners from Sydney Trades Hall
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| Click on the icon on the left to hear Vince Higgin's views on heritage. |
Vince Higgins recalls the strong debates that have occurred in the rooms of Trades Hall. Civil activism in the years following World War II is evident in activities associated with both Sydney Town Hall and Sydney Trades Hall.
Source: NSW State Heritage Inventory
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Click the icon to view video of Sydney Trades Hall
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